Thomas Schmidheiny, former chairman of Holcim Ltd., the Swiss cement giant that recently announced plans to merge with Lafarge SA, has parlayed Holcim profits into a global wine business,
a Bloomberg profile noted.
Schmidheiny, 68, grand-nephew of Holcim’s founder, became the company’s CEO in 1978 and inherited his father’s share of the business in 1984, the Bloomberg report noted. He resigned as chairman in 2003 and remains the largest shareholder. His personal wealth is $6.8 billion, the Bloomberg article said.
Schmidheiny has vineyards on four continents: in California, Australia, Argentina and the Rhine region. Sales from his wine venture are about 0.1% of revenue from the cement business, the Bloomberg report noted.
Other executives involved in the merger of Holcim and Lafarge are also in the wine business. Albert Frere, Lafarge’s largest shareholder, is part-owner of a vineyard in Bordeaux, and Holcim chairman Wolfgang Reitzle makes wine in Tuscany, the article said.
Schmidheiny’s grandfather founded a wine growers’ cooperative and his father started making wine on the family’s Heerbrugg estate, the Bloomberg article said. The family bought a vineyard in California’s Napa Valley in 1979, when Schmidheiny’s mother suggested they invest in winemaking overseas. Schmidheiny bought an Australian winery in 2000, and his family office bought a vineyard in Argentina 15 years ago.
Schmidheniny told Bloomberg he doubts that any of his four children will lead Holcim, though one of them might take over the vineyards. (Source: Bloomberg, May 13, 2014.)
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