Hans-Peter Wild Net Worth & Biography

This article is dedicated to the life and success of Mr. Hans-Peter Wild, an intelligent and goal-oriented Swiss who currently ranks amongst the world’s living billionaires. He is best described as a German-born businessman, lawyer, and entrepreneur who has built his fortune in the food and beverage industry. Wild is the son of Rudolf Wild, the genius who founded the WILD company known to be a manufacturer and distributor of natural food and beverage ingredients. WILD was sold to Archer Daniel Midland in 2014 for $3 billion. The deal, which was all-cash, excluded the Capri Sun brand, which remains completely owned by Hans-Peter. As the primary shareholder of WILD, Mr. Hans-Peter pocketed $2 billion from the deal and it almost doubled his fortune instantly. More details follow below.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born on June 16, 1941 in Heidelberg, Germany. Ten years before he was born, his father, Rudolf Wild, founded a company that was initially named Zick-Zack Werk. In 1937 the business shifted its headquarters to Heidelberg and started focusing mainly on manufacturing ingredients for non-alcoholic beverages with the use of natural raw ingredients. At some point, the company’s name was changed to “WILD”.

Hans-Peter attempted his education in Germany and completed his academics in top institutions in the country before joining his father’s thriving business in the food industry.

Professional Life: Entrepreneurial Career

Over the next two decades that followed the establishment of WILD, the company became one of the biggest manufacturers of natural ingredients in the world. Its products were used mostly by third parties in everything from ice cream to drinks.

In 1967, the WILD company developed an industry ground-breaking pouch production system that allowed its automated manufacturing systems to fill plastic pouches with liquid. Over the next couple of years that followed, they developed a new tasty drink of their own which they used in filling the pouches. The drink, which had fruity fun flavors, was named after the Italian island of Capri. And that was how the Capri Sun drink was born.

While all this progress was going on at the family business, Hans-Peter WILD was in school trying to earn a law degree. He also earned a business degree, and then a Ph.D. from the University of Mannheim.

After graduating from college, he spent four years with the Diersch & Schroder group working as a managing director for the firm. He was primarily responsible for the company’s chemistry and mineral oil activities.

In 1974, he resigned from his role at Diersch & Schroder and went to work for the family business. His primary objective at the time was simple – to make Capri Sun a global brand. It took nearly twenty years, but by 1991, Capri Sun was undeniably the market leader in almost all parts of Europe for non-alcoholic natural beverages.

In 1994, Capri Sun became the market leader in the United States for the first time.

In July 2014, after a series of negotiations, Hans-Peter sold Wild Flavors GmbH for the Sum of $3 billion in cash. The buyers were Archer Daniel Midlands, and Hans-Peter’s share from the transaction was $2 billion. The only brand that was excluded from the deal was Capri Sun.

To date, Hans-Peter continues to privately own the Capri Sun brand through his Swiss-headquartered Capri Sun Group Holding. Though the brand is distributed in America and Canada today as a partnership with Kraft Heinz, it is distributed by Coca-Cola in most of Europe.

Excluding his critical acclaim in the food business, Hans-Peter maintains a bold presence in the sports industry through his ownership of the Stade Francais Rugby team which he acquired in 2017.

Hans-Peter Wild Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

This Swiss lawyer and businessman has found success in the food industry after taking up the mantle of leadership at his father’s company. After years of modifications and diversification, the Wild company emerged as one of the world’s leading natural food and beverage ingredients producers under the guidance of Mr. Wild who later sold the company for $3 billion. However, he continues to earn income from the Capri Sun brand which he excluded from the WILD company sales deal.

As of this writing, Hans-Peter Wild’s net worth is pegged at the $4 billion mark. He is also a philanthropist who, together with his mother Leonie Wild in 1997, established the Leonie Wild Charitable Foundation which focuses on social and cultural programs.

Hans-Peter’s assets include a $100 million yacht which has a helipad, steam room, gym, swimming pool, and a private small hospital on board. This SuperYacht, in February 2021, was unfortunately involved in an accident where it lost control and crashed into a luxury berth on the Caribbean island of St Maarten. Although nobody was injured from the accident, it caused damages to both the yacht and the berth that potentially worth millions of dollars.