Rolf Theiler (born November 5, 1957) is a Swiss businessman. He is the founder and co-owner of Mercedes CSI and chairman and president of Laureus Foundation Switzerland. Theiler is the former co-owner and chairman of BVG Management.

Early life & career

Rolf Theiler was born in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland in 1957, the youngest of three children. His father, Georges Theiler was an architect by trade. Theiler attended

SBS Swiss Business School SBS Swiss Business School is a private business school located in Zurich, Switzerland, with affiliated campuses in Latvia, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Argentina, India, Myanmar and Spain. History SBS Swiss Business School ...

in Zurich but left to focus on his professional show jumping career. After which he took over his father's business, BVG Management together with his older brother, Urs Theiler.

BVG Verwaltung

BVG Management is a property investment firm headquartered in

Thalwil Thalwil is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and town in the district of Horgen (district), Horgen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. The municipality includes two parts: Thalwil and Gatti ...

. The company was founded in 1964 by Georges Theiler and it is now managed by the second and third generation Theiler family. BVG is primarily focused on commercial and residential construction real-estate developments in Switzerland. Other areas of expertise; include structural

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

and real estate management services.

Laureus Foundation

In 2012 Theiler became president of the Laureus Foundation CH and is also on the board of trustees. The foundation is involved in more than 140 charitable projects in 46 countries, helping 1.5 million children worldwide. Theiler has helped raise millions to aid over 10,000 children per year in Switzerland with the help of his partners IWC,

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

Roland Berger Roland Berger (born 22 November 1937) is a German entrepreneur, consultant and philanthropist. Life Roland Berger was born in Berlin in 1937 as Robert Altmann; his family name changed later, after his father, Georg L. Berger, married his moth ...

, J. Safra Sarasin and Ochsner Sport. In 2014 Theiler founded the Laureus Cavallo 'Golf for Good' charity.

Mercedes CSI

Theiler founded CSI in 1988 with his brother Urs, together the pair used their own startup capital of roughly CHF 2 million to launch their first event, which attracted 21,000 spectators on its debut. According to Bilanz, today CSI is the largest and most lucrative indoor equestrian tournament in the world, with over one million spectators worldwide. It also hosts the

Grand Prix show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows are li ...

championship televised live by FEI TV.

has been a joint partner and sponsor of CSI since inception, other partners include Formula 1 Sauber, LGT, SRF,

Tages Anzeiger ''Tages-Anzeiger'' (), also abbreviated ''Tagi'' or ''TA'', is a Swiss German-language national daily newspaper published in Zurich, Switzerland. History and profile The paper was first published under the name ''Tages-Anzeiger für Stadt und Ka ...

and

Longines Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines (), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Agassiz family, Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss The Swatch G ...

Equestrian achievements

Theiler began riding professionally at the age of 13 for the Junior Swiss Team and at the age of 18 he won the

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

Championship for the Swiss National Team. He officially represented the Swiss National Team for 7 years, during which point he also won The Swiss Indoor Championship in 1977. Theiler has represented the Swiss Federation for over 20 years as the 'Chef d'Equipe' for the Swiss National Show Jumping Team, bringing his team to qualify for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. He is the official World Cup Organiser & Treasurer of the

International Federation for Equestrian Sports The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (, FEI) is the international sport governing body, governing body of equestrianism, equestrian sports. The FEI came into being following the Olympic Congress in Lausanne (SUI) in 1921 from May ...

(FEI). He was also made the honorary president of Swiss Top Sport and honorary senior committee member and treasurer of the 'Jumping Owners Club' (JOC). Theiler has worked closely with and sponsored several highly accomplished riders. These riders include,

Beat Mändli Beat Mändli (born 1 October 1969) is a Swiss equestrian and Olympic medalist. He won a silver medal in show jumping at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of ...

who rode Theiler's horse

Idéo du Thot Idéo du Thot is a bay Selle français. gelding, who competed internationally in showjumping, most notably with Swiss rider Beat Mändli. In 2007, Idéo du Thot and Mändli won the FEI Show Jumping World Cup Finals in Las Vegas. It was the second ...

finished 3rd in the 2006 FEI

Show Jumping World Cup The International Federation for Equestrian Sports, FEI Show Jumping World Cup is an annual international competition among the world’s best show jumping horses and riders. The series, created in 1978, today comprises 14 leagues on all contine ...

which took place in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

. He then went on to win the 2007 Rolex FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas. Idéo Du Thot a

Selle Français The Selle Français (SF) is a horse breed, breed of sport horse from France. An athletic horse with good horse gaits, gaits, it is usually bay (horse), bay or chestnut (coat), chestnut in color. The Selle Français was created in 1958 when se ...

also became Horse of the Year Switzerland in 2006 . Other high profile riders include Markus Fuchs and

Martin Fuchs Martin Fuchs (born 13 July 1992) is a Swiss Olympic show jumping rider. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he finished sixth in the team and ninth in the individual competition. In 2019 he won the individua ...

who rode one of Theiler's most prized horses, 'Principal' to win the

European Show Jumping Championships The FEI European Show Jumping Championships is the European Championship for the equestrian discipline of show jumping. First held in 1957 in Rotterdam, and on an annual basis, it is held every two years, in the years between Olympic Games and Wo ...

in 2012. Which subsequently led to an offer of over CHF 4 million prior to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Personal life

Theiler lives between his riding estate in

Kappel am Albis Kappel am Albis is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Affoltern (district), Affoltern in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. Its name of Kappel () is specified by "on the Al ...

and his coastal villa, Enigma Mansion in Cape Town, South Africa together with his wife Gloria Theiler. They have additional homes in

Knysna Knysna (; ) is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It is situated 60 kilometres east of the c ...

on the

Western Cape Province The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabi ...

Gandria Gandria is both a Quarter (country subdivision), quarter of the city of Lugano in the Switzerland, Swiss Ticino, canton of Ticino, and a village on the northern shore of Lake Lugano, which forms the core of that quarter. Until 2004, the quarter of ...

Lake Lugano Lake Lugano ( or , from ; ) is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated between Lake Como and Lago Maggiore. It was cited for the first t ...

and

Klosters Klosters is a Switzerland, Swiss village in the Prättigau, politically part of the Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of Klosters-Serneus, which belongs to the political district Prättigau/Davos Region, Prättigau/Davos in the Cantons o ...

where they own Chalet Eugenia.

References

External links

Website Chalet Eugenia (House in Switzerland)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theiler, Rolf 1957 births Living people Swiss businesspeople Swiss billionaires