The Schaeffler Family is one of Germany’s wealthiest due in large part to their ownership stake in the Schaeffler Group, one of the world’s largest automotive and industrial suppliers. The family’s business roots go back to 1946 when brothers Wilhelm and Georg Schaeffler founded INA, the precursor to the Schaeffler Group. Three years later, Georg developed the needle roller cage, which led to the needle roller bearing becoming a reliable component for industrial applications. The family empire skyrocketed from there. Today, the family business is owned by Georg Schaeffler’s wife, Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler, and their son Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Schaeffler. Maria-Elisabeth owns 20 per cent of the holding company INA Holding Schaeffler GmbH & Co. KG, which includes the Schaeffler Group, while Georg F. W. Schaeffler owns the remaining 80 per cent. That ownership stake gives the younger Georg an estimated net worth of $29.1 billion, ranking him 30th on Forbes world’s richest person list as of 2018. Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler came to the business after marrying Georg senior. Following his death in 1996, she stepped in and ran the organisation. She was key in the successful 1999 acquisition of LuK, a clutch manufacturer, as well as the 2001 acquisition of FAG Kugelfischer.
