Liebherr is chairman of Liebherr-International, a heavy machinery and construction conglomerate he controls with his sister Isolde. The Bulle, Switzerland-based business is closely held and manufactures cranes, refrigerators, aircraft and mining equipment. It had revenue of 11.6 billion euros ($13.8 billion) in 2021.
Willi Liebherr's net worth of $5.84B can buy ...
... and is equivalent to ...
The majority of Liebherr's fortune is derived from Bulle, Switzerland-based Liebherr-International, a family-owned heavy machinery and construction conglomerate founded by Hans Liebherr.
The business had revenue of 11.6 billion euros ($13.8 billion) and net income of 545 million euros in 2021, according to its annual report. It's valued using the average enterprise value-to-Ebitda multiple of three publicly traded peer companies: Terex, Wacker Neuson and Caterpillar.
The billionaire and his sister serve as chairman and vice chairman of the company's administrative board, while six of their children have executive roles. The two second-generation siblings are credited with the fortune because of their leadership roles.
Liebherr's likely to have collected more than 200 million euros between 2009 and 2021, based on the assumption that he's entitled to half of the dividends paid by the business and an analysis of information disclosed in Liebherr's reported results. The net value of his cash investments includes these proceeds and considers taxes and market performance.
Kristian Kueppers, a spokesman for Liebherr-International, didn't respond to a request for comment on the net worth calculation.
Willi Liebherr was born in Kirchdorf an der Iller, Germany, in 1947. Two years later, his father, Hans Liebherr, started a namesake company, producing construction cranes. He moved the business from Germany to Switzerland in 1983 to avoid inheritance tax, and founded Liebherr-International.
He started to work at his father's company after graduating with an engineering degree from ETH Zurich. His father died in 1993, when the closely held conglomerate had $2.5 billion in revenue, and had expanded to manufacturing heavy machinery for mining and aerospace operations as well as running hotels. After his father's death he took over Liebherr-International with his sister, Isolde, having bought out their three other siblings.
Liebherr became the company's chairman in 1999. He has six children and lives in Baden, Switzerland.