At some point it’s over for someone like Wolfgang Grupp. After all, he already has 81 years of life and 54 years as managing director and owner of Trigema under his belt. The always polarizing company boss will hand over the sports and leisure clothing manufacturer to his two children at the beginning of 2024: son Wolfgang Grupp junior will become managing director and personally liable partner, and daughter Bonita Grupp will join the management team.
Trigema is one of the last textile manufacturers in Germany that has not yet outsourced its production to low-wage countries. The groups are very proud of this: Trigema became known primarily through television commercials in which a talking chimpanzee acted as a news anchor at the company headquarters in Burladingen on the Swabian Alb. There, the patriarch Grupp senior, with carefully parted hair, in a tailored suit, purple tie and pocket square, ran past his tailors and shouted: “We will only produce in Germany in the future and secure our jobs.”
Group with chimpanzee.
(Photo: Patrick Seeger/picture alliance / dpa)
Grupp senior and his wife Elisabeth, who is 24 years his junior and will continue to manage direct sales, had prepared the children for this moment for a long time. They sent them to boarding school, studied at the London School of Economics and put them into operation around ten years ago.
In the company statement, Bonita and Grupp junior speak of “humility, consideration and respect” for their father’s achievements. Wolfgang Grupp junior is quoted as saying that he has shown over decades that it is possible to produce in Germany. As the new managing director, he wants to show that this is still possible “in times of global instability” and dwindling natural resources. In recent years, the now 32-year-old has driven digitalization at Trigema. His sister Bonita Grupp, who was two years older, helped set up the online business.
The patriarch in the intimate circle of the family, with Grupp’s wife Elisabeth and his children Bonita and Wolfgang (from left).
(Photo: Annette Cardinale Photography)
She said in an SZ interview two years ago that the circle of shareholders should remain small. You can see in other family businesses “how difficult it can be when several shareholders have a say and then get into arguments with each other.” Because her father had ruled out dual leadership early on, there was long speculation about who would take over. The Grupps have now missed the chance to put a woman at the top for the first time in more than 100 years of company history. But at least outwardly they seem to have found a solution that everyone can live with.
Wolfgang Grupp senior was 27 when he took over Trigema from his father German Grupp in 1969. He had greatly diversified the company, founded subsidiaries for jerseys, plastics and knitwear – and accumulated more than five million euros in loan debt. Wolfgang Grupp focused on the core business, led Trigema out of the red and turned the company into Germany’s largest T-shirt and tennis clothing manufacturer. Around 1,160 people work for Trigema in Burladingen today, and in 2022 the company had a production turnover of 127.2 million euros.
Wolfgang Grupp led Trigema for more than half a century and everything revolves around him. Ultimately, he made all decisions himself and was liable for them as a registered businessman with his private assets, which are estimated at around 100 million euros. At the turn of the year, Trigema will become a limited partnership with Wolfgang Grupp junior and Elisabeth Grupp as partners.
The senior was never able to gain anything from the modern working world; he always sought the spotlight with provocative statements. A woman who goes on maternity leave “of course gives up the leadership position,” he said to Focus. And the Stuttgart newspaper he said: “I don’t have a home office.” If someone can work at home, they are unimportant. He also heavily criticized the buyers of his T-shirts: “The biggest failures were our customers,” he told the SZ, meaning department stores and mail order companies such as Karstadt, Kaufhof and Quelle. “We rolled out red carpets for them – and these assholes failed.”
He, who always wanted to do everything better than others, is now actually handing over to his son. He trusts his children’s abilities to “ensure the continued existence of the company and lead Trigema into a secure future,” said Grupp. The ramp pig is retiring – but will definitely continue to be heard from the second row.