Dirk Rossmann

Rossmann grew up in Germany. His parents, Bernhard Roßmann (1910–1958) and his wife Hilde, née Wilkens,{{Cite news|url=https://www.focus.de/kultur/medien/mein-vater-die-luege-meiner-kindheit_id_4033859.html|title=Die Lüge meiner Kindheit|work=Focus Online|access-date=10 October 2018|language=de}} ran a small drugstore on the outskirts of Hanover in the second generation. After his father's early death, his mother sold a lot of things to save the store. "We were destitute and lived in poor conditions", Dirk Roßmann said. {{Cite news|url=https://www.zeit.de/2017/12/dirk-rossmann-drogerie-rettung-schlecker/komplettansicht|title=Dirk Roßmann: "Unglaublich, dass alles wieder gut wurde"|work=Zeit Online|access-date=10 October 2018|language=de}} At the age of twelve, he earned his first money by selling pharmacy goods ten per cent cheaper.{{Cite news|title=Am Anfang war Schwarzarbeit|url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/mein-erstes-geld-223-am-anfang-war-schwarzarbeit/6706030.html|access-date=13 December 2020|newspaper=Der Tagesspiegel Online|date=4 June 2012|language=de}} At the same age, he also learned from his mother, at his own request, that his biological father was the neighbour, Theodor Kayser (1899-1968), the son of a German manufacturer from Warsaw and the godfather of Rossmann's older brother, Axel. After finishing secondary school, he completed vocational training as a druggist. From 1962 onwards he then worked in his parents' drugstore, while his brother, who was two years older, was able to study later.{{Cite web|last=Thiede|first=Meite|title=Der Herr der kleinen Preise|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/rossmann-drogerien-der-herr-der-kleinen-preise-1.903307|access-date=13 December 2020|website=Süddeutsche.de|language=de}}{{Cite web|date=6 April 2014|title=Köpfe: Dirk Roßmann - Köpfe - Wirtschaftswoche|url=http://www.wiwo.de/koepfe-der-wirtschaft/dirk-rossmann/5287160.html|access-date=13 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406070255/http://www.wiwo.de/koepfe-der-wirtschaft/dirk-rossmann/5287160.html|archive-date=6 April 2014}}

File:Downtown, Bremen, Germany47.jpg

In 1972, he founded Rossmann, at the age of 25. In the 1980s, Roßmann sold 40 per cent of his company to Hannover Finanz, and its stake went to the drugstore chain of the Dutch Kruidvat Group (former owners: the De Rijcke family), which in turn was taken over in August 2004 by the A.S. Watson Group of the Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.{{Cite web|title=CK Hutchison Holdings Limited - Media Centre > Press Releases|url=https://www.ckh.com.hk/en/media/press_each.php?id=1493|access-date=13 December 2020|website=www.ckh.com.hk}}{{Cite web|title=www.dfv-archiv.de Suche Unternehmen: Kruidvat Orte: Tschechien|url=http://www.dfv-archiv.de/suche/index.php?currPage=1&OK=1&a=0&i_co%5B%5D=Kruidvat&i_lo%5B%5D=Tschechien&i_sort=date&i_maxperpage=1|access-date=13 December 2020|website=www.dfv-archiv.de}}

In 2020, with 2,196 branches throughout Germany, the Rossmann company is number 2 in the German market according to DM. After the fall of the "Iron Curtain" in the early 1990s, Roßmann's company expanded into the Eastern European market, where he has operated over 1,000 shops since 2009. Europe-wide there are 4,088 shops, Germany-wide 2,196 shops (as of 2020). He now employs 33,400 people in Germany and around 56,200 people internationally. In Germany, Rossmann most recently generated a turnover of 7 billion euros (+ 5.1 per cent). Group-wide, turnover rose to 10 billion euros in 2019.{{Cite web|title=ROSSMANN feiert den Veganuary|url=https://www.rossmann.de/unternehmen/presse/pressemeldungen/200103-Geschaeftsentwicklung2019.html|access-date=1 February 2021|website=ROSSMANN Unternehmen}}{{Cite web|title=Rossmann stores outside of Germany by country 2019|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1009654/number-of-rossmann-stores-by-country/|access-date=1 February 2021|website=Statista|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Drugstore chains: stores in Germany 2020|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/505614/number-of-drugstore-branches-germany/|access-date=1 February 2021|website=Statista|language=en}}

The assets of Rossmann were estimated by Forbes to be around US$2.7 billion in 2016. In November 2019, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$4.1 billion.

He is married to Alice Schardt-Rossmann, with two children, and lives in Lower Saxony, Germany.{{cite web |title=Forbes profile: Raoul Rossmann |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/raoul-rossmann/ |website=Forbes |access-date=18 March 2023}} Both sons studied business administration, and work together with their father in the management of the company.{{Cite news|last=Seidel|first=Hagen|date=14 April 2012|title=Drogeriekette : Dirk Roßmanns Söhne haben keinen Plan B|work=DIE WELT|url=https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article106184684/Dirk-Rossmanns-Soehne-haben-keinen-Plan-B.html|access-date=1 February 2021}}{{Cite web|title=Dirk und Raoul Roßmann: Drogeriekette Rossmann ist auf Expansionskurs|url=https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/mittelstand/familienunternehmer/dirk-und-raoul-rossmann-drogeriekette-rossmann-ist-auf-expansionskurs/24181684.html|access-date=1 February 2021|website=www.handelsblatt.com|language=de}}

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Category:1940s births

Category:Living people

Category:German billionaires

Category:German company founders

Category:20th-century German businesspeople

Category:21st-century German businesspeople

Category:Businesspeople from Hanover

Category:German businesspeople in the healthcare industry