Rudolf August Oetker


Rudolf August Oetker was a German entrepreneur and former member of the Nazi Party, who became a billionaire running his private food company Oetker-Gruppe, founded by his grandfather August Oetker

Biography

Early life

Oetker served and volunteered in the Waffen-SS from 1941–1944. Rudolf Oetker became the president of his family-run business in 1944. The business was inherited from his grandfather, August Oetker, who invented a popular mixture of baking powder.

Career

Rudolf August Oetker elevated the company to a household name in Germany today. The Oetker-Gruppe was one of the symbols of the post-World War II recovery effort in the country.
Oetker retired as executive director in 1981, turning the position over to his son August Oetker.
In 2006, his net worth was estimated by Forbes at US$8.0 billion.

Personal life

Oetker married three times and had eight children. His son Richard became CEO in 2010.
In 2014, the Oetker business empire was valued at $12 billion, and each of his eight children inherited an equal share of 12.5%, or about $1.5 billion:
After discovering Oetker's Nazi past, his children hired a provenance researcher to investigate the origins of his art collection. They have begun returning artworks found to be stolen or looted to the heirs of their Jewish owners.