August von Finck Jr. (11 March 1930 – 28 November 2021) was a Swiss-based German billionaire businessman. When he died, his net worth was estimated at US$8.8 billion.
August von Finck Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 March 1930 Munich, Germany |
| Died | 28 November 2021 (aged 91) London, England |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse | Francine von Finck |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent | August von Finck Sr. |
Von Finck Jr. supported political parties and initiatives in the right-wing and libertarian partys, groups and persons throughout his life.
Early life edit
Von Finck was born in 1930 in Munich, the son of August von Finck Sr., and the grandson of Wilhelm von Finck, who started a private bank in 1870 that became Merck Finck & Co.[1][2]
Career edit
In February 2020, Von Finck sold the majority of his stake in Switzerland's SGS SA, one of the world's largest testing and inspection companies. He sold 960,000 shares valued at $2.4 billion.[3]
According to Forbes, he had a net worth of US$8.8 billion when he died.[4]
Other interests edit
The German state government of Baden-Württemberg authorized the sale of an incunable about Medieval history to him in 2008. The price was about Euro 20 million.[5]
Supporter of Far-right party edit
The shy billionaire supported political parties and initiatives in the right-wing and libertarian milieu throughout his life.
In the 70s and 80s he supported Franz Josef Strauß (CSU).[6] At the beginning of the 1990s he supported the first anti-euro party, the League of Free Citizens, with 4.3 million euros. He later financed the “Citizens' Convention” project around today's AfD politician Beatrix von Storch with a sum of millions.[6]
It is likely that Finck was a financial supporter of the German far right party AfD.[7][8] An agent of the billionaire was apparently involved in the conception of the AfD-affiliated newspaper “Deutschland Kurier”.[6]
Personal life edit
Von Finck was married to Francine.[2] They had four children and lived in Weinfelden Castle in Thurgau canton, Switzerland.[1][2] His eldest son is August François von Finck.
He died on 28 November 2021, at the age of 91.[9]
References edit
- ^ a b "Forbes profile: August von Finck". Forbes. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ^ a b c "Bloomberg Billionaires Index # 198: August von Flink". Bloomberg. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ^ "Billionaire August Von Finck Sells Most of His Stake in SGS". Bloomberg.com. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ "August von Finck". Forbes. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ "Se vende incunable medieval - Medievalum". medievalum.com. 7 May 2008. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ^ a b c Amann, Melanie; Becker, Sven; Röbel, Sven (23 November 2018). "AfD-Unterstützung: Die Spur zu Milliardär August von Finck". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- ^ Konicz, Tomasz (14 September 2017). "AfD: Die Masken fallen". TELEPOLIS. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ Amann, Melanie; Becker, Sven; Röbel, Sven (30 November 2018). "Golden Age: A Billionaire Backer and the Murky Finances of the AfD". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
- ^ "Milliardär August von Finck ist tot". Spiegel. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
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