Werner is the German founding family and co-owner of Europe’s largest drugstore chain dm-drogerie markt. Third-generation chemist Götz Wolfgang Werner opened his first drugstore in 1973. Headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, Werner’s company has operations in 12 European countries.
Götz Werner‘s parents ran a drugstore business in Heidelberg, Germany in the 1940s. After training as a druggist, Götz innovated the discount store principle for pharmaceutical retail, which he applied to his own drugstore business, dm-drogerie markt. He led the company for 35 years until 2008 and was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year by the consulting firm Ernst & Young that same year. Werner remains on dm-drogerie markt’s Advisory Board. In 2003, Werner became head of the Cross-Department Group for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and is an acclaimed advocate for the concept of unconditional basic income through his “Take the Future” initiative. In 2010, Götz Werner transferred his stake in the company to the non-profit dm Werner Foundation. Werner’s eldest son, Christoph, has served as management in the family’s business since 2011.
