The Braun family established B. Braun Melsungen, the global medical technology company and one of the world’s leading providers of healthcare products, in Germany.
Headquartered in Melsungen, Germany, the family business began as a small pharmacy purchased by Julius Wilhelm Braun in 1839. Julius’ son, Bernhard, took over the business, now in its sixth generation, in 1864 and expanded its herbal product line by manufacturing pharmaceuticals.
Otto Braun, a great-grandson of the founder, oversaw the family business for much of the 20th century. Otto’s son, Ludwig Georg Braun, took over in 1977 and transformed the company, which was making $24 million annual sales, into a conglomerate earning $8 billion yearly. Ludwig stepped down as company chairman in 2011, leaving his two children, Anna Maria Braun and Otto Philipp Braun, to succeed him on the supervisory board.
Anna Maria Braun currently serves as the company’s CEO and has an estimated net worth of $1 billion. Otto Philipp Braun stepped down from the board in 2017. He owns 23 per cent of his family’s firm and is estimated to be worth $2.3 billion.
Eight Braun family members are billionaires through their shared ownership of the company – Otto Philipp, Karl Friedrich, Anna Maria, Johanna, Ludwig Theodore, Bernhard Sebastian, Eva Maria and Friederike.