By Ulrike Dauer And Sarah Sloat
FRANKFURT--German heiress Johanna Quandt, a major shareholder in
car maker BMW AG, has died at age 89, a spokesman for Ms. Quandt's
foundation said Wednesday.
Ms. Quandt died Monday in her home in Bad Homburg, he said. She
was the widow of industrialist Herbert Quandt, and with her
children controlled about 47% of BMW.
Forbes magazine has estimated her fortune at nearly $12 billion,
which made her one of the richest people in Germany and the
second-richest woman, behind her daughter Susanne Klatten. After
Ms. Quandt's death, her stake in BMW will go to her children, the
spokesman said.
"Johanna Quandt was a force within BMW for over 50 years and
brought enthusiasm and passion to the company," BMW Chief Executive
Harald Krüger said in a statement.
Ms. Quandt, nee Bruhn, was born in 1926 in Berlin. After
finishing school in 1944 she began training to be a medical
assistant, a program she was unable to finish due to the chaos of
wartime Germany. When the war ended she worked as a secretary
before traveling to Detroit, Michigan, for a year in 1955 to work
as household help in a family.
On her return to Germany, Ms. Quandt took a job as secretary for
Herbert Quandt, in the Frankfurt headquarters of AFA AG, which
later became battery manufacturer Varta AG. She married Mr. Quandt
in 1960, the same year he expanded his shareholding in Bayerische
Motoren-Werke AG, as BMW was known.
Mr. Quandt helped rebuild BMW, now the world's largest luxury
car maker. During World War II, the company primarily made aircraft
engines for the German Luftwaffe, and faced a precarious financial
position postwar. Mr. Quandt designed a restructuring that also
helped fend off a takeover by Daimler-Benz, now Daimler AG.
Mr. Quandt died in 1982, and his widow then took his seat on
BMW's supervisory board. She served as deputy chairwoman of the
board from 1986 to 1997.
Ms. Quandt, who was active in charity and whose foundation
supports financial journalism, received Germany's national order of
merit in 2009.
"Possessing a fortune also means taking social responsibility,"
she said at the awards ceremony.
Her children Stefan Quandt and Susanne Klatten have served on
BMW's supervisory board since 1997.
Write to Ulrike Dauer at ulrike.dauer@wsj.com and Sarah Sloat at
sarah.sloat@wsj.com
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