Michael Otto (born 12 April 1943), is the chairman of the supervisory board of Germany's

Otto Group The Otto Group (Otto GmbH & Co. KGaA) is a German retail company based in Hamburg that operates companies worldwide in the retail, e-commerce, financing, logistics and mail order sectors. In 2023, the Group generated sales of €16.2 billion and ...

, one of world's largest

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

companies, with €15.6 billion in revenue in 2021.

Early life

He earned doctorates from the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

and the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

Career

was founded by his father, the late Werner Otto, as a mail-order business in Hamburg in 1949. They were the former owners of Spiegel, Inc. (the parent company of

Eddie Bauer Eddie Bauer LLC is an American outdoor recreation brand and chain store headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. Eddie Bauer sells its merchandise via retail stores, outlet stores, online, and via telephone. The company also license ...

and former owners of

Spiegel catalog Spiegel was an United States of America, American direct marketing retailer founded in 1865 by Joseph Spiegel. Spiegel published a catalog, like its competitors Sears, Aldens, and Montgomery Ward, which advertised various brands of apparel, ac ...

), which filed for bankruptcy on 17 March 2003. On 25 May 2005, Spiegel, Inc. emerged from bankruptcy, was renamed Eddie Bauer Holdings, and is now owned primarily by

Commerzbank The Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft (shortly known as Commerzbank AG or Commerzbank ) is a European Financial institution, banking institution headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. It offers services to private and entrepreneurial c ...

. The Otto Group no longer has any stake in the company. Otto and his family own extensive real estate in Canada and in the United States, shopping centers in Germany and part of home-furnishings chain

Crate & Barrel Euromarket Designs Inc., doing business as Crate & Barrel (stylized as Crate&Barrel), is an international furniture and home décor retail store headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois. They employ 8200 employees across over 100 stores in the Uni ...

. Known as a committed

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

, his company has long touted environmentally safe products. In 1993, he created the Michael Otto Foundation (German: Michael Otto Stiftung). This foundation played, and is still playing, an important role in furthering multi-stakeholder dialogue on hot environmental issues. Otto is also a member of the

World Future Council The World Future Council (WFC) is a German non-profit foundation with its headquarters in Hamburg. It works to pass on a healthy and sustainable planet with just and peaceful societies to future generations. FuturePolicy.org The futurepol ...

. Otto is president of the Foundation 2°, which promotes a transition towards a carbon-free economic system. He once stated about this transition: "Understanding climate protection as a modernisation project for the economy can now play an important role in overcoming the consequences of the Corona crisis – and at the same time help to avoid profound negative impacts of the climate crisis."

Personal life

Otto is married, with two children, and lives in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany.

References

External links

Michael Otto Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto, Michael Living people 1943 births 20th-century German businesspeople 21st-century German businesspeople German billionaires German businesspeople in retailing German environmentalists Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Otto family People from Chełmno People from West Prussia University of Hamburg alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni