Hans Georg Näder is a German entrepreneur, businessman and third-generation CEO of the Otto Bock group of companies, which was founded in Berlin in 1919 by Otto Bock, Näder’s grandfather. His father, Max Näder, preceded him at the helm of the company, handing over management of the billion-dollar corporation to him in 1990.
Hans Georg Näder was born an only child on September 4 in Duderstadt, Lower Saxony. Näder initially attended elementary school in Duderstadt before transferring to the Eichsfeld High School in 1972, where he also completed his Abitur. As a child, Hans Georg spent his weekends in the company offices. It was already clear to him then that the company was to accompany him his whole life. Back then as a playground - today as a workplace. He also spent his youth in Eichsfeld, and it went the way it normally did in the 70s and 80s - with mopeds and parties, but still rather conservative. He is also very sporty at a young age, interested in sailing, tennis and skiing.
After graduating from high school, he completed an internship in his father’s company, which further strengthened his interest in business. It was clear from an early age that Hans Georg would eventually follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. The expectations are high. Therefore, in 1981, after finishing his school career, he decided to study business administration at the Friedrich Alexander University in Nuremberg-Erlangen, which he completed in 1988. Now the time had come to focus completely on the Otto-Bock company. He joined the company. Bundesinnungsverband Orthopädie Technik
In 1990, the time had finally come: Max Näder handed over the business to his son. At just 28 years old, Hans Georg Näder is now CEO of the billion-dollar group. The criticisms from outside are great. “How is such a young guy with no orthopedic technical training, who has just graduated, supposed to run such a large company?” Admittedly, these thoughts are not entirely unjustified. But Näder had better prove it to all the critics. Under his leadership, the company continued to develop rapidly. With the turn of the millennium in mind, Näder introduced new fields of operation. These included, for example, the field of EDP technology. This was to be the foundation stone for the digitalization service provider Sycor. Otto Bock Holding GmbH was now positioned in the health care, plastics and IT sectors and was able to demonstrate and realize enormous growth potential.
Under Naeder’s leadership, the family-owned company rose to become the global market leader in prosthetics. He was able to increase annual sales from 100 million to over 1 billion euros. Worldwide, the company employs over 8000 people in 51 countries.
Naeder’s determination and entrepreneurial spirit are not only reflected in these figures. At the beginning of 2005, he was appointed honorary professor for entrepreneurship and business administration at the Private University of Applied Sciences. He also established the Orthobionics degree program at the university of applied sciences. Since 2009, he has been giving guest lectures as a professor at Capital Medical University in Beijing. His other awards include, for example, the German Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2003 in the field of industry, The Manager of the Year Award 2009 from KMA or the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class 2019. His assets are estimated at around two billion euros. Wikipedia