Madeleine Schickedanz

Madeleine Schickedanz

Madeleine Schickedanz is a German entrepreneur who ranks 277th in the Forbes List of Millionaires. She was born on born 20 October 1943 in Nuremberg to Gustav and Grete Schickedanz who are the founders of catalog retailer Quelle Versand. The company turned out to be one of the Europe’s largest companies after amalgamating with Karstad. With this merger, sales of KarstadtQuelle rose to $ 16.4 billion. Along with her sister, Louise Dedi, Madeleine Schickedanz inherited 48% stakes in $11.5 billion (sales).

She interrupted her studies in business economics after the 2nd semester and showed an inclination towards business. She inherited her fortune with a net worth of US $3.9 billion. She was declared the 13th richest women in the world, and 142nd richest person as per Forbes in 2007, but in 2009 she declared insolvency and has been selling off properties to survive the financial crunch.

Advent of Arcandor and Growth of the Business

Initially, merging of two companies (Quelle Versand and Karstad) hardly showed any significant rise in asset or sales, on the contrary, the business was sluggish and needed immediate attention. In order to tide over issues in business and to ramp up sales, KarstadtQuelle underwent a massive restructuring. Recently, the company has been renamed as Arcandor. The Arcandor generates revenue through a chain of departmental stores.

Over time, Madeleine showed more interest in development and diversification. KarstadtQuelle and Starbucks singed in a joint venture to run a chain of coffee houses with prime operation in Germany. Schickedanz daughters also owned a bank, a real estate business and a couple of insurance companies. This development was owing to the restructuring and repositioning of the company as a financial holding rather than a retail group.

Personal Life

Basically, Madeleine hails from Germany but moved out of it for the sake of business. Currently, she leads a low profile life in St. Moritz, Switzerland, with her third husband, Leo Herl. Before tying nuptials with Leo Herl, she was married to Hans-Georg Mangold and Wolfgang Bühler, who were Quelle managers. She has 4 children from her previous marriages.

Service to Humanity

In 1990, Madeleine Schickedanz established ‘Kinderkrebs-Stiftung’ foundation after her daughter Caroline successfully overcame leukaemia. Madeleine Herl is an aggressive supporter of the foundation that fights against childhood cancer. Her contribution through the foundation is phenomenal.

Madeleine Schickedanz Forbes Profile

Madeleine Schickedanz