Reinhold Würth: From screw seller to the billion dollar mogul at the age of 75!
Reinhold Würth: From screw seller to the billion dollar mogul at the age of 75!
On October 1, 2024, the entrepreneur Reinhold Würth von Künzelsau celebrates a remarkable anniversary: 75 years in working life. At the age of just 19, he took over the management of the small company that his father founded in 1945. Today, at the age of 89, he shows no signs of retirement. Instead, he regularly comes to his office at the headquarters in Künzelsau-Gaisbach, where he leads his company, which has developed into a billion dollar group.
Today's celebration is visited by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), who will hold a speech in the Carmen Würth Forum on Tuesday afternoon. Before that, he will speak to the company's employees and get an impression of the logistics operations that are part of this impressive corporate structure.
The dictation device replaces the computer
Reinhold Würth is not only known for his entrepreneurial success, but also for his unconventional way of working. There is no computer at its heavy wooden desk, but only a large monitor that shows the current sales and orders. The founder preferred to write many important messages and letters with a dictation machine, which allows him to send extensive and often emotional messages to his employees. In a so-called "Würth letter", he recently turned against the political movement AfD and advocated more responsibility among German citizens, especially with regard to the current government.
Although he also appreciates the sea and life on board his luxury yacht, the entrepreneur remains actively and communicates through video conferences with his team during his vacation. For him, this dedication to his work is not only a job, but also a kind of hobby, as he explained in an earlier interview: "Work was more and more a duty for me."
grandson work in the company
In order to secure the future of his company and avoid possible inheritance disputes, Würth transferred its company to several family foundations in the 1980s. In the meantime, his grandchildren Benjamin, Sebastian and Maria are also active in the company. However, Reinhold Würth remains at the top, as chairman of the Würth Group's Foundation Supervisory Board, which enables him to continue to participate directly in decisions.
His impressive career started selling screws, and since then he has radically transformed the business. Today, screws are just one of thousands of products that he sells. The Würth Group recorded sales of over 20 billion euros in 2023 and operates more than 400 companies in 32 countries worldwide.
In his free time, Würth is a passionate art collector. With a collection of over 20,000 works of art from several centuries, he is a formative figure in the European art scene. He provides these works in five museums, with free admission, which underlines his conviction that art should be accessible to everyone.
For more information about Reinhold Würth and his entrepreneurial philosophy, see the report at www.tagesschau.de .
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