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Lars Windhorst Net Worth in 2024 Career & Relationship

Estimated value: €500 million
Age: 45
Born: 11/21/1976
Country of origin: Germany
Source of Wealth: entrepreneur
Last updated: 2021

Short introduction

Lars Windhorst is a successful entrepreneur. He was born in Germany and his net worth is estimated at €500 million. In 1992, at the age of 16, he founded and managed his first company. In 2004, Lars Windhorst co-founded the Sapinda Group, whose parent company has been Sapinda Holding BV since 2009.

In 2007, Windhorst was involved in a plane crash. The Bombadier Challenger 604 went off the runway on takeoff, hit a wall and exploded. Windhorst escaped with burns, but one of the pilots died in the accident.

early life

Lars Windhorst was born on November 22, 1976 in Germany. His father owned a stationery shop, and no professional information is known about his mother. Windhorst attended Söderblom Gymnasium and finished without taking the Abitur. At the age of 14, Windhorst used his parents’ garage to set up his first computer laboratory and build PCs. Classmates at the time helped him put the components together and his father’s shop served as his first retail space.

Windhorst founded his first company when he was just 17, supported in everything he did by his parents and appointing them as his agents to sign contracts.
Windhorst was described as Germany’s child prodigy. An important step in his career was an invitation from German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Together with Bill Gates, Windhorst was invited by the former Chancellor to accompany a business trip to Asia as part of the government delegation. This gave him access to important national and international contacts.

Career

Thanks to the new contacts in Asia, Windhorst founded his first company in 1993 together with the Chinese entrepreneur Ming Rong Zhang. Windhorst Electronics GmbH. The company specialized in trade and import. Strictly speaking, electrical engineering components and computer accessories were traded from Asia. The trade in IT products in Europe and Germany also represented an essential part of the company. Within just one year, Windhorst Electronics GmbH became so successful that 80 employees generated sales of 80 million Deutschmarks.

In 1995 he founded his first company, Windhorst Asia Pacific Holding Limited in Hong Kong. Among other things, the retail group did business in the industrial, electrical and retail sectors. Financial affairs and real estate transactions were also carried out via the founded company at locations in Asia and Europe.

In 2000, Windhorst New Technologies AG was founded. The AG focused on and invested in the areas of new technologies and the Internet. Only three years later, in 2003, with the onset of the economic crisis, more and more problems arose and bankruptcy was filed.

In 2004 Lars Windhorst became a co-founder of Sapinda/Tenor. The Sapinda Investment Group provides companies with debt and equity capital and has generated 2 billion euros in five years. Windhorst took over the management of the subsidiary Vata Holding GmbH. Among other things, Vatas owned shares in Freenet and was involved in the Air Berlin airline.

After the 2008 financial crisis, Vata suffered significant losses and had to file for bankruptcy in 2009. A restructuring was then carried out in 2009 and the group became Sapinda Holding BV. It employs over 80 people worldwide and is involved in food processing, mining, agriculture and gas exploration investments. Furthermore, the parent company invests in companies and participates in various areas such as real estate and media. Among other things, she took over the luxury brand La Perla and the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft.

In 2010, Windhorst was sentenced by the Berlin district court to one year’s imprisonment on probation and a fine of 108,000 euros for embezzlement and insolvency offences. Before that, there were other procedures, all of which were dropped against conditions that had been made.

In 2019 Windhorst decided to change the name from Sapinda to Tenor Holding BV and only a few weeks after the name change he joined the football club Hertha BSC. After an investment of 225 million euros, he owns 49.9% of the football club.

Career highlights

Windhorst became known as the most successful young entrepreneur in Germany.

As part of the official government delegation, he traveled to Asia alongside former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. This trip enabled him to make important international business contacts.

According to his own statement, he organized sums of money of almost 3.5 million euros from 2009 to 2012, which flowed into the loan from Infineon and Air Berlin, for example.

Famous quotes

A quote from the new Hertha BSC investor Windhorst, which is well known in the football scene: “Like other clubs in London or Madrid, Hertha can become a real ‘Big City Club’.”

Amazing Facts

Together with CH Bruhn, Windhorst founded Amatheon Agri, a commitment to African agriculture.

Windhorst was on the board of the Mentor Foundation. A foundation of Queen Silvia of Sweden, which works closely with the World Health Organization.

In 2007, Windhorst survived a plane crash in Kazakhstan. After a stopover in Almaty, the plane went off the runway, crashed into a wall and exploded. Windhorst was extremely lucky and survived with bruises and burns. Other occupants sustained serious injuries and one of the pilots died in the accident.

Estimated value: €500 million