Reinold Geiger Biography & Net Worth 

Former skiing champion Reinold Geiger is the current chief executive officer of L’Occitane and he has amassed a fortune of 2 billion dollars (according to Forbes magazine) from his life-long activities as a businessman. Mr. Reinold is working for a globally-acclaimed French company that is a retailer of body, face, and home products which is based in Manosque, France. It was founded by Olivier Baussan in 1976 and is known for its all-natural perfumes and creams made in Provence. A recent finding suggests that at least one of its Shea butter products is sold somewhere in the world every half a minute. With his estimated fortune, Mr. Reinold Geiger is the sixth-wealthiest person in Austria. His career began in the packaging business before he invested and became the chief executive officer of the French cosmetic retailer in the year 1994. He has also founded and developed his own company called AMS Packaging SA, that is specialized in packaging high-end perfumes and lotions and maintains a strong presence in the cosmetics market. In 1990, Mr. Reinold Geiger decided to leave his work at his company when he started to invest in failing companies such as the case of L’Occitane. When he became the company’s chief executive officer, he made a push for the expansion of the company especially in Japan and China where its natural Provence-made perfumes and creams have become increasingly popular. In 1996, after two years of trying to equip the company from a smaller position, he became its major shareholder. Since then, L’Occitance has grown from a three-shop company into an international beauty products empire with nearly 2000 outlets around the world. The businessman himself saw his fortune increase by $400 million last year because of the continuing demand for L’Occitane’s products. He now owns a ski chalet in Meribel, a beach house on the Ile de Re in the Atlantic, and Les Couvent des Minimes spa hotel in Povence.

Early Life

Reinold Geiger attended the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland from which he graduated with a degree in engineering in 1969. He later attended INSEAD in Fontainebleu, France, graduating in 1976 with a master’s degree in business administration.

Professional Life

As already established in the first paragraph of this publication, Mr. Reinold Geiger is the executive director, chief executive officer, and chairman of the French retailer L’Occitane. It was in 1996 that he joined the group as chairman and controlling shareholder.

In addition to being the chairman of L’Occitane Groupe S.A., he is a member of the Board of Directors of L’Occitane Russia, L’Occitane Japon K.K., L’Occitane Australia Pty. Ltd., and L’Occitane (Suisse) S.A. He is the president of the Fondation d’Entreprise L’Occitane as well. Since becoming a part of the L’Occitane business empire, Mr. Geiger has developed the brand from a mainly domestic operation in France to an international business. He has spent time traveling to the worldwide locations of the group in order to implement growth strategies, where he has established the company’s subsidiaries and strong relationships with local management.

Reinold Geiger started his career at American Machine and Foundry in 1970. After a two-year period, he left to start his own company, involved in the distribution of equipment used in the processing of plastic and rubber, which he sold in 1978. He then founded AMS Packaging SA, a company that was listed on the Paris stock exchange in 1987.

Achievements

In June 2008, Mr. Geiger received the accolade of “INSEAD entrepreneur of the year”. This honor was given to him in acknowledgment of his international development strategy for the Group. He has been named businessman of the year in his region on many occasions, but his main accomplishment in life is the tremendous success he has managed to achieve with the French beauty brand L’Occitane which he took over when the brand was in a really low productive state and succeeded in making it one of the world’s most performing cosmetic brands.

Reinold Geiger Net Worth

Reinold Geiger’s net worth is $2 billion dollars. He makes his money from his position as the executive director, chairman, and chief executive officer of French cosmetics retailer L’Occitane.

L’Occitane is a retailer of body, face, and home products which is based in Manosque, France. It was founded in 1976 and was declining in terms of production when Mr. Geiger, the current sixth wealthiest person in Austria, took over the company. The businessman also owns a ski chalet in Meribel, a beach house on the Ile de Re in the Atlantic, and Les Couvent des Minimes spa hotel in Provence.