Thomas Schmidheiny
Thomas Schmidheiny ( born December 17, 1945 in Balgach; native entitled ibid. ) is a Swiss entrepreneur and art collector.
Life
Thomas Schmidheiny was born the son of the entrepreneur Max Schmidheiny (1908-1991); the entrepreneur and philanthropist Stephan Schmidheiny is his brother. Thomas Schmidheiny studied mechanical engineering at the ETH Zurich and graduated in 1969 with a diploma ( diploma ETH Industrial Management and Control and Process Engineering ) from.
In 1970 he became technical director of the Mexican cement company Cementos Apasco ( now Holcim Apasco ). In 1972 he obtained an MBA from IMD Lausanne private school. In 1976 he was appointed to the management, and in 1978 to the Board of the cement manufacturer's Cement Factory " Holder Bank". From 1978 to 2001 he was Managing Director and from 1984 to 2003 also Chairman of the Board. The Board of Directors he is still present. Schmidheiny holds as the largest single shareholder in a share of 20.39 percent of the registered shares of Holcim ( December 31, 2007, direct and indirect).
He is also a board member of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is the principal shareholder and sits on the Board of the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz AG, one of the larger hotel companies in Switzerland, which he inherited from his father.
His is established in accordance with Swiss law Foundation Art Collection Thomas Schmidheiny, who wants to make accessible to the interested public in particular works of the Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler. He is a member of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation in favor of the University of St. Gallen and its institutions as well as a member of the Foundation for the Promotion of the study program Master in Law and Economics at the University of St. Gallen. He is (together with the entrepreneur Klaus Gebert and the city of Rapperswil ) Co-founder and President of the Board of the Foundation Future in support of young entrepreneurs. Thomas Schmidheiny was the first President of the Board, founded by Swiss Association for Hospital, Home and Community Gastronomy 1983 Foundation for Promotion of Education for public catering (now Community gastronomy). He also runs a winery in Balgach and sells wine under various brands.
Like his brother also faced Thomas repeatedly exposed to public criticism, whether as a major shareholder in the criticized for their wage policy in South Africa Holcim, or discharge from the Board of Directors of Xstrata in the summer of 2001, the subsidiary Vantech in South Africa massively against health and safety precautions to have violated. The resignation came after he came to the attention of the Spanish anti-corruption authorities for an illegal exchange deal and was punished thanks to cooperation with a reduced fine of 1.5 million euros buses.
After the first instance sentencing of his brother, a study was initiated in July 2012, against Thomas Schmidheiny in Italy in Eternit process.
His fortune was estimated in 2012 by the Swiss business magazine balance to 4.5 billion Swiss francs.
In 1999, the Tufts University awarded him for his commitment to sustainable development an honorary doctorate.
Schmidheiny is married and has one son and three daughters.
Engagement with Swissair and consequences
Schmidheiny belonged from 1980 to 2001 the Board of Directors of the airline Swissair (later SAirGroup ) on and as of 1994 as Vice President.
The prosecutor of the canton of Zurich raised in March 2006 in connection with the Swissair bankruptcy case against Schmidheiny and another 18 people. He was accused of creditors injury and multiple dishonesty. He was, like the other 18 defendants acquitted. He received a compensation process in the amount of CHF 194'079. The prosecutor withdrew the judgment no further; so is the acquittal judgment.