Dirk Erich Markus (born January 15, 1971) is a German-born

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

. He is a founding partner of private equity investment group

Aurelius The gens Aurelia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which flourished from the third century BC to the latest period of the Empire. The first of the Aurelian gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Aurelius Cotta in 252 BC. From then to the ...

. From an initial investment of €500,000 invested in 2005, Markus created one of Europe's largest private equity and asset management groups with revenues in the double digit billions across various investment segments.

Early life

Markus was born in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to parents Manfred and Ingrid Markus. As a child he moved to Austria where his father was professor of Anglistics at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

and his mother was a teacher. Markus studied

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

with a minor in Russian at the

University of St. Gallen The University of St. Gallen (HSG) is a research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland, that specialises in business administration, economics, law, international affairs, and computer science. It was established in 1898. It consistent ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He received his doctorate in "Strategic Cooperation in the Multimedia Industry" from St. Gallen and was a visiting

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Career

Markus started his career as a

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

with

McKinsey McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinsey ...

, where he focused on cost reduction as well as growth programs. He then founded Mercateo, an online business procurement platform where he was responsible for finance and corporate development. Following the sale of Mercateo to German utility

E.ON E.ON SE is a European multinational electric utility company based in Essen, Germany. It operates as one of the world's largest investor-owned electric utility service providers. The name originates from the Latin word '' aeon'', derived from ...

, he co-founded a publicly owned industrial holding company. Together with Gert Purkert, Markus co-founded investment company

in 2005. With startup capital of €500,000, they began acquiring companies in special situations and in periods of radical change. Today, Aurelius is a well-known global private equity group. Through various funds and investment vehicles Aurelius is currently invested in almost 50 portfolio companies worldwide.

Personal life

Markus moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 2013 and this is where he currently lives. In 1988, he set the tyrolean track & field record for 3×1000 m in the men's under-18 category. This record is still held today. In addition, Markus is a passionate racing

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

, completing the 2017 Castle Ride in Tonbridge, Kent, at a time of 08:03:32. Markus is also an avid art collector and has a collection of over 350 socialist propaganda posters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Markus, Dirk 1971 births Living people People from Regensburg German company founders University of St. Gallen alumni 21st-century German businesspeople German expatriates in Switzerland