Trigema owner Wolfgang Grupp will hand over the management of the textile manufacturer to his daughter and son at the end of the year. The 81-year-old is considered one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in Germany.
One of the most high-profile German family entrepreneurs is retiring: Wolfgang Grupp, sole managing director of the textile manufacturer Trigema, is handing over the management position to his two children at the turn of the year. The 81-year-old company owner will be followed by his daughter Bonita (34) and his son Wolfgang Grupp junior (32), said the manufacturer of sports and leisure clothing in Burladingen, Swabia.
Wolfgang Grupp junior will become a personally liable partner and managing director on January 1, 2024. Bonita Grupp will become a member of the management team. “From January 1, 2024, I will withdraw from operational business and hand over responsibility to my daughter and son,” said Grupp. “I trust their ability to ensure the continued existence of the company and lead Trigema into a secure future.”
Iridescent Entrepreneurial personality
Grupp, born in Burladingen in 1942, is one of the best-known and most colorful German medium-sized companies. He became known nationwide through his extraordinary television commercials, in which a – most recently digital – chimpanzee advertises his products and Grupp itself assures that Trigema will continue to produce exclusively domestically.
The conservative entrepreneur also presents himself as an old-school businessman on talk shows. Grupp often criticizes the irresponsibility and megalomania of some entrepreneurs and demands personal liability for all managing directors: “We need entrepreneurs with responsibility, discipline and role model function again.” For the company’s 100th anniversary in 2019, Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) awarded Grupp with the Federal Cross of Merit.
Trigema moved out of the red
In 1969, Grupp took over the heavily indebted company founded by his grandfather. The doctor of economics led Trigema out of the red and turned the company into Germany’s largest T-shirt and tennis clothing manufacturer. In 2022, the company had sales of 127.2 million euros with around 1,160 employees.
In the future, the company will operate as Trigema W. Grupp KG. Until now, Grupp Trigema had operated as an “eK” (registered merchant), which meant that he was liable with his private assets.
Bonita and Wolfgang Grupp junior joined the family business in 2013 and 2014. “We look at this opportunity to continue our father’s life’s work with humility and respect,” said Bonita Grupp. “Our father has shown over decades that it is possible to produce in Germany,” added Wolfgang Grupp junior. “We treat this life’s work with the greatest respect.”