Stephan Schmidheiny

Early Life and Education

Stephan Ernst Schmidheiny was born on October 29, 1947, in Balgach, Switzerland. He comes from a prominent industrial family. He completed his law studies with a PhD from the University of Zurich in 1972.

Rise to Success

Schmidheiny's business career began in 1972 at Eternit. In 1976, at the age of 29, he became the CEO of the Swiss Eternit Group. He inherited Eternit after his father Max divided the industrial empire.

Key Business Strategies

Schmidheiny is known for ending the use of asbestos in Eternit and building a multinational conglomerate of shareholdings. He also played a significant role in the rescue of the Swiss watch industry, supporting Nicolas Hayek in the formation of the Swatch Group. In 1987, he co-organized the merger of Brown, Boveri & Cie (BBC) with ASEA of Sweden, creating ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB Group). Schmidheiny restructured Landis + Gyr after acquiring two-thirds of its capital.

Philanthropy

Schmidheiny has been a dedicated philanthropist since the 1990s, focusing on sustainable development. He established the Fundación Avina and the Alexander Schmidheiny Foundation and supported initiatives for arts, culture, and environmental conservation. He has been an advocate and leader in the field of sustainable development and served as an advisor to the United Nations and the OECD. In 2003, he donated shares of Grupo Nueva to the non-profit Viva Trust to promote causes like sustainability and education.