What Was Erivan Haub’s Net Worth?
Erivan Haub was a German entrepreneur who had a net worth of $5.7 billion at the time of his death in 2018. During his life, Erivan Haub was one of the richest people in Germany. The Haub clan still owns the Tengelmann Group, one of the largest retailers and leading investors in start-ups in Germany today. Erivan Haub has derived the bulk of his wealth from the group and was best known as former manager and partial owner of Tengelmann. The family set up the business more than 140 years ago, and today it is run by Erivan’s sons. Haub joined the family business in 1963, and six years later, upon the death of his uncle Karl Schmitz-Scholl, he became the group’s managing director. In 2000, he handed over the CEO position to his son Karl-Erivan, after which he entered the supervisory board. Haub’s other son, Christian W. E. Haub, is also involved in the family business, serving as co-CEO of Tengelmann as well as chairman of the Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment firm Emil Capital Partners. However, Erivan Haub earned the credit for the company’s significant expansion. Under his helm, the company took over the Kaiser’s grocery store in 1971, and in 1972, the group founded Plus, a discount grocery. In the late 1970s, Haub also concentrated on international growth which led to the taking over of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company in 1979.
Early Life
Erivan Haub was born Erivan Karl Matthias Haub on September 29, 1932, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Erivan was the son of Elisabeth Schmitz-Scholl and Erich Haub. The Schmitz-Scholl family owned the Tengelmann grocery chain. Haub earned an Economics degree from the University of Hamburg, and he completed two internships in the USA prior to his graduation, at Chicago’s Jewel Tea company and La Habra, California’s Alpha-Beta company.
Career
After college, Haub and his wife, Helga, moved to the U.S., settling in Tacoma, Washington. Erivan was at one time said to be the sixth-richest man in America. In 1963, Haub joined his family’s business, and after his uncle Karl Schmitz-Scholl (who had no children) died in 1969, Erivan became the managing director of the Tengelmann Group. He focused the business on the retail trade, and when he was in charge, the Tengelmann Group expanded, taking over the Kaiser’s grocery chain in 1971 and founding a discount grocery retailer called Plus in 1972. The Tengelmann Group later began focusing on international business and acquired The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company in 1979. In 2000, Haub handed the reins over to his son Karl-Erivan and joined the company’s supervisory board.
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Personal Life
Erivan wed Helga Otto in 1958. They welcomed three sons together: Karl-Erivan, Georg, and Christian. Karl-Erivan was declared dead in 2021, three years after he disappeared in the Swiss Alps, but in April 2024, it was reported that he “may have faked his own death to live with his alleged mistress in Moscow.” Erivan died a month prior to his son’s disappearance, passing away at the age of 85 on March 6, 2018, in Pinedale, Wyoming.
Honors
In 1988, Saint Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania named the Haub School of Business in Erivan’s honor. The University of Wyoming named the Helga Otto Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources in honor of Erivan’s wife.
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