He is at the head of a German billionaire company: Hans Georg Näder is the CEO of the Otto Bock group of companies. He is already the third generation to lead the family business. The story is a long one: more than 100 years ago, in 1919, Otto Bock founded the company in Berlin with the vision of improving customers’ lives and creating a better quality of life. The demand was enormous: during the First World War, there were many who were now in need of medical support in the form of prostheses and other orthopedic products. The company experienced tremendous growth in the first few years, improving technology and growing from strength to strength.
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 company. 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.
The numbers speak for themselves: there are 60 locations worldwide and more than 340 research centers working on the further development of products. The entire Otto Bock group of companies is an employer for more than 8000 people. In 2019, a turnover of more than 1 billion euros was generated. The family-owned company is the world market leader in the field of prosthetics.
It is hardly surprising that Hans Georg Näder’s private assets also represent a considerable sum: According to “Forbes,” his fortune is estimated at over 3 billion euros. He likes to go out for chic meals, for example at his favorite restaurant “Borchardt” in Berlin. This is also where he met his girlfriend at the time, Nathalie Scheil. However, due to a “breach of trust,” the wedding fell through and the couple separated. Näder also likes to see himself as a warm host and always serves his guests only the best of the best. He celebrated his 60th birthday, for example, on the Pilion peninsula off the Greek coast. Almost 200 guests were invited. Bild 7 Februar 2018
Näder also has another expensive hobby: sailing. One of his luxury yachts even holds a world record. The “Pink Gin VI“ is the longest sailing ship in the world made of carbon. From bow to stern, the ship measures just under 54 meters in length. At the moment, however, the 45-million yacht is for sale.
To finance this lifestyle, Näder has reached into the company’s coffers several times in recent years to take out equity. This is nothing unusual in itself and every managing director and shareholder is free to do so. However, in some years the withdrawals exceeded the profits generated. In 2012, Näder withdrew about 50 million euros from the company for private purposes. However, the profit was only a fraction of this, at 10.8 million. In 2015, another withdrawal followed, this time it was just under 100 million. Over the last few years, this has resulted in a steady decline in the equity ratio. In every business administration course, however, students are taught that the equity ratio is a very important indicator. It tells capital providers and investors how economically stable a company is. A solid company has about 30 percent. Business Insider 7 July 2021