Ludwig Merkel net worth
Ludwig Merckle Net Worth: Ludwig Merckle is a German entrepreneur with a net worth of $5.7 billion. Ludwig Merckle, born on June 8, 1965, is Chairman of Merckle GmbH, a pharmaceutical company he inherited from his father. After graduating from the University of Mannheim, he started working for his father, German billionaire Adolf Merkel.
He worked at the company from 1997 to 2008, when Oliver Windholz succeeded him. In 2009, his father committed suicide after a bad investment in Volkswagen stock led to rising debt. Ludwig Merckle inherited a bad debt and made a remarkable turnaround. To pay off his debts, he began selling assets, reducing his Heidelberg Cement stake from 74% to 25%. He also sold generic drug maker Ratiopharm to Teva for $5 billion. In addition, he owns Phoenix, one of Europe’s leading pharmaceutical distributors, and is chairman of Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG and Wuerttemberg AG. Not only has he managed to recover his fortune just three years after inheriting a debt-ridden legacy, but in December 2011 he was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Germany’s top trade journal, Handelsblatt.
