Reinhold D. Schmieding (born 1955/56) is an American billionaire businessman and the founder, CEO and owner of Arthrex.

Early life

Schmieding was born in Michigan, the son of a dentist. His parents emigrated from Germany six months prior to his birth. He was educated at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

from 1973 to 1977. Schmieding was a member of the

Delta Chi Delta Chi () is an international collegiate social fraternity. It was formed in 1890 at Cornell University as a professional fraternity for law students, becoming a social fraternity in 1922. In 1929. Delta Chi became one of the first internat ...

fraternity.

Career

From 1981 to 1985, Schmieding worked for Med Tech International in Westport, Connecticut. In 1981, Schmieding started a medical device company called Arthroscopy Excision Instruments Inc., which focused on an emerging procedure known as

arthroscopy Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the j ...

. The initial investment was $60,000 from Schmieding's personal savings. After starting the company, Schmieding did not make a profit for the first two years. He ran his company from his apartment in the Olympic Village. Later, the company was renamed as Arthrex Inc. Arthrex distributes its products to more than 90 countries worldwide. It has subsidiaries throughout Europe, including Germany, Austria, Belgium, England and France. In 1991, the headquarters shifted to

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

. Since then, the company has grown from two employees to over 2000. In 2015, Arthrex was listed at number 94 on ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

'''s 100 Best Companies to Work For. Schmieding received an honorary doctorate from

Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is a public university in Lee County, Florida, near Fort Myers. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is its second-youngest member. The university was established on May 3, 1991, and is acc ...

in 2018.

Personal life

He is married with two adult children and lives in Naples, Florida.

References

1950s births American health care chief executives American company founders Living people People from Naples, Florida American billionaires Michigan State University alumni Delta Chi members Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-CEO-stub