► BMW heiress Johanna Quandt 1926-2015
► Quandt family control 47% of BMW stock
► We look at her legacy
The head of the Quandt family, Johanna Quandt, has died, leaving the 47% stake it owns in BMW to her children. She was 89.
She was the widow of Herbert Quandt, who propped up the Munich car maker after World War 2 when it was on the cusp of bankruptcy, staving off a bid from rival Daimler. The family has stuck by BMW and, eventually, that resilience made them a fortune.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index puts her net worth at $11.5 billion, making her the eighth richest person in Germany.
What will happen to BMW’s shares owned by the Quandt family?
There is no immediate change to BMW’s stock, Munich clarified after Quandt’s death on Monday 3 August 2015. Her shareholding will be passed to her two children, Stefan Quandt – BMW’s deputy chairman – and Sussane Klatten. They now hold 26% and 21% of the company’s shares, respectively.
Johanna Quandt served on the BMW supervisory board until 1997 and retained a close interest in the fortunes of the car maker right until her death this week.