Bruno Ewald Steinhoff (born November 1937) is a German

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

businessman, the founder of

Steinhoff International Steinhoff International was a multinational corporation, multinational holding company that was dual listed in Germany and South Africa. It was officially delisted in October 2023. Its holdings were in the retail sector, primarily in furnitur ...

, a South African-based international retail

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

, and its executive chairman until September 2008. He is now a non-executive director, and a member of the supervisory board.

Early life

Bruno Steinhoff was born in November 1937.

Career

Steinhoff started his career in furniture in 1964 in

Westerstede Westerstede (; Low German: ''Westerstäe'') is the capital of the Ammerland district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km northwest of Oldenburg. It is known for hosting the Rhodo Festival, the biggest exhibition of ...

, Germany. He started by sourcing furniture from Eastern Europe and selling it in Western Europe, and began manufacturing in 1989. Steinhoff International is Europe's second largest furniture retailer, after

Ikea IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...

Personal life

Steinhoff lives in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa. His daughter Angela Krüger-Steinhoff is a member of the supervisory board of Steinhoff International.

References

1937 births Living people German expatriates in South Africa German company founders 20th-century German businesspeople German billionaires South African billionaires {{SouthAfrica-bio-stub