Early Life
Otto Happel was born in Bochum, Germany, on February 9, 1948. He received his PhD in engineering from RWTH Aachen University. His father founded Gesellschaft für Entstaubungsanlagen GEA in 1920, and after his father's passing, his mother and later Otto took over the company.
Rise to Success
In 1974, Otto Happel became CEO of GEA Group, a small family business. Over the next 25 years, he transformed GEA into a global system supplier by introducing machinery and plants for the food processing industry, power industry, air-conditioning, and refrigeration industry. He made over 70 acquisitions, resulting in GEA having over 200 subsidiaries in 60 countries. In 1989, he took the company public at the Frankfurt stock exchange, but kept the majority of the voting stock within the family. By 1999, Happel had increased GEA's revenues to over €2.6 billion.
Key Business Strategies
Happel's key strategies involved aggressive acquisition, strategic partnerships, and technological innovation. He expanded GEA's global presence through acquisitions, taking advantage of the market and expanding into new industries. He took the company public which helped him raise capital for further expansion. Happel increased revenue and net earnings proportionally during his time as CEO. In 1999 he merged his controlling stake with Germany's MG Technologies, remaining the largest shareholder of the combined businesses, and later selling his dominant stake to institutional investors in 2006.
Philanthropy
Otto Happel has a foundation that supports development projects in the developing world. He is also known to own a luxury resort, Fregate Island, in the Seychelles.