Viessmann is the chairman of Viessmann Group, a manufacturer of heating, industrial and refrigeration equipment. The Allendorf, Germany-based company sold its biggest division to Carrier Global in April 2023 for about 12 billion euros ($13.2 billion). The remaining part of the group has annual sales of about 1 billion euros.
The majority of Viessmann's fortune is derived from Viessmann, a German manufacturer of heating, industrial and refrigeration equipment. The Allendorf, Germany-based company had revenue of 4 billion euros ($4.2 billion) in 2022, according to its website.
Viessmann Climate Solutions, the biggest part of the group, was sold to Carrier Global in April 2023. The deal closed on Jan. 2, 2024, according to a Carrier filing. The cash and stock deal had an enterprise value of about 12 billion euros.
The remainder of the Viessmann business has annual sales of about 1 billion euros, according to an April 2023 company statement. It's valued here using the average enterprise value-to-sales multiple of three publicly traded peers: Carrier Global Corp, LU-VE SpA and Centrotec SE.
Cash holdings are based on an analysis of the sale and are adjusted to reflect dividends, taxes and market performance.
Viessmann is described on its website as a family business. Martin Viessmann and his family are the ultimate owners, according to company filings, and Martin is attributed full ownership here to reflect his status as chairman.
Byung-Hun Park, a spokesperson for Viessmann, didn't respond to a request for comment on the net worth calculation.
Martin Viessmann was born on Oct. 10, 1953. He completed a degree in business administration at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in 1979 and joined the family company, Viessmann, in the same year.
Viessmann was founded by Martin's grandfather, Johann Viessmann, in 1917. After starting as a farm machinery repairman, Johann began building furnaces in 1928 and by 1937 he had moved the business to a bigger factory in Allendorf, Germany, where it remains based today.
His son Hans, Martin's father, took over the business in 1947 and sought the modernize its production facilities. Its new steel furnaces became popular during Germany's economic boom in the 1950s and by the end of the decade the company was making about 5,000 furnaces each year.
Production grew to 40,000 a year in the 1960s and in 1972 Viessmann began selling furnaces made from stainless steel. The energy efficient nature of its heating systems helped spur sales in the 1980s.
Martin Viessmann took over as chief executive of the company in 1993 and he began improving the company's technology and international sales. His son Maximilian Viessmann joined the company's board in 2016 and became the sole chief executive in 2022.
The family sold the biggest part of their company, Viessmann Climate Solutions, in April 2023 for about 12 billion euros ($13.2 billion) in cash and stock. The sale to US company Carrier Global closed in January 2024.
The billionaires lives in Allendorf.