Alexander Otto

Alexander Otto owns a stake in Otto Group and is majority shareholder and CEO of ECE Group, a commercial real estate firm focused on shopping centers.

His late father, Werner Otto, started the empire by founding a mail-order business in Hamburg in 1949.

With revenues exceeding $15 billion, Otto Group has more than 40 companies in retail (including Crate and Barrel), real estate and financial services.

His stepmother Maren and her daughter Katharina share a 14% stake with him in Paramount Group, which owns and manages office properties in the U.S.

Investing heavily in shopping centers, he became a shareholder of publicly-traded Deutsche EuroShop in 2001.