Thomas Schmidheiny | |
Birth Date: | 17 December 1945 |
Nationality: | Swiss |
Alma Mater: | Tufts University Zurich Polytechnic |
Occupation: | Major shareholder of LafargeHolcim |
Spouse: | married |
Parents: | Max Schmidheiny |
Children: | 4 |
Relatives: | Stephan Schmidheiny (brother) |
Thomas Schmidheiny (born 17 December 1945) is a Swiss billionaire businessman, and the former chairman of cement manufacturer Holcim.
Thomas Schmidheiny was born in 1945,[1] the son of Max Schmidheiny (1908-1991). The family's construction materials empire (bricks, cement, etc.) was divided in 1984, with Thomas inheriting Holcim, the concrete and cement company, and his brother Stephan, also a billionaire, was given the construction company Eternit.[2]
Until 2003, Schmidheiny was the chairman of Holcim, one of the world's leading cement manufacturers, founded by his grand-uncle in 1912.[3] Schmidheiny resigned his chairmanship as part of a deal to settle an investigation of insider trading in Spain.[4] He has remained on the Board since that time.[5] Since the merger between Holcim and Lafarge Thomas Schmidheiny retains 11.4% of the company Lafarge-Holcim and is the biggest shareholder of the firm.
Schmidheiny holds a doctorate from Tufts University and a bachelor's degree from the ETH Zurich,[2] and an MBA from IMD Business School, Switzerland.[6]
The Indian School of Business has a Thomas Schmidheiny chair of family business. As of 2023, the post was held by Sougata Ray.[7]
Schmidheiny is married with four children; he owns vineyards and wineries in Argentina, Switzerland and the US (Cuvaison in the Napa Valley[8]), including his residences in Rapperswil-Jona and Klosters.[2] [9]