Thomas Schmidheiny

Thomas Schmidheiny
ISC-Symposium 2004
Born	(1945-12-17) 17 December 1945 (age 79) Balgach, Switzerland
Alma mater	Tufts University Zurich Polytechnic
Occupation	Major shareholder of LafargeHolcim
Spouse	married
Children	4
Parent	Max Schmidheiny
Relatives	Stephan Schmidheiny (brother)

Thomas Schmidheiny (born 17 December 1945) is a Swiss billionaire businessman, and the former chairman of cement manufacturer Holcim.

Early life

Thomas Schmidheiny was born in 1945, ^[1] the son of Max Schmidheiny (1908-1991). The family's construction materials empire (bricks, cement, etc.) was divided in 1984, with Thomas inheriting Holcim, the concrete and cement company, and his brother Stephan, also a billionaire, was given the construction company Eternit. ^[2]

Career

Until 2003, Schmidheiny was the chairman of Holcim, one of the world's leading cement manufacturers, founded by his grand-uncle in 1912. ^[3] Schmidheiny resigned his chairmanship as part of a deal to settle an investigation of insider trading in Spain. ^[4] He has remained on the Board since that time. ^[5] Since the merger between Holcim and Lafarge Thomas Schmidheiny retains 11.4% of the company Lafarge-Holcim and is the biggest shareholder of the firm.

Schmidheiny is a member of the Executive Advisory Board of the World.Minds Foundation. ^[6]

Education

Schmidheiny holds a doctorate from Tufts University and a Diplomingenieur degree from the ETH Zurich, ^[2] and an MBA from IMD Business School, Switzerland. ^[7]

Honors

The Indian School of Business has a Thomas Schmidheiny chair of family business. As of 2023, the post was held by Sougata Ray. ^[8]

Personal life

Schmidheiny is married with four children; he owns vineyards and wineries in Argentina, Switzerland and the US (Cuvaison in the Napa Valley ^[9] ), including his residences in Rapperswil-Jona and Klosters. ^{[2] [10]}

References

1. "Thomas Schmidheiny". LafargeHolcim. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
2. "Forbes profile:: Thomas Schmidheiny". Forbes. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
3. "Dr. Thomas Schmidheiny: From Family Business to Family Wealth Management". The Fletcher School. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
4. "World Business Briefing | Europe: Switzerland: Insider Trading". The New York Times . 8 February 2003. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
5. Meier, Simone (2 October 2011). "Schmidheiny Plans to Boost Holcim Stake, SonntagsZeitung Reports". Bloomberg Businessweek . Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
6. "Team – WORLD.MINDS" . Retrieved 15 May 2025.
7. "Thomas Schmidheiny". IMD business school.
8. Indian School of Business, Indian School of Business (22 June 2023). "Faculty Directory". Live Mint . Retrieved 2 January 2013.{{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
9. "Cuvaison: Our Story". cuvaison.com. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
10. "Luxury and discretion on the fringes of the WEF". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 January 2017.