Lars Windhorst

Lars Windhorst is the 34-year-old Chief Executive Officer of the German subsidiary of Sapinda Holding B.V., Sapinda Deutschland GmbH. Sapinda is an investment company that is privately owned, and invests in debt, international private equity and public equity.

 

Business Background

As a 16-year-old entrepreneur, Lars Windhorst established himself in the electronics business by ordering components, assembling them into finished computers, and selling them in Germany. Throughout the process he learned that in order to profit from his hard work, he needed to cut expenses. Instead of ordering his components from local suppliers he slashed his production costs by ordering at reduced prices from suppliers in Asia. In this way he remained competitive without compromising on quality. This first business venture, Windhorst Electronics, earned $50 million in revenue in the first year of production.

 

His early successes earned him more than just money, as he became known throughout Germany as a type of Wonder child. He traveled the globe with ex German Chancellor Dr. Helmut Kohl as he performed his duties in state visits. During these visits abroad he met important businessmen and began forming his own personal network of international business associates. At the age of 20 Lars Windhorst was the youngest member to be included in the "Global Leaders of Tomorrow". Along with that, he was also a member of The World Economic Forum in Davos.

 

Lars Windhorst created Windhorst Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd in 1995 and moved a portion of his business activity to Hong Kong. The Windhorst Group spread into trading, investing, electronics, real estate, and finance industries. His holdings consisted of 20 companies and more than 200 workers.

The conglomerate continued growing and in 2000 Windhorst AG, the holding company, took initial steps to be listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by increasing its activity in the New Economy and investing in the Internet. Shortly thereafter, there was a huge downturn in the Internet market and the stock market took a dive. When the Internet market finally crashed a year later, Windhorst AG began to suffer and by 2003 there was no choice but to declare bankruptcy.

 

Starting Over

Lars Windhorst kept working in finance and was able to bounce back in 2004 when he co-founded Sapinda, an investment group. With the financial backing of a South African businessman, the new company prospered and within five years chalked up transactions in investment of more than 2 billion EUR.

 

In 2006 Lars Windhorst was a representative of Sapinda International, a British fund, and became the managing director of Vatas Holding GmbH.

 

Just when everything was going well, the global economic downturn of 2008 sent the company into a downturn. In January 2009 the company's shareholders declared insolvency and began a restructuring process. By April of 2009 the shareholders created and capitalized the new holding company.

 

Personal Details

In 2007, Lars Windhorst was in a plane as it crashed into a wall while leaving the runway in Kazakhstan. The explosion left one pilot dead and Lars Windhorst was severely injured, with burns to the face and chest.

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