Date of Birth : May 10 1943
Biography Wolfgang Porsche
Wolfgang Porsche was born in Stuttgart on May 10, 1943. Wolfgang was the the youngest son of Dorothea and Ferry Porsche, who set the foundings of Prosche as a sports car brand. His grandfather was the brilliant automotive design engineer Ferdinand Porsche. The old professor shaped the history of the car history with his Stuttgart automotive design engineering office.
Youth and studies
Wolfgang Porsche spent the first six and a half years of his life at the so-called “Schüttgut” in Zell am See, Austria, the estate of his grandfather Ferdinand Porsche. In 1949 the small but high-caliber development team led by Ferry Porsche, returned to the German city of Stuttgart. The throng of children slowly began to leave Schüttgut. The Porsches moved to Zuffenhausen and Feuerbach, and the Piëchs to Salzburg.
The family, and the company, returned to Stuttgart in 1950. Wolfgang obtained his Abitur (higher school-leaving certificate) in 1965. He also passed his journeyman’s examination as a metalworker. Afterwards, Porsche obtained his degree in Business Administration from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. He received his doctorate in International Business in 1973.
Even under the austere postwar conditions, Ferdinand Porsche’s seventy-fifth birthday celebration at Solitude Palace near Stuttgart in the fall of 1950 was quite an event. All of seven-year-old Wolfgang’s brothers and cousins were invited, but he himself was considered too young. To this day, Wolfgang Porsche remembers gazing longingly from the attic window of the Porsche villa on Feuerbacher Weg as the family set off for the festivities. Five months later, Ferdinand Porsche passed away.
First steps in the family business
After getting his degree as a metalworker, Wolfgang Porsche hasn’t done much metalworking since. Obviously, cars and motorsport has been very important throughout his life. There were the discussions with his father, and brother ‘Ferdinand Butzi Porsche’ about the successor of the Porsche 356. And of course, the family often visited races at the Nürburgring and Le Mans to name some of the most important. Trips to the Sarthe region of France were both an adventure and a matter of course.
His first visit to Le Mans was captured particularly well: all the action at the pits, thirteen-year-old Wolfgang half-reclining on a wall with the casualness of youth, a stopwatch in his hand, his father at his side, and Porsche factory manager Hans Klauser in front. Le Mans has remained a constant in Wolfgang Porsche’s life to this day. The chairman of the board stood in the pits the entire time as Porsche won three successive overall victories in 2015, 2016, and 2017
First steps as a businessman
In the mid-1960s, Wolfgang Porsche made a deliberate decision to become a businessman and complete the appropriate studies in Vienna. In 1972, Ferry Porsche decided to have the family withdraw from managing the company. Times had changed, and both the factory and production were rapidly expanding. Wolfgang Porsche was the only family member who didn’t have to step down because, as the youngest, he hadn’t yet actively joined the company. At first, Dr. Wolfgang Porsche went into business as an independent entrepreneur: As Managing Director of JAMOTO, he became general importer of Yamaha motorbikes in Austria.
Daimler-Benz and Porsche
Later he returned to Germany in 1976 and worked at the Daimler-Benz AG in Stuttgart as manager in various areas of domestic and foreign sales. In 1978, he was appointed a member of the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG. Wolfgang took over the position of Chairman in 2007. He was also appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE at its incorporation in June 2007. In addition, Dr. Wolfgang Porsche has been a member of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg, since April 24, 2008.
After the death of Ferry Porsche
Upon the death of his father Ferry Porsche in 1998, he was selected spokesman by the Porsche family. The father of four lives alternatively in Salzburg and the “Schüttgut” in Zell am See, which he acquired from the family estate. Wolfgang operates an Alpine organic farm with around 200 dairy cows. His enthusiasm for sports cars has been the focus of his life from his very early youth on. Over the course of decades, a private collection of vintage cars has evolved that contains numerous very rare Porsche vehicles, which he drives regularly. Furthermore is he a regular guest at different events, where Porsche cars are the main stars. His son is one of the leading powers behind the revival of the Ice Races in Zell am See. And you won’t be able to visit an event like Porsche Rennsport Reunion without spotting Wolfgang.
Awards
Dr. Wolfgang Porsche has received numerous honours for his services to business. In 2005, he was awarded the “Great Golden Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria” by the Chancellor of Austria, the highest award granted by his homeland. For his services to the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, he received the Gold “Staufermedaille” Award. At the onset of 2012, Dr. Wolfgang Porsche was appointed Honorary Senator of Salzburg University and was admitted to the University’s Council in 2013. That was exactly the year Wolfgang Porsche celebrated his 70th anniversary.
The most important dates in the life of Dr Wolfgang Porsche
May 10, 1943: Born in Stuttgart
1965: Higher education entrance qualification –
1965–1971: Studies at the University of World Trade, Vienna. Graduates with a degree in business administration
1973: Doctorate in commercial sciences at the University of World Trade, Vienna
1976–1981: Undertakes roles in various sales divisions in Germany and abroad for Daimler-Benz AG, Stuttgart-Untertürkheim
Career at Porsche
Since 1978: Member of the Supervisory Board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, member of the Supervisory Board and Director for various Porsche sales companies
1983: Member of the Supervisory Board in the various committees of Porsche Holding Salzburg
1988–2011: Managing Partner of Porsche Holding Salzburg
Since 2007: Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Stuttgart
Since April 24, 2008: Member of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg
Since May 10, 2012: Member of the Supervisory Board of Audi AG, Ingolstadt
Pictures courtesy Porsche AG , Rüdiger Mayer and Vintage Race Photography
