Billionaire Bot: New profile (Forbes real-time rank 101–125, 20 Oct 2026); all claims sourced

2026-11-10T12:12:16Z

New profile (Forbes real-time rank 101–125, 20 Oct 2026); all claims sourced

New page

{{short description|'''German businessman; largest shareholder and deputy supervisory board chairman of BMW; owner of the investment company AQTON'''}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Stefan Quandt
| birth_date = {{Start date|1966|05|09}} (Forbes)
| nationality = German
| residence = Frankfurt, Germany (Forbes)
| occupation = Businessman, investor
| known_for = Largest shareholder of [[BMW]]; [[AQTON]] SE; [[DELTON]]
| children = 1 (Forbes)
| siblings = [[Susanne Klatten]]
| education = University of Karlsruhe (Diplom-Wirtschaftsingenieur) (KIT)
}}

'''Stefan Quandt''' (born 1966) is a German businessman and the largest shareholder of the carmaker [[BMW]]. According to BMW, as of July 2026 his direct and indirect holdings amounted to 25.3% of its voting capital.<ref name="bmw_sh">BMW Group, [https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/investor-relations/bmw-shares.html BMW shares: shareholder structure] ''BMW Group Investor Relations'', as of 31 July 2026; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> He is deputy chairman of BMW's supervisory board and sole owner of the investment company [[AQTON]] SE. Through AQTON and two [[DELTON]] holding companies he also owns or holds stakes in [[Entrust]], the homeopathic medicine maker [[Heel]] and the logistics group [[Logwin]].<ref name="kit_sq">Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, [https://www.kit.edu/downloads/aufsichtsrat-kit-quandt.pdf Stefan Quandt – Mitglied des Aufsichtsrats des KIT (Stefan Quandt – member of the KIT supervisory board) (biographical note)] ''Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)'', undated; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="logwin">Logwin AG, [https://www.logwin-logistics.com/company/investors/share/shareholders-structure Shareholders' Structure] ''Logwin AG (official website)'', undated; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="heel">Heel, [https://www.heel.com/facts Facts] ''Heel (official website)'', undated; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> He is the brother of [[Susanne Klatten]].<ref name="fp_stefan_quandt">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/stefan-quandt.json Forbes profile record for Stefan Quandt (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/stefan-quandt/)] ''Forbes'', live record, read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> On 20 October 2026 the [[Forbes]] Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Stefan Quandt 115th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$22.99 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as BMW.<ref name="fp_stefan_quandt" /><ref name="ForbesRTB">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/rtb/0/position/true.json Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed] ''Forbes'', live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Stefan Quandt 75th, at US$30.1 billion.<ref name="ForbesAnnual">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/billionaires/2026/position/true.json Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read)] ''Forbes'', annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> He has been a regular large donor to the [[Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands|CDU]], and in February 2025, just before the federal election, gave €200,000 to the CDU and €75,000 to the [[Freie Demokratische Partei|FDP]].<ref name="bt2025">Deutscher Bundestag, [https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/praesidium/parteienfinanzierung/fundstellen50000/2025 Parteispenden über 35.000 € – Jahr 2025 (Party donations over €35,000 – 2025)] ''Deutscher Bundestag (published under section 25(3) of the Political Parties Act)'', list for 2025; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

== Early life and family ==
[[Forbes]] gives his date of birth as 9 May 1966.<ref name="fp_stefan_quandt" /> According to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), he studied industrial engineering and management at the University of Karlsruhe from 1987 to 1993, graduating as a Diplom-Wirtschaftsingenieur.<ref name="kit_sq" /> Forbes says he then worked for Boston Consulting and as a Hong Kong-based marketing manager for [[Entrust]].<ref name="fp_stefan_quandt" /> His late mother, Johanna, was the third wife of [[Herbert Quandt]], and his grandfather Günther Quandt was a Nazi-era industrialist.<ref name="fp_stefan_quandt" />

In 2011 the historian Joachim Scholtyseck published ''Der Aufstieg der Quandts'', a study of the family under National Socialism commissioned by the children and grandchildren of Günther and Herbert Quandt. He told Deutschlandfunk that the family had given him access to its private archive and no right to intervene. He described Günther Quandt's direct responsibility for wrongs involving about 50,000 forced labourers, and his acquisitions through Nazi-era "Aryanisation".<ref name="dlf11">Christoph Heinemann (interview with Joachim Scholtyseck), [https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/profiteure-von-arisierung-und-zwangsarbeit-100.html Profiteure von "Arisierung" und Zwangsarbeit (Profiteers of "Aryanisation" and forced labour)] ''Deutschlandfunk'', 23 September 2011, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

== Business interests ==
[[BMW]] gave Quandt's direct and indirect holding as 25.3% of voting capital as of 31 July 2026.<ref name="bmw_sh" /> [[Forbes]] puts his stake at 23.6%.<ref name="fp_stefan_quandt" /> He is deputy chairman of BMW's supervisory board and a member of its presiding committee.<ref name="kit_sq" /><ref name="fp_stefan_quandt" />

KIT's biographical note describes him as sole shareholder of [[AQTON]] SE, which holds his stakes in BMW, the solar company Solarwatt, the digital-security company [[Entrust]], Kiwigrid, Heliatek, the drone-defence company Dedrone and the credit-rating agency Scope.<ref name="kit_sq" /> Through [[DELTON]] Health AG he owns the homeopathic medicine maker Biologische Heilmittel [[Heel]], whose products are sold in 50 countries.<ref name="kit_sq" /><ref name="heel" /> DELTON Logistics, a Luxembourg company of which he is sole shareholder, is the majority shareholder of [[Logwin]] AG.<ref name="logwin" />

== Wealth ==
[[Forbes]] gives [[BMW]] as his source of wealth and classes the fortune as inherited. It reported that he received more than US$700 million in BMW dividends, before tax, in 2018.<ref name="fp_stefan_quandt" /> On 20 October 2026 Forbes put his net worth at US$22.99 billion, slightly below [[John Doerr]]'s. The real-time list therefore ranked him 115th and Doerr 114th, although both figures round to US$22.99 billion.<ref name="ForbesRTB" />

== Wealth history ==
[[Forbes]] has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 24 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2003. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.<ref name="ForbesAnnual" /><ref name="fp_stefan_quandt" />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Forbes estimates by list year
! Year !! World's Billionaires rank !! Net worth (US$ bn)
|-
| 2003 || 68 || 4.3
|-
| 2004 || 59 || 6.5
|-
| 2005 || 66 || 6.7
|-
| 2006 || 82 || 6.6
|-
| 2007 || 96 || 7.6
|-
| 2008 || 137 || 6.8
|-
| 2009 || 108 || 4.6
|-
| 2010 || 132 || 5.7
|-
| 2011 || 72 || 10.7
|-
| 2012 || 76 || 11.2
|-
| 2013 || 81 || 11.9
|-
| 2014 || 66 || 14.9
|-
| 2015 || 59 || 15.6
|-
| 2016 || 48 || 15.6
|-
| 2017 || 47 || 18.3
|-
| 2018 || 42 || 22.0
|-
| 2019 || 60 || 17.5
|-
| 2020 || 98 || 12.3
|-
| 2021 || 81 || 21.6
|-
| 2022 || 77 || 20.7
|-
| 2023 || 59 || 24.6
|-
| 2024 || 68 || 27.3
|-
| 2025 || 84 || 23.8
|-
| 2026 || 75 || 30.1
|}

== Philanthropy ==
According to KIT, Quandt chairs the boards of trustees of the [[Johanna Quandt]] Foundation and the Stiftung Blickachsen, is deputy chairman of the foundation council of the Stiftung Charité, and sits on the board of trustees of the [[BMW]] Foundation [[Herbert Quandt]]. He also chairs the friends' association of Frankfurt's Museum für Moderne Kunst, and has sat on KIT's supervisory board since June 2013.<ref name="kit_sq" />

== Political activity ==
Quandt's large donations, published by the [[Bundestag]] under the party-funding rules, have gone mainly to the [[Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands|CDU]]. On 9 October 2013 he, his mother Johanna and his sister [[Susanne Klatten]] each gave €230,000 to the CDU and €70,000 to the [[Freie Demokratische Partei|FDP]].<ref name="bt2013">Deutscher Bundestag, [https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/praesidium/parteienfinanzierung/fundstellen50000/2013 Parteispenden über 50.000 € – Jahr 2013 (Party donations over €50,000 – 2013)] ''Deutscher Bundestag (published under section 25(3) of the Political Parties Act)'', list for 2013; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="sp13">Der Spiegel, [https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/union-erhaelt-riesenspende-von-bmw-eignern-klatten-und-quandt-a-927871.html CDU erhält Riesenspende von BMW-Großaktionären (CDU receives huge donation from BMW major shareholders)] ''Der Spiegel'', 15 October 2013, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' noted that the CDU payments coincided with Germany's successful push to reopen an EU deal on car CO2 limits, and [[LobbyControl]] criticised them.<ref name="sp13" /><ref name="sp13e">Der Spiegel (international edition), [https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/cdu-gets-donation-from-bmw-owners-during-co2-talks-a-927954.html Donation from BMW Owners Raises Eyebrows] ''Spiegel International'', 15 October 2013, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> From 2017 he gave between €50,001 and €75,000 a year, mostly to the CDU.<ref name="bt2017">Deutscher Bundestag, [https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/praesidium/parteienfinanzierung/fundstellen50000/2017 Parteispenden über 50.000 € – Jahr 2017 (Party donations over €50,000 – 2017)] ''Deutscher Bundestag (published under section 25(3) of the Political Parties Act)'', list for 2017; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="bt2018">Deutscher Bundestag, [https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/praesidium/parteienfinanzierung/fundstellen50000/2018 Parteispenden über 50.000 € – Jahr 2018 (Party donations over €50,000 – 2018)] ''Deutscher Bundestag (published under section 25(3) of the Political Parties Act)'', list for 2018; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="bt2019">Deutscher Bundestag, [https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/praesidium/parteienfinanzierung/fundstellen50000/2019 Parteispenden über 50.000 € – Jahr 2019 (Party donations over €50,000 – 2019)] ''Deutscher Bundestag (published under section 25(3) of the Political Parties Act)'', list for 2019; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="bt2020">Deutscher Bundestag, [https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/praesidium/parteienfinanzierung/fundstellen50000/2020 Parteispenden über 50.000 € – Jahr 2020 (Party donations over €50,000 – 2020)] ''Deutscher Bundestag (published under section 25(3) of the Political Parties Act)'', list for 2020; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="bt2021">Deutscher Bundestag, [https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/praesidium/parteienfinanzierung/fundstellen50000/2021 Parteispenden über 50.000 € – Jahr 2021 (Party donations over €50,000 – 2021)] ''Deutscher Bundestag (published under section 25(3) of the Political Parties Act)'', list for 2021; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="bt2022">Deutscher Bundestag, [https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/praesidium/parteienfinanzierung/fundstellen50000/2022 Parteispenden über 50.000 € – Jahr 2022 (Party donations over €50,000 – 2022)] ''Deutscher Bundestag (published under section 25(3) of the Political Parties Act)'', list for 2022; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="bt2023">Deutscher Bundestag, [https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/praesidium/parteienfinanzierung/fundstellen50000/2023 Parteispenden über 50.000 € – Jahr 2023 (Party donations over €50,000 – 2023)] ''Deutscher Bundestag (published under section 25(3) of the Political Parties Act)'', list for 2023; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="bt2024">Deutscher Bundestag, [https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/praesidium/parteienfinanzierung/fundstellen50000/2024 Parteispenden über 35.000 € – Jahr 2024 (Party donations over €35,000 – 2024)] ''Deutscher Bundestag (published under section 25(3) of the Political Parties Act)'', list for 2024; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> In February 2025, ahead of the federal election, he gave €200,000 to the CDU and €75,000 to the FDP.<ref name="bt2025" />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Large donations published by the Bundestag (over €50,000 until 2023; over €35,000 from 2024)
! Year !! Party !! Amount (€) !! Date received (as published)
|-
| 2013 || CDU || 230,000 || 9 October
|-
| 2013 || FDP || 70,000 || 9 October
|-
| 2017 || FDP || 50,001 || 23 June
|-
| 2017 || CDU || 50,001 || 26 June
|-
| 2018 || CDU || 50,001 || 2 July
|-
| 2018 || CDU || 75,000 || 25 July
|-
| 2019 || CDU || 50,001 || 1 July
|-
| 2020 || CDU || 50,001 || 9 July
|-
| 2021 || CDU || 50,001 || 1 July (date of publication)
|-
| 2022 || CDU || 50,001 || 29 July
|-
| 2023 || CDU || 50,001 || 30 June
|-
| 2023 || CDU || 75,000 || 21 September
|-
| 2024 || CDU || 50,001 || 20 August
|-
| 2025 || CDU || 200,000 || 14 February
|-
| 2025 || FDP || 75,000 || 18 February
|}

== Controversies and legal issues ==
See the 2013 [[Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands|CDU]] donation under [[#Political activity|Political activity]] and the Scholtyseck study under [[#Early life and family|Early life and family]].<ref name="sp13" /><ref name="dlf11" />

== International and political links ==
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."

=== Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements) ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Jewish communal charities ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Gulf states ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== China ===
Company level: [[BMW]], of which he is the largest shareholder and deputy supervisory board chairman, raised its stake in its Chinese joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive to 75% in February 2022 and extended the joint-venture contract to 2040.<ref name="bmw_bba">BMW Group, [https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0367992EN/bmw-group-strengthens-partnership-in-china:-extension-of-joint-venture-contract-until-2040-enters-into-force?language=en BMW Group strengthens partnership in China: Extension of Joint Venture Contract until 2040 enters into force] ''BMW Group PressClub'', 11 February 2022, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="kit_sq" /> [[Forbes]] says he once worked in Hong Kong for [[Entrust]].<ref name="fp_stefan_quandt" />

=== Russia ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== India ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Palestinian or Arab causes ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Home government ===
Germany: regular large donations to the [[Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands|CDU]] and, in 2013, 2017 and 2025, the [[Freie Demokratische Partei|FDP]], as published by the [[Bundestag]]. The October 2013 family donation coincided with the German government's intervention on EU car-emission limits.<ref name="bt2013" /><ref name="bt2025" /><ref name="sp13e" />

=== Other international links ===
Luxembourg: his logistics holding company [[DELTON]] Logistics is based in Grevenmacher.<ref name="logwin" />

== See also ==
* [[Susanne Klatten]]
* [[BMW]]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Businesspeople|Quandt, Stefan]]
[[Category:Living people|Quandt, Stefan]]
[[Category:Germany|Quandt, Stefan]]
[[Category:German billionaires|Quandt, Stefan]]

Stefan Quandt - Revision history

Billionaire Bot: New profile (Forbes real-time rank 101–125, 20 Oct 2026); all claims sourced