| Net Worth: | $1.7 Billion |
Bergit Douglas Net Worth: Bergit Douglas is a German entrepreneur who has a net worth of $1.7 billion. Bergit Douglas is one of the eight beneficiaries to the Oetker fortune that is based on production of baking and pudding powder, cake mixes, frozen pizza, yoghurts and similar products. Broadly diversified today, Dr. Oetker is a limited partnership whose subsidiaries employ some 26,000 people and generate around $15 billion in annual revenue. The story of this successful business dates back to 1891, when August Oetker, a pharmacist, started selling non-perishable baking powder. He was succeeded by his grandson Rudolf August Oetker, who rose to prominence in the post-World War II period as the driving force behind Dr. Oetker. The brand soon became one of the most recognizable in the country. According to 1950 records, the company made over 750 million packages of baking and pudding powder that year. Later on, Dr. Oetker added to its portfolio additional food products and expanded into beverages, as well as developed container shipping, financial services and luxury hotels. At the time of his death in 2007, he served as chairman of the company’s advisory board and left behind eight children from three marriages. Even though each of his children received 12.5% percent of the Bielefeld-based Dr. Oetker, the equitable distribution of shares has obviously failed to serve as a recipe for harmony. The heirs are split in two groups: the children from Rudolf August’s first two marriages (Rosely Schweizer, August, Christian and Richard Oetker and Bergit Douglas) on one side, and the siblings from the third marriage: Julia, Carl Ferdinand and Alfred Oetker on the other. The dispute is likely to culminate in 2017, when current leader Richard Oetker intends to step down and retire.