Germany The discreet lives of the super rich DW Documentary_1080p
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00:00Germany's super-rich. No other European country has as many billionaires.
00:06And while their fortunes are growing, more and more Germans are living under the poverty line
00:11set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the OECD.
00:16The press frequently reports on the country's high income inequality and low social mobility.
00:22But little is known about the super-rich.
00:26Sure, money attracts success and success attracts money. I do believe that.
00:31I've experienced myself how you can suddenly connect with people previously out of reach.
00:39Who are Germany's super-wealthy? How do they live? And how do they see the country they live in?
00:47The way wealthy people in Germany are talked about bothers me,
00:51because it's sensationalizing and sycophantic and in no way reflects what wealthy people have done
00:57and continue to do for this country.
01:02It creates this impression of rich people being like Scrooge McDuck,
01:06that they have these money bins in which they wallow in their coins.
01:12Scrooge McDuck wants more, more, more.
01:16That's not my world. I like earning money, but not swimming in it.
01:24We wanted to get closer to the discreet world of Germany's ultra-rich,
01:28of company owners and heirs worth millions.
01:31We wanted to find out what makes those on top of the world tick.
01:47Every year an exclusive event takes place in the Schlosshotel Kronberg near Frankfurt,
01:52to which the public is not invited.
01:55It's the annual Hall of Fame evening for the business monthly Manager Magazine.
02:00Hardly any other occasion in Germany draws as many wealthy business owners.
02:06Esteemed presenters, dear jury members, dear ladies and gentlemen,
02:10welcome to Manager Magazine's Hall of Fame.
02:14When we first founded the Hall of Fame in 1992,
02:17we wanted to take a stand for excellence and unconditional entrepreneurship
02:22and against faintheartedness in the business world.
02:25We wanted to show the world what we can do,
02:29We wanted to take a stand for excellence and unconditional entrepreneurship
02:33and against faintheartedness and averageness.
02:37We begin our nominations today with Ralf Dommermuth.
02:40His company, United Internet, is valued at around 11 billion
02:44and on our list of Germany's richest people, he ranks 25th
02:48with a personal wealth of 4.5 billion euros.
02:53Collectively, the guests at this elegant evening are worth billions of euros.
03:02This is the face of wealth in Germany, mainly male.
03:06And although we're close to the super-rich here,
03:09their world remains somehow out of reach.
03:14Hamburg, home to Manager Magazine's parent company, the Spiegel Group.
03:19Hardly any publication keeps closer tabs on Germany's ultra-rich.
03:23Every year, the magazine's team gathers information on wealthy Germans
03:27and, using the Forbes model, makes a special edition
03:30with a list of Germany's 1,001 richest people.
03:35It's painstaking work.
03:39How many billionaires are there in the world?
03:42180? 190? Last year it was 136, right?
03:46No, last year it was around 170.
03:49170, okay.
03:51Someone who wants to get on our list of 1,001 richest Germans
03:55needs to have around 100 million euros.
03:58That's a lot of money.
04:00Someone who wants to get on our list of 1,001 richest Germans
04:03needs to have around 100 million.
04:06That doesn't have to be money in the bank.
04:08Most people have it as assets or as property.
04:10But that's the ballpark we're looking for,
04:12to be on our list of the richest Germans.
04:21Editor-in-chief Steffen Klossmann
04:23has been around Germany's ultra-wealthy for years.
04:28What does it take to get on the list?
04:33I'd say that the top 150 spots on our list
04:36will always go to company owners and heirs.
04:39Even if you're a chief physician,
04:41you'll need to see a whole lot of patients to become a billionaire.
04:45Managers also have a hard time getting that high up.
04:48Here in Germany, there's a debate
04:50about whether the heads of DAX companies earn too much.
04:54But if you compare it to what people in similar posts
04:57in the US, the UK or China earn, it's peanuts.
05:03So that alone can't ever make you one of the truly ultra-rich.
05:14Creating a list of the wealthiest people
05:16is especially difficult in Germany,
05:18though not because there aren't enough of them.
05:25He somehow managed to amass this huge empire and fortune
05:29in just a few years.
05:31His wealth is estimated to be around four billion.
05:34He's the least-known super-rich German.
05:37Would he let us interview him at home?
05:39They prefer to fly under the radar to avoid envy.
05:43The super-rich don't like to out themselves, so to speak.
05:49Yeah, you can normally only get interviews inside the homes
05:52with second-tier ones.
05:54There you'll always get guys who get a kick out of publicity,
05:58like Mr. Maschmeyer and such.
06:01Getting a good shot of Mr. Maschmeyer is never a problem.
06:06But the real money keeps itself hidden.
06:13The super-rich try to go unnoticed.
06:15Sometimes they even try to hide.
06:17There are no photos of several people on our list.
06:20You won't find a single picture if you go online and Google them.
06:24There hasn't been a photo of the Reimanns,
06:26Germany's richest family, for decades.
06:29Many stay hidden because they want to live normal lives
06:32and think that they won't be able to do so
06:34if they're known to be multi-billionaires.
06:40For months, our interview requests were rejected,
06:43agreed film shoots were cancelled last minute.
06:46None of the rich wanted to talk to us about money.
06:51Finally, we got lucky in the financial hub Frankfurt.
06:54Here, in a prime location, tucked behind the bank towers,
06:57sits the asset management company Vorkam.
07:00Vorkam manages German business families' fortunes.
07:04Its chairman, Christian von Bechtolzheim,
07:07provided some insight as to why rich Germans are so shy.
07:14Many wealthy Germans are reluctant
07:17about stepping out into the public eye
07:20because they're afraid they could be seen negatively.
07:23They ask themselves,
07:25what do I get from showing myself to the public?
07:28It doesn't give me anything.
07:30On the contrary, it could lead to some crazy person taking note
07:34and breaking into my home or kidnapping one of my children.
07:37And those fears are not unwarranted.
07:41Then, there's also the fact
07:44that many heirs are inheriting fortunes
07:47that are somehow tainted by or related to the Third Reich.
07:55The upper tier of rich Germans
07:58avoids publicity as if it were the plague.
08:03But what are they so afraid of?
08:07I asked a number of my friends
08:10whether they'd like to be interviewed for this film,
08:13and each one said no.
08:15They'd say, someone else can do that better than me,
08:18I can't do it right, and I might come across wrong.
08:21They think they'd have much more to lose than to gain.
08:28After a lot of back and forth with his press team,
08:31one ultra-rich German did agree to meet us.
08:34Michael Otto is the chairman of the supervisory board of the Otto Group
08:38and one of the ten richest Germans.
08:44We asked him why Germans are reluctant to show off their wealth.
08:51Many worry doing so would lead to envy.
08:54In the US, achievement and wealth are seen in a highly positive way.
09:00But here they carry a bitter aftertaste.
09:03Where does his fortune come from, or how did he get his wealth?
09:07That scares some off.
09:11I think a lot of people find their own wealth a little nauseating.
09:15I don't at all. I like it.
09:20Dirk Hossmann grew up poor.
09:22His mother ran a small drugstore in post-war Hanover.
09:25Her son had bigger plans.
09:28In 1972, the idea of opening the first self-service drugstore
09:32in Germany came to him.
09:34Today, he's a multi-billionaire.
09:36Why was he happy to step into the spotlight?
09:42In the early years, it was just about getting the name Hossmann out there.
09:47So when I was invited to a talk show on a small regional channel,
09:51I liked going because I thought, free publicity for my company.
09:56But then, two or three years ago, I started to understand
10:00that this slightly flabby, balding man, whose teeth aren't perfect,
10:05was hungry for recognition himself.
10:09Back then, I thought I was stepping into the limelight to promote the company.
10:13But everyone rationalizes their motives, and I did too.
10:18Within 40 years, Hossmann became the most profitable drugstore chain in Europe,
10:23with stores in six countries.
10:27In 2018, a total of 56,000 people were working on the chain.
10:34Hossmann is active in other business areas as well,
10:37and he speculates on the stock market.
10:48I have a couple of private equity investments.
10:51The largest is valued at between 80 and 100 million,
10:54depending on the stock rate.
10:56So it's a fair sum.
10:58There are also shares.
11:00In different industries.
11:02To list them all would be boring.
11:08You're still referred to as an SME.
11:11What does that mean?
11:14You're still referred to as an SME.
11:17Small Medium Enterprise.
11:19Why do you think that's so?
11:21I don't really know.
11:24With 55,000 employees, you're not really a medium enterprise anymore.
11:28You're in another league.
11:33We're back at Manager Magazine in Hamburg,
11:36where photos for the special issue are being selected.
11:40The list of the richest Germans
11:42includes a notably high number of company owners
11:45from the so-called medium-sized businesses.
11:48It's a German peculiarity.
11:50And it's not the only one.
11:53The cover story for this current issue
11:55is that last year money rained down on Germany's super-rich.
12:01Up here we have the Schefflers, the matriarch and her son,
12:05who now owns 80%.
12:07Germany has kept only 20.
12:09The Schefflers have been at the top of our list for many, many years.
12:12I'd have to check exactly how much they're worth,
12:14but around 20 billion, give or take a bit.
12:17Down here we have Ms. Bargeltraer, head of the Henkel clan.
12:21She's the first and so far only woman chairman
12:24of the supervisory board of one of the 30 DAX companies.
12:28Germany's economy is still extremely male-dominated.
12:32What's interesting is if you compare our list here
12:35of ultra-rich in the US, we have a lot of old money,
12:38old companies that have been around for decades.
12:41In the US you have all those lads,
12:43from Facebook, Google, Snapchat and so forth,
12:46that have bubbled up to the top of the list.
12:48We don't have that type of thing here.
12:51And compared with other countries,
12:53Germans are very reticent about showing their wealth.
12:57Very few Germans sail around in boats like this.
13:01Usually that's Americans, Russians, Chinese and so on.
13:05Here you don't really show your money.
13:07You might have various houses, villas and such,
13:09but there's likely to be a Volkswagen parked out front.
13:14It seems the average ultra-wealthy German is rarely conspicuous.
13:19Unlike in the US, athletes, actors and TV personalities
13:23rarely make it onto the German list.
13:27Even though we put a great deal of love and sweat
13:29into estimating these fortunes, they're probably much bigger.
13:33Especially if we're talking about urban real estate,
13:36where prices have exploded over the past ten years.
13:39A lot of people have doubled their property assets.
13:42So if you started with 5 billion in that market,
13:45you're likely to have 10 or 15 billion today.
13:50Money makes money.
13:52But while rich Germans' fortunes have exploded
13:55since the financial crisis due to the increase in value
13:58of real estate, stocks and assets,
14:00those with average incomes have had to swallow losses.
14:05Even liberal economics institutes are concerned
14:07about social inequality in Germany.
14:10How do the super-rich see this disparity?
14:16The headline in the newspaper reads
14:18the rich are getting richer and richer.
14:20Which is true. The rich are getting richer.
14:22Yes, it's true.
14:24But it's also false.
14:26There are 20 million citizens in Germany
14:29who have assets worth between 100,000 and 1 million.
14:33So millions of people are getting richer.
14:36Now, the rich are getting richer even faster,
14:39because one factor is probably that they can dedicate
14:42much more time to increasing their wealth.
14:46Sarah Wagenknecht of the left party
14:48would likely say split up your wealth.
14:50But my response is I also do things for the world which I live in.
14:53I don't just take. I'm not a socialist though.
14:56I can only do things because I have things.
15:05Michael Otto is one of the rich whose wealth has increased.
15:08He successfully transitioned his mail order business
15:11into a digital enterprise.
15:13Over 20 companies now belong to the Otto Group.
15:17We wanted to know how Otto sees the debate about rich and poor.
15:22Do the rich understand the worries of the poor?
15:28When people talk about those on top
15:30who don't understand those at the bottom,
15:32I wouldn't say that applies to me.
15:35Because I was not born rich.
15:37I came to Hamburg as a refugee from West Prussia
15:40and my father had to start from scratch.
15:45That's why I absolutely do understand
15:47people living in poverty today.
15:51On the other hand, I'd also say that
15:53if Germany is getting more and more millionaires,
15:55meaning people with small or medium-sized businesses,
15:58because generally the millionaires in question
16:01did build a business they now run,
16:03then I think that's great.
16:06Because they're the people creating jobs.
16:08For me, that's what should matter in this debate.
16:11We should focus on that and not rich versus poor.
16:16Ensuring that the wealth of rich families
16:18can increase despite current zero-interest rates
16:21is the mission of Christian von Bechtholzhain's company.
16:31Each day, he and his employees send out investment opportunities
16:34from banks and other entities
16:36given exclusively to his wealthy clients.
16:41This is a way to present an offer
16:43to just a handful of valued clients and focum.
16:49Is it fair that rich Germans are able to increase their wealth
16:53while the rest of the population gets left behind?
17:02I think it's difficult to apply terms like equity and fairness
17:05to the distribution of wealth.
17:07I would say that here in Germany,
17:09we're better off than ever before.
17:11And people here live a much better life.
17:14Nonetheless, we have to make sure
17:16the gap between rich and poor doesn't get too wide
17:19because we don't want social conflicts
17:21like in the U.S. or Latin America to happen here.
17:26Von Bechtholzhain's company Focum
17:28is a so-called multi-family office.
17:30Family offices take care of the needs of very wealthy families,
17:33managing and increasing their assets.
17:36It only makes sense to use family offices
17:38when it comes to managing and increasing wealth.
17:41Well, a family office like ours
17:43obviously can't discuss its clients.
17:45We have well-known German business families.
17:48That's our typical client profile.
17:52Someone who is or was a company owner
17:55thinks differently to someone
17:57who has spent their life as an employee.
18:00So we have to be very careful
18:02about how we approach our clients.
18:04We have to be very careful
18:06about how we approach our clients.
18:08Or they are families who have had money for a long time,
18:11so wealth is, so to speak, in their genes.
18:18And then there are families
18:20who have just come into their wealth,
18:22who are still pumping with entrepreneurial energy.
18:25They're usually quite different from heirs.
18:29Rainer Schaller seems to have plenty
18:31of this entrepreneurial energy.
18:33His company is MAGFIT,
18:35Europe's largest fitness studio chain.
18:38Its headquarters are in an old baking factory in Berlin.
18:42Rainer Schaller started off small,
18:44but today his wealth is valued at 250 million euros.
18:50The company has been in business
18:52for more than 50 years.
18:54Today his wealth is valued at 250 million euros.
19:06I was born near Bamberg and grew up in a small village.
19:10Normally in villages you do the sports available.
19:13And when I was around 15, 16,
19:15my role models were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Stallone.
19:18That's how I came to the fitness world.
19:21Schaller went from secondary school
19:23to a salesman apprenticeship
19:25and became the manager of three supermarkets.
19:28Then he decided to start something new.
19:32When I was 25, I decided to switch to the fitness industry.
19:36My idea was to open a gym where anyone could train,
19:40no matter his or her income.
19:42That was the initial idea, and I had big goals.
19:45I wanted to be number one in Europe,
19:47but that's all I had.
19:49I didn't have financing.
19:51It was 1997 when Schaller opened his first fitness studio
19:55in Würzburg, close to his home village.
19:58He made use of some unusual methods.
20:04Würzburg was a big step for me.
20:06I opened my first fitness studio there under the slogan
20:09Now Also in Würzburg,
20:11which people saw through as a marketing gag.
20:14Because customers came to me and asked where else we had studios.
20:18So I gave it some thought and came up with the next marketing gag.
20:22Soon Also in Erlangen.
20:24That did the job and also put me on track
20:27to going from Würzburg to Erlangen.
20:29And then it grew from there.
20:33Ten years later, Rainer Schaller reached his goal.
20:37He's number one in Europe and still expanding.
20:40McFit now owns ten fitness companies,
20:43as well as its own model agency.
20:45Meanwhile, Schaller is getting ready to open fitness studios in the US.
20:55Getting to be number one is much easier than staying number one.
20:59I think if you want to be successful,
21:01you need to be a bit of an alpha animal inside.
21:08The investor would probably pick a brand and say,
21:11that could work, I like it,
21:13although it's probably two steps too far for many.
21:16But if someone doesn't want to get involved with us because of it,
21:20so what?
21:25I'm convinced that you have an easier time
21:28if you've fought your way to the top and to success.
21:31Clients feel it, and so do partners.
21:34I think that's our situation.
21:36Which is why I can also imagine that someone who inherits something
21:40and takes over, or even has to take over a company
21:43in the second or third generation, will have a much tougher time.
21:51But there are plenty of heirs in Germany.
21:54Huge fortunes and thousands of companies
21:57have been passed from one generation to the next.
22:00There are heirs who don't want to,
22:02and others who shouldn't take over their parents' businesses.
22:06Succession is hugely important among Germany's richest.
22:09Michael Otto inherited the mail-order company from his father
22:13and successfully managed it.
22:16It will be harder for my children, though,
22:19because now the Otto Group has 123 companies in over 30 countries.
22:25I know every single company,
22:27either because I was involved when it was founded
22:30or because I led the takeover negotiation.
22:33But my children don't yet know the many companies.
22:37Otto's children have opted against direct succession.
22:42I think it's important to give your children the option,
22:45without pressuring them, so you don't force them into a role.
22:49I think that mistake is made often,
22:51and I'd say it's bad for both the children and the company.
23:00So now we have one point of sale.
23:03Burgwedel, are you a bit tired?
23:05Yes, it's been an exhausting couple of days.
23:08In ten minutes I'll be fine again.
23:10It was just bam, bam, bam, bam.
23:15Dirk Rossmann also spent a lot of time
23:17considering who his successor would be.
23:20It's now decided.
23:21Raoul Rossmann, the younger of his two sons,
23:24will take over as manager of the drugstore chain.
23:29Well, do we actually sell much yarn?
23:31It's not exactly part of a drugstore's range.
23:33The trend's sort of over.
23:34It was big in 2016, already fading in 2017,
23:37and it's been stagnating in 2018.
23:39But it's not the worst product we have,
23:41and it still brings in some revenue.
23:46Raoul's father had to show him the appeal of being in charge.
23:51When the boys got more engaged, I thought,
23:53oh, now we can't look as if the drugstore business
23:55is only about making money.
23:57So I showed them how we're all so active in social issues,
24:00in Africa and so forth.
24:03I've always showed my sons that what we do
24:05isn't just about making money.
24:07It's also about being responsible for others.
24:19As a child, I wanted to become a film director.
24:21That was always my dream. It still is today.
24:25I'd be thinking, no, I don't want him to be a director.
24:28I want him in the company.
24:30So I said, well, go ahead and become a director.
24:33But being a director of such a big company is also exciting.
24:36I did manipulate him a bit.
24:44I'm often asked whether I feel competitive toward my father.
24:47And sure, he built up this big company that I'll only take over.
24:50But it's really difficult to keep something going these days.
24:53The founding period has its own challenges.
24:56Just having the idea of founding a self-service drugstore
24:59was hugely innovative.
25:01But the fight to survive has gotten tougher,
25:03and that's the one I'm in.
25:12Everyone in my family wants to be good at sports.
25:15My father and I battle each other in tennis.
25:20We all compete with one another.
25:23And that's also shaped our view of life.
25:25Or mine, at least.
25:31Despite their competitiveness,
25:33the Rossmann family reached a harmonious agreement
25:36with regard to succession.
25:45Playing against Raoul wipes me out.
25:47I normally prefer playing doubles.
25:49That's much more appropriate for men my age.
25:52I'm starting to worry a bit about you.
25:54You worry about me?
25:56Raoul, with your inheritance, I wouldn't worry.
25:58I'd be looking forward to it.
26:02Selecting heirs and successors
26:04is usually not quite as amicable as at the Rossmanns.
26:08Christian von Bechtolsheim
26:10has seen many inheritance disputes in rich families.
26:13It's his job to preserve the family's assets
26:16and protect it from all sorts of dangers.
26:22Maintaining a family fortune over several generations
26:25is incredibly difficult,
26:27because it's under threat from being divvied up
26:29through inheritance, from wealth disputes,
26:31from expropriation, from wars,
26:34or simply from stupidity.
26:36Most families will have one or all of these happen to them.
26:39Only a handful of families
26:41have managed to stay more or less afloat over centuries.
26:44But those right on top
26:46have been switched out again and again.
26:49Von Bechtolsheim speaks from personal experience.
26:52His own family's history dates back 900 years.
26:57I have a horribly long name,
26:59at least on my birth certificate.
27:01There's my six given names,
27:03Christian, Lothar, Ludwig, Hugo, Wilhelm,
27:06and Maria, as a good Catholic,
27:08followed by Baron von Mauchenheim,
27:10genannt Bechtolsheim.
27:12But at work, I'm normally called Mr. von Bechtolsheim,
27:15and at social events, Baron or Lord Baron.
27:20Baron von Bechtolsheim is an indirect successor
27:23of the Fuggers, the richest family in German history.
27:29When does wealth begin for you?
27:32If you're asking me at what point
27:34I consider someone to be truly rich,
27:36I would say over 100 million.
27:39I am definitely not rich.
27:46But I'm comfortable,
27:48and our family is comfortable,
27:50and I'm certainly not complaining.
27:52When you have a family history as long as mine,
27:55your family has seen everything.
27:57Near bankruptcy,
27:59times of poverty,
28:01and even the worst of it.
28:03He takes us to the hunting lodge
28:05of the Bechtolsheim family in Thüringen.
28:10It looked like the lodge had been lost forever
28:13during the division of Germany.
28:17The house was built in 1893.
28:19It was built by the Bechtolsheim family,
28:22and it was built by the Bechtolsheim family,
28:25and it was built by the Bechtolsheim family,
28:28and it was built by the Bechtolsheim family,
28:31The house was built in 1892 as a hunting lodge
28:34for my great-great-granduncles.
28:37It's been in the family ever since,
28:39except for a short interval.
28:43It was expropriated in 1952,
28:46and then restituted in 1992.
28:49And since then, I've owned it.
28:56The family's hunting lodge survived expropriation
28:59and socialism without much damage.
29:03Today, von Bechtolsheim also owns
29:05hundreds of hectares of forest nearby,
29:08and regularly invites business acquaintances for hunts.
29:13Many of the trophies are mine,
29:15but several also come from my father,
29:18and some from my great-granduncle.
29:21That leopard down there?
29:23I didn't shoot him.
29:25That was my great-granduncle.
29:27And then my dogs chewed off his ears.
29:29So he no longer has his former beauty.
29:32But he's too precious not to keep.
29:37A recurring topic in the special issues
29:39of the Manager magazine
29:41are the super-wealthy's networks.
29:45There are larger and smaller networks,
29:47and there are a lot of them,
29:49and most even we journalists don't know about.
29:51In high society, there are certain typical hobbies.
29:54Horse racing, hockey, a bit of tennis,
29:57though that's almost old school.
30:00They'll meet in the boxes at major football stadiums,
30:03because of course they're all football fans.
30:05Football is huge.
30:07A lot of networking happens there.
30:09That's like their marketplace.
30:11They mingle and meet there
30:13more than at so-called parties for the rich.
30:25Yes, good!
30:32We always have a lot of employees here.
30:34We have a lot of friends in the box.
30:36Christian Pfeiffer is here today,
30:38Germany's most famous criminologist.
30:42Sometimes Jogi Löw or someone from politics comes by.
30:45Christian Wulf and Bettina
30:47are part of my close circle of friends.
30:49So there's always lots going on here.
30:55In Berlin, Rainer Schaller is opening a new club,
30:59a new branch of his fitness empire.
31:01Schaller also has become a member
31:03in the network of important people
31:05from the sports, business and entertainment industries.
31:16It's true, it's a close circle that's hard to get into.
31:19Sure, my friends are here,
31:21money attracts success,
31:23and success attracts money.
31:25I do believe that.
31:27I've experienced myself
31:29how you can suddenly connect with people
31:31previously out of reach.
31:33I am in a different position now.
31:41Hey, Rainer, young man!
31:43How are you?
31:45I'm going to L.A. again next week.
31:47I heard you're moving.
31:49I'm going to L.A. and San Francisco.
31:51San Francisco, okay.
31:53Last week, yes.
31:55So now it's all good.
31:57Yes, yes.
31:59Goal!
32:03Dirk Rossmann is ready to leave his box.
32:06He wants to celebrate the victory with his friend,
32:09the billionaire and hearing aid company owner
32:11Martin Kindt.
32:13Kindt is also co-owner
32:15and president of Hanover 96.
32:17His box is located on the other end
32:19of the exclusive VIP area.
32:21I told you we'd win today.
32:25I told him that if we didn't win,
32:27he'd pay 10 million.
32:29That was the bet, right?
32:31I never said that.
32:33Here we have it.
32:35Two halfway decent men.
32:41Networks are important for business.
32:43But do the rich also have political clout?
32:46Can political influence be bought in Germany?
32:51The best way available for rich
32:53or super-rich people in Germany
32:55to exert influence is the number
32:57of employees working in their companies.
32:59Someone who owns a company
33:01with 100,000 employees,
33:03or let's say less, maybe 15,000 employees,
33:06can go to business associations and say,
33:09fine, go ahead and pass that law,
33:11but that will cost me.
33:13Or an even better argument is
33:15that will cost you 2,000 jobs in that area.
33:19But there are no super-rich people
33:21who regularly call up the ministers
33:23or Ms Merkel and say what needs to happen next,
33:26which tax laws they'd like and so on.
33:28That's not how things work here in Germany.
33:41The deadline for the special issue is approaching.
33:44The heart of it is the ranking
33:46of the 1,001 richest Germans.
33:49What do the rich think of this ranking?
33:54Those rankings are for entertainment.
33:56They're scraped together,
33:58sometimes using stock market quotations.
34:01But they aren't reliable in any real way.
34:08I don't think much of these rankings,
34:10and I didn't want to be included
34:12because it creates this impression
34:14of rich people being like Scrooge McDuck,
34:17that they have these money bins
34:19in which they wallow in their coins.
34:22The fact that I'm at the top of the rankings,
34:25including of the wealthiest Germans,
34:27does make me feel proud.
34:30I'll read Manager magazine every now and then,
34:33but I've never read the ranking.
34:35I don't know whether I'm in it.
34:37I don't need that. I have other goals.
34:42One of these is that Rainer Schaller
34:44now wants to open the world's largest
34:46fitness center in North Rhine-Westphalia.
34:50The Mirai is Japanese and means the future.
34:53We think it's a perfect fit
34:55for the whole concept and vision,
34:57because what we want to create here
34:59is truly unique and has never been done before.
35:01Our goal is to become the world's fitness center.
35:09Schaller thinks he's found the perfect location
35:11to realize his vision in Oberhausen.
35:18He's rented an old factory complex.
35:21At the moment, the space is still being used
35:23to make steel parts.
35:26But before long, thousands of customers
35:28will be exercising here.
35:32The emergency exits path will be here,
35:34and the office is on top.
35:38Schaller experienced his most traumatic experience
35:40to date in the area.
35:42In 2010, 21 people died,
35:44and 54 were injured in a stampede
35:46at the Love Parade in Duisburg.
35:49Schaller had been the parade's organizer.
35:52The cause of the panic has still not been
35:54conclusively determined.
35:56How does an entrepreneur in the fast lane
35:58deal with that kind of tragedy?
36:02An event like that will haunt you always
36:04for the rest of your life.
36:06I've got a moral responsibility.
36:08I was the organizer.
36:10If I could turn back time, I would do it,
36:12immediately, with the scale of what happened.
36:14But you can't make it undone.
36:16You have to try to deal with what happened.
36:23Dirk Rossmann has also seen setbacks and crises.
36:28In the 90s, we expanded dramatically
36:30into the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.
36:33I was also speculating on the stock markets
36:35a little too much and neglecting the company.
36:39Then, in 1996, we suddenly had a loss
36:41of 12 million Deutschmarks.
36:44The banks don't joke around if you're highly indebted
36:46and then you come in with huge losses.
36:48That was critical.
36:50Then I had a heart attack in 1996.
36:53But everyone knows that life can get tough,
36:55and things got very tough back then.
37:04So I dialed back a bit,
37:06avoiding stock speculation.
37:08I sold them all and thought,
37:10the only thing on my table now
37:12is pulling the Rossmann drugstore business
37:14through and up.
37:16It was the right move,
37:18to focus on one thing
37:20and not do so many different things.
37:25Rossmann emerged from that crisis
37:27stronger than ever.
37:29He started speculating again,
37:31but, so he assures us,
37:33only with his private wealth.
37:35So, let's see where Gazprom is.
37:42I don't have a laptop.
37:44I normally do this via NTV text.
37:46254.
37:48Here, it says,
37:50Gazprom is at 375.
37:52I could already sell those now.
37:54I bought 250,000 of those,
37:56so 250,000 times 20 cents,
37:58that would give me 50,000 euros profit.
38:01But I won't sell.
38:03Sometimes it works,
38:05sometimes it doesn't.
38:07But I enjoy it.
38:09That's why I don't play the lottery,
38:11because I find that boring.
38:19Can a large fortune
38:21also be a burden?
38:26I'd say that for most people,
38:28although they wouldn't voluntarily
38:30give away their money,
38:32the fact that they want it to grow
38:34can be a burden.
38:36They are controlled by their own assets.
38:38For example,
38:40they'll move to Switzerland
38:42or somewhere to save on taxes,
38:44and give up their entire circle of friends,
38:46and basically become a slave
38:48to their fortune.
38:50In my opinion,
38:52that's absurd
38:54considering the conditions
38:56we currently have in Germany.
38:59Conditions in Germany
39:01are currently more favorable than ever
39:03for the rich.
39:05They pay significantly less tax
39:07than they did 25 years ago.
39:09Only a minority still feels compelled
39:11to immigrate abroad.
39:17Article 14 of the German Constitution
39:19states,
39:21property entails obligations.
39:23Its use shall also serve
39:25the public good.
39:27How can the rich in Germany
39:29live up to this responsibility?
39:32I think it is important
39:34if you're successful,
39:36if you're lucky enough
39:38to have reached a certain level
39:40of prosperity and wealth,
39:42to give something back to society.
39:44For me, that's a given.
39:46Michael Otto is one of Germany's
39:48biggest donors.
39:50His money helps fund the environmental,
39:52cultural, and social sectors.
39:54Like most rich people,
39:56he spends his money on
39:58rather than leave that to the state.
40:00Otto, like many wealthy Germans,
40:02donated millions for the construction
40:04of the Erbphilharmonie in Hamburg.
40:06In Germany,
40:08wealthy people like to donate,
40:10and this makes important contributions
40:12to society and public life.
40:14But generally,
40:16they're against the proposal
40:18of redistributing wealth
40:20via higher taxes for the rich.
40:22If German businesses
40:24would yield to all the demands
40:26of, let's say,
40:28Ms. Wagenknecht of the Left Party,
40:30then millions of people
40:32would be happy and things
40:34would be good for a while,
40:36because millions of people
40:38would have more money.
40:40But a true redistribution of wealth
40:42has never led to more social justice
40:44in the long term,
40:46not in any of the political systems
40:48that tried it.
40:50It led to the impoverishment
40:52of the so-called rich tax.
40:54I don't think much about this
40:56so-called rich tax for two reasons.
40:58Firstly, the terminology alone
41:00is stigmatizing,
41:02and we in Germany should avoid that.
41:04And secondly, the rich tax
41:06wouldn't do any good.
41:08On the contrary,
41:10it would cut into the backbone
41:12of the German economy.
41:14Because the typical German rich person
41:16is a medium-sized business owner.
41:18They make up the backbone
41:20of the German economy.
41:24The special issue is ready.
41:26Things have basically
41:28stayed the same.
41:30The rich have a few billion more.
41:32The richest 1% of Germans
41:34now has personal wealth
41:36worth a quarter of the country's assets,
41:38while a quarter of adults
41:40have no wealth or are in debt.
41:42For this report,
41:44we never really got access
41:46to the world of the wealthiest Germans.
41:48They lie silently under the radar,
41:50away from the public eye,
41:52until the next awards ceremony.
42:18Music
42:20Music
42:22Music
42:24Music