Peter Christoph Spuhler (; born 9 January 1959) is a Swiss business magnate, industrialist and politician who most notably served on the

National Council (Switzerland) The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly (Switzerland), Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States (Switzerland), Council of States, represents the states, preventing mor ...

from 1999 to 2012 for the

Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (, SVP; , PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (, UDC; , UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in ...

. In 1989, Spuhler took-over

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail AG is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an original emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams, but moving also into Rapid transit, mass rapid transit, High-speed rail, high speed, Inter-city rail, interci ...

, which was founded by the grandfather of his first wife Ernst Stadler, and has served as its

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

1989 to 2017 and again on an ad interim basis from 2020 until 2023. He built the company almost from ground-up to a multinational concern with notable projects such as

Caltrain Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a commuter rail line in California, serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose, California, San Jose at the Tamien station with weekday r ...

in California. His net worth is estimated at $3.9 billion by

Forbes magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...

Early life and education

Spuhler was born 9 January 1959 in

Seville, Spain Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, the older of two children, to Paul Spuhler (1920–2014), a chef, and Margrit Spuhler (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Bossard; 1920–2017). His father was the

head chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads a kitchen and its cooks. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is a chef that manages multiple kitche ...

of the

Dolder Grand The Dolder Grand (formerly known as Grand Hotel Dolder) is a luxury hotel in the Swiss city of Zurich. It is located on Adlisberg hill, some from, and above, the city centre. Built in 1899, the hotel spreads out over and offers 173 rooms and s ...

Zurich, Switzerland Zurich (; ) is the 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 urban area was home to 1.45 ...

from 1960 to 1987. He has one younger sister, Maya Spuhler. After completing his Matura in Zurich, as well as

compulsory military service Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

, Spuhler 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 ...

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 ...

from 1980 to 1986. In his youth he played ice hockey for the

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional sports club, multisports club based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hopper ...

Professional career

Stadler Rail

After marrying into the Stadler family, Spuhler took up his position in 1987 at Stadler Fahrzeuge AG, which was then managed by Irma Stadler, the widow of company founder Ernst Stadler. Two years later, he took over the company with its 18 employees and a turnover of approx. 4.5 million Swiss francs, according to his statement with a bank loan from the Thurgauer Kantonalbank for around 5 million Swiss francs. He restructured it and, with the

Stadler GTW The Stadler GTW (, ) is an articulated railcar for local transport made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. History The Biel–Täuffelen–Ins-Bahn near Bern, Switzerland was looking for a lighter train model to replace its aging fleet, so tha ...

, opted for a new vehicle that was more suitable for modern local transport. In order to continue to be successful in rail vehicle construction, Spuhler bought the Werk Altenrhein from Schindler Waggon AG in 1997. The new holding structure favored expansion into Germany and Eastern Europe. On 1 April 2018, Spuhler handed over the management of the Stadler Rail Group to Thomas Ahlburg. Since then, he has concentrated on the Stadler Rail Group as president of the board of directors. As of May 2020, due to differences in the strategic and organisational development of

AG, he took over the position of Group CEO ad interim until 2023, when Markus Bernsteiner took over as the new CEO.

Other roles

Spuhler is a member of the board of directors of the Aebi-Schmidt Group and is on the board of directors of two other companies: Gleisag ( Rorschach) and Walo Bertschinger AG (Zurich). Since April 2019, he has been a member of Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG and also sits on the supervisory board of

Robert Bosch GmbH Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch (styled BOSCH), is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 188 ...

. He is also a member of the Mittelthurgau Employers' Association in Weinfelden, the IG Freiheit, the Thurgau Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Weinfelden) and the Information Service for Public Transport (Bern). Spuhler is also involved in the Tele D Foundation (Diessenhofen) and is vice president of the Betriebs AG of the

ZSC Lions The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and played at the ...

Political career

From 1999 until 2012, Spuhler sat as a member of the

National Council of Switzerland The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States, represents the states, preventing more populous parts of the country overpowering the rest. As the p ...

, representing the canton of

Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

for the

(SVP/UDC), and also sat on the Swiss government's parliamentary committee for economy and taxation. Unlike the vast majority of the SVP/UDC caucus, Spuhler is supportive of the

freedom of movement Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights'' ...

of workers between Switzerland and the EU, In November 2020, Spuhler was offered the position of Switzerland's

honorary consul A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

to Russia, but declined the office.

Personal life

In 1986, Spuhler married Andrea Schaffner, a granddaughter of Ernst Stadler, who founded

. They had two children; * Lucas Spuhler (born 1991) * Laura Spuhler (born 1994), married to Rolf Hächler. They were divorced in the 2000s. In 2008, Spuhler married secondly to Daniela Hoffmann (born 1977), who owns the construction companies Esslinger Ltd. and Barizzi Ltd., in Zurich, which she took-over from her parents. They had two children; * Ladina Spuhler (born 2009) * Laurin Urs Spuhler (10 September 2015 – 30 October 2015), died in childbed. Spuhler and his family resides in Warth-Weiningen. According to a recent analysis by the largest Swiss newspaper

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 ...

, Peter Spuhler is taxing his personal and family income as well as assets in the

Canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton in central Switzerland between the Swiss Alps, Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on and named after the town of Schwyz. It is one ...

, known for hiding the wealth of rich Swiss individuals."Im Kanton Schwyz wohnen am meisten Superreiche"
''Tages Anzeiger''. Accessed Apr 26 2025.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spuhler, Peter 1959 births Living people Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2011–2015 Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2007–2011 Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2003–2007 Swiss People's Party politicians University of St. Gallen alumni Swiss billionaires