Otto Beisheim
{{Short description|German businessman (1924–2013)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Otto Beisheim
| image = OttoBeisheimImage.jpg
| alt =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|01|03|df=y}}
| birth_place = Weimar Republic
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|02|18|1924|01|03|df=y}}
| death_place = Rottach-Egern, Upper Bavaria, Germany
| death_cause = Suicide by gunshot
| nationality = German
| other_names =
| occupation = Businessman
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Otto Beisheim (3 January 1924 – 18 February 2013{{cite news| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-18/metro-s-billionaire-founder-otto-beisheim-dies-aged-89.html| title=Metro's Billionaire Founder Otto Beisheim Dies, Aged 89| first=Julie|last=Cruz| publisher=Bloomberg L.P.| date=18 February 2013}}) was a German businessman and co-founder of Metro AG. In 2010, his net worth was estimated at US$3.6 billion.{{cite news| url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/10/billionaires-2010_Otto-Beisheim_SEMX.html?partner=contextstory | work=Forbes | title=#249 Otto Beisheim | date=10 March 2010}}
Early life
Beisheim was born on 3 January 1924, near Essen, Germany. He was the son of a caretaker, and his family was too poor to pay for him to attend high school, so he became a leather tradesman.
In October 1942, Otto Besheim voluntarily joined the Waffen-SS. During this time, he temporarily served as Sturmmann (Private) in the SS Division Leibstandarte[http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/otto-beisheim-metro-gruender-ist-tot-a-884077.html Metro Gründer:Otto BEisheim ist tot] Der Spiegel in an artillery regiment on the Eastern Front.{{cite news|first=Hagen|last=Seidel|newspaper=Die Welt|title=Otto Beisheim: Freitod eines Milliardärs, den kaum einer kannte|date=18 February 2013|language=German|url=https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article113730399/Freitod-eines-Milliardaers-den-kaum-einer-kannte.html|access-date=16 July 2020
}} There is no historical indication that he was involved in war crimes during his assignment with the Waffen-SS.{{cite book|first=Joachim|last=Scholtyseck|title=Otto Beisheim. Jugend, Soldatenzeit und Entwicklung zum Handelspionier|publisher=Ferdinand Schöningh|location=Paderborn, Germany|date=2020|isbn=978-3-506-70429-0|language=German}} In 1943, Beisheim incurred a light injury in July in the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, and a severe injury in December near Berdychiv. In July 1944, following an extensive period of recovery in various military hospitals, Beisheim served as a Private in an administrative unit before he was taken as a British prisoner of war in May 1945. He was released in March 1946.{{cite news|first=Max |last=Hägler|url=http://www.taz.de/pt/2005/11/16/a0071.1/text|title=Beisheim darf Schulnamen doch kaufen|newspaper=die tageszeitung|date=16 November 2005|page=7|language=German}}
Career
After the war, Beisheim began his commercial career at the Wilhelm Nebel leather factory. After several positions in the iron and steel industry, he worked for the electrical trading company Stöcker & Reinshagen from 1959, where he became an authorized officer.
Returning to Germany, he founded Metro, the country's first cash-and-carry retailer, in 1964 at Mülheim an der Ruhr.
On 10 January 2004, Beisheim Center was officially opened on the northwest side of Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, built for 463 million euros, and including the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott chains.
In 2009, he sold 5.2% of the shares of Metro AG to various national and international investors; a further 3.1% could be sold.{{Cite web|last=Lesova|first=Polya|title=Otto Beisheim sells 5.2% stake in Metro AG|url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/otto-beisheim-sells-52-stake-in-metro-ag-2009-10-07|date=7 October 2009|access-date=30 June 2020|website=MarketWatch|language=en-US}} The WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, in Vallendar is named after him.{{Cite web|title=Schriftenreihe – WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management|url=https://www.whu.edu/index.php?id=433|access-date=30 June 2020|website=whu.edu}}{{cite web |url=http://www.topuniversities.com/university/322/whu-otto-beisheim-school-of-management---koblenz |title=Top Universities |accessdate=2010-03-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124234020/http://www.topuniversities.com/university/322/whu-otto-beisheim-school-of-management---koblenz |archivedate=24 November 2010}}{{Cite web|title=Business school rankings from the Financial Times – FT.com|url=http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/kelloggwhu-otto-beisheim-school|access-date=2020-06-30|website=rankings.ft.com}}
= Awards =
- Iron Cross II Class
- 1993: Doctor of Economics - honorary, the Technical University of Dresden[https://tu-dresden.de/ua/dokumentationen/dokumentationen/ehrenpromovenden-der-th-tu-dresden-alphabetisch/ehrendok Ehrenpromovenden der TH/TU Dresden. In alphabetischer Ordnung] TU Dresden, retrieved 21 June 2020.
- 1994: Grand Federal Cross of MeritStephan Burgdorff: [http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/spiegelspecial/d-8917176.html Viel Glück, wenig Skrupel], Spiegel special 5/1996, 1 May 1996.
- 2000: Bavarian Order of Merit
- 2003: Order of Merit of the State of Berlin
- 2003: Honorary Senator of WHU
- 2005: WHU ring of honor
- 2005: Honorary citizenship of all five valley communities in the Tegernsee valley
- 2008: Honorary doctorate from WHU
Personal life and legacy
On 18 February 2013, Beisheim committed suicide in his home in Rottach-Egern, Germany. The Beisheim Group issued a statement that Beisheim chose to take his own life after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. Beisheim was intensely private and rarely in the public eye. Even at his company's shareholders' meetings, he was reported to have shown up on occasion masquerading under the name Müller.{{cite web |title=Otto Beisheim, German Retailing Pioneer, Dies at 89 |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/business/otto-beisheim-german-retailing-pioneer-dead-at-89.html}}
Otto gave his name to the Beisheim Group, a family holding company for his interests in Metro AG.{{cite news |last1=Storbeck |first1=Olaf |title=Metro's family shareholders lift stake as Kretinsky circles |url=https://www.ft.com/content/c35e7824-3c3c-11ea-b232-000f4477fbca |newspaper=Financial Times |date=21 January 2020}}
References
{{Reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- Joachim Scholtyseck: Otto Beisheim. Jugend, Soldatenzeit und Entwicklung zum Handelspionier. Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2020, ISBN 978-3-506-70429-0.
- Klaus Brockhoff: WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management. Aus der Nische zu internationaler Anerkennung 1984 - 2019. Schäffer-Poeschel, Stuttgart 2020, ISBN 978-3-7910-4703-4.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beisheim, Otto}}
Category:Businesspeople from Düsseldorf
Category:Suicides by firearm in Germany
Category:Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin
Category:20th-century German philanthropists
Category:German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom