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BMW is one of the largest business enterprises in Germany, yet it is often not known who actually owns the company. This question is not easy to answer because BMW is a public limited company.
Who owns BMW AG?
Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft (BMW AG) is one of the largest business enterprises in Germany and is headquartered in Munich.
- In 1917, Bayerische Motorenwerke GmbH was formed from the Rapp Motorenwerke. The founders were Ralf Rapp and Gustav Otto.
- In1918 the GmbH was converted into an AG.
- Günther Quandt profited enormously from share trading in the post-war period. His son Herbert Quandt increased his ownership of BMW shares to almost 50 percent in 1959/1960.
- When Herbert Quandt died in 1982, Johanna Quandt (Herbert Quandt’s third wife) inherited the majority of BMW shares.
- After Johanna Quandt died in 2015, Susanne Klatten and Stefan Quandt formally became heirs to the BMW shares. However, Johanna Quandt had already made a tax-saving gift of a large part of the BMW ordinary shares to her two children in 2003 and 2008. This was not made public directly, however, as Johanna Quandt retained the voting rights until her death.
- Currently, Susanne Klatten and Stefan Quandt are the largest shareholders with a combined 46.8 per cent of all shares. Both currently also sit on the company’s Supervisory Board.
