Porsche/Piech Families
Family Net Worth: $55 billion
Some 50 family members benefit from ownership of Porsche Holding, Austria's largest auto dealer, and 76% of one of the last remaining independent luxury carmaker, Porsche AG.
The origin of the Porsche and Piech family wealth starts with an Austrian-born man named Ferdinand Porsche, a inquisitive and entrepreneurial young man who started working for the Lohner company based out of Vienna. He progressed his carrier through Austro-Daimler, Daimler Motoren Gesselschaft until finally In 1930, Ferdinand Porsche founded the Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche Gmbh, which today is one of the most famous luxury car manufacturers in the world.
In the beginning of the company’s founding, the shares were mainly distributed between Ferdinand Porsche (80%) and the lawyer Anton Piëch (10%). After Ferdinand Porsche’s death, the shares were equally distributed between the Porsche and Piëch families where the wealth continues to grow to this day with some rivalry.
This rivalry continued into the generation of the grandchildren of Ferdinand Porsche, whose most important representatives are Ferdinand Piech and Wolfgang Porsche.
Porsche Family
Ferdinand’s son, Ferdinand Anton Ernst or more commonly known as Ferry was born in 1909 and passed away in 1998. He was heavily involved in the company and creation of some of the most famous cars created, including the Volkswagen Beetle and under his leadership, the 911. He had four sons, Ferdinand Alexander, Gerhard Anton, Hans-Peter and Wolfgang Heinz.
Wolfgang Heinz Porsche (born 10 May 1943) is a German-Austrian a member of the Porsche family dynasty. He is a shareholder and chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE as well as of Porsche AG. He is the youngest son of Ferdinand (Ferry) Porsche and Dorothea Reitz. His oldest brother is Ferdinand (Butzi) Porsche, designer of the Porsche 911. After school he trained as a metalworker and went on to obtain a degree in Business Administration from the Vienna University of Economics and Business. After qualifying, Porsche established his own business, importing Yamaha motorbikes to Austria. In 1976 he joined Daimler-Benz. Two years later he was appointed to the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG and in 2007 he became Chairman of both Porsche AG and Porsche Automobil Holding SE. In 2008 he then joined the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG.
Notable Porsche Heirs
Wolfgang Porsche was married to the director and screenplay writer Susanne Bresser from 1988 until their divorce in 2008. They have two sons. Wolfgang Porsche currently lives in Zell am See in Austria. He is a member of board of directors of Porsche Automobil Holding along with Josef Michael Ahorner, Stefan Piëch, Peter Daniell Porsche, Hans Michel Piech, Ferdinand Oliver Porsche and Hans-Peter Porsche. He also sit on the supervisory board of separately listed Volkswagen AG.
The family still owns property south of Salzburg, in Zell am See that Ferry Porsche bought in 1941.
Diana Porsche - Diana is a popular dressage rider that keeps a well-followed social presence. Her boyfriend is Phillip Stadlmann, who’s family is in the wine business for 8 generations.
Peter Daniell Porsche - Son of Hans-Peter Porsche, Author. In 2014, Porsche founded PDP Holding GmbH based in Salzburg. The holding company holds a majority stake in companies from the economic sectors of innovative technologies, resource management, publishing as well as gastronomy & culture and acts in a success-oriented manner in a sustainable economic sense. PDP Holding GmbH is managed by managing director Rafael Walter and is 100% owned by Porsche. Porsche has been a member of the Škoda Auto Supervisory Board since 2015 , as well as being Deputy Chairman of the VW Employee Foundation and Advisory Board of Porsche Design . He has been on the supervisory board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE since 2018. He is also a member of the supervisory board of Porsche Holding GmbH in Salzburg. He lives with his family on the Gaisberg.
Christian Porsche - Born 1974. Medical Doctor (Dr. med.), Doctor of natural sciences (Dr. rer. nat.). Other directorships: Member of the Supervisory Board of TRATON SE and MAN Truck & Bus SE. Neurologist. Partnership interests for several companies at Porsche Holding GmbH between 2005-2009.
Felix Porsche - Felix co-founded Aeiphoria Capital in early 2021 and works actively as managing partner. He studied International Business at Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). Coming from an entrepreneurial family, he started to be active as a business angel in 2015 and built up a startup portfolio of 10+ investments in FinTech, Artificial Intelligence, and impact projects.
Piech Family
A grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, Piëch started his career at Porsche, before leaving for Audi after an agreement that no member of the Porsche or Piëch families should be involved in the day-to-day operations of the Porsche company. Piëch eventually became the head of Audi, where he is credited with evolving and growing Audi into a competitor to equal Mercedes-Benz and BMW, thanks in part to innovative designs such as the Quattro and 100. In 1993, Piëch became the chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Group, which he is credited with turning into the large conglomerate it is today; He oversaw the purchase of Lamborghini and Bentley, as well as the founding of Bugatti Automobiles.
Piëch collapsed suddenly on 25 August 2019 while having dinner with his wife in Aschau near Rosenheim, Oberbayern. He was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
He is survived by 13 children, from 4 wives, who have claim to the Piech fortune.
Notable Piech Heirs
Stefan Piech - 49, Member of the Supervisory board of Porsche Automobil, CEO of Your Family Entertainment AG a company that produces childrens entertainment such as Fix & Foxi among others. He is also on the board of 5 other companies such as Siemens, and SEAT.
Sophie Piech - Studied at University College London, University of Zurich where she achieved a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry.
Markus Piëch , born in 1985, has been a member of the Scania supervisory board since 2015.
He has a bachelor's degree, master's degree in economics, supervisory board position at MAN Truck and Bus AG - he still holds that position today. Piëch is a member of the board of directors of the Salzach private foundation, to which the family transferred parts of their VW shares.
Anton Piech - Piëch junior wants to bring an electric sports car onto the market, around which an entire model family is to be created. "Mark Zero" is the name of the current study, which was presented to the public for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show in spring.
Anton's half-brother Gregor is also active in the automotive sector. In June 2018, the 1994-born scion founded "Gregor Piëch Luxury Globe", a company that, according to the commercial register, is active in the manufacture, tuning, sale and trading of high-quality motor vehicles
Valentin Piëch is listed as a "neuroscientist" in the branched Porsche-Piëch family tree. His CV with his current employer, the investment company BioMed Partners, puts it more precisely: Piëch completed an engineering degree at ETH Zurich and received his doctorate in neuroscience from Rockefeller University in New York. At BioMed Partners, which, according to the website, manages a total of 350 million Swiss francs in investor funds in three investment vehicles, he is active as "Investment Director".
Piëch's eldest son Nando works as a real estate entrepreneur and as such took over the nearly 130-year-old delicatessen "Feinkost Böhm" in Stuttgart in 2006. At the end of 2015, he also paid 101 million euros for a building complex at the city's main train station. His wife Ariane is a ballet patron.
Toni Piech, son of long-time Volkswagen chief Ferdinand Piech and great-grandson of Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche, started Piech Automotive five years ago in Zurich. The company has since built a first working prototype, a two-seat sports car dubbed the Piech GT.
One of his children, also named Ferdinand has been involved in motorsport racing as well, overseeing a decades-old tradition of racing on ice.