Ludwig Merckle was born in the year 1965 and is a 52 year old German entrepreneur who is the CEO of Merckle Service GmbH, a pharmaceutical company. The company offers marketing, research and production of pharmaceutical products in Europe. He inherited the company from his father after his death due to a financial crisis.
He is also the owner of Phoenix, a major pharmaceutical distributor in Europe. He was nominated for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2011 as he survived his father’s business even after being in deep debt. Currently, he is the 13th richest man in Germany.
Parents:
Adolf Merckle is the father of Ludwig. He was born on 18th March, 1934 in Dresden, Germany. Ruth Holland is the wife of Adolf Merckle and they have four children together including three sons and a daughter. His wife was of the Ulm cement dynasty, a recognized business company and was present on various boards of the company.
He was one of Germany’ richest entrepreneurs who took over his father’s pharmaceutical business called Adolf Merckle Wholesale in Aussig which was set up in 1881. His father Ludwig Merckle was married to Luise Merckle who was the daughter of the Spohn family who were engaged in manufacturing of luxury cars.
In 1973, he founded Ratiopharm which was Europe’s first manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals. He was a student of Law and started working for his father’s company in 1967 and also set up Phoenix Pharmahandel. He died on 5th January, 2009 at the age of 74 in Germany by throwing himself in front of a moving train.
Siblings:
Philipp Daniel Merckle is the brother of Ludwig who was born on 1st October 1966 in Hamburg. He graduated from the University of Tubingen. He is a qualified pharmacist and holds the responsibility of developing pharmacy related ideas in the family business. He founded ‘World in Balance’ which is a charitable organization providing funds to a variety of social causes.
Jutta Merckle is the sister of Ludwig who is an economist and is also involved in the family business.
Tobias Merckle is the brother of Ludwig who serves as the Managing Director of Prisma. He also serves as a Member of the Supervisory Board at Phoenix Pharmahandel.
Wife:
Ludwig Merckle’s wife is Ursula Merckle and they have two children. The couple lives in Ulm, Germany.
Early Life and Education of Ludwig Merckle:
Ludwig Merckle attended University of Mannheim and has a degree in Business Information Technology. He started his career as a strategic consultant at Roland Berger in the year 1993. He joined the family business as an assistant manager in 1995 later becoming the CEO of Merckle GmbH.
Ludwig Merckle’s Career:
Mr. Ludwig Merckle serves as a Managing Director of Merckle GmbH. He took over the company after his father’s demise to save Hiedelberg Cement. He had to pay off the liabilities that his father had accumulated over the years and got lucky when the banks offered him a syndicated loan facility. He serves as the Co-Owner and as an Advisory Board Member of the Phoenix Group and HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt. His company, Phoenix currently operates in more than 1,580 retail pharmacies and in 12 countries across the globe under the brand name ‘BENU’. He is also the owner of the snow cat making company ‘Kaessbohrer’. He serves as a Member of Personnel Committee at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG and as a Director of Mepha AG.
Net Worth of Ludwig Merckle:
Ludwig Merckle’s net worth is $5.8 Billion, according to Forbes. He was listed among the Top 300 richest billionaires in 2016.