List of German entrepreneurs

This is a list of German entrepreneurs, businesspeople of German nationality or with German citizenship.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

A–M

• Karl Albrecht (1920–2014) and Theo Albrecht (1922–2010), founder of Aldi
• Albert Ballin (1857-1918), general director of the Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG) or Hamburg-America Line
• Ludwig Bamberger (1823–1899), co-founder of Deutsche Bank
• Gottlob Bauknecht (1892–1976), founder of Bauknecht
• Heinz-Georg Baus (1934–2016), founder of Bauhaus
• John Jacob Bausch (1830–1926), co-founder of Bausch & Lomb, makers of contact lenses and Ray-Ban sunglasses
• Friedrich Bayer (1825–1880), founder of what would become Bayer, a chemical and pharmaceutical company
• Paul Carl Beiersdorf (1836–1896), founded Beiersdorf AG, manufacturers of Nivea, Eucerin
• Melitta Bentz (1873–1950), invented the coffee filter and started Melitta, manufacturers of coffee, paper coffee filters and coffee makers
• Karl Benz (1844–1929), inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile; co-founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz
• Maximilian Delphinius Berlitz (1852–1921), founder of Berlitz Language Schools
• Carl Bertelsmann (1791–1850), founder of Bertelsmann AG, subsidiaries include Random House and BMG
• Johann Adam Birkenstock, in 1774 founded Birkenstock shoe company
• Hermann Blohm (1848), in 1877, co-founder Blohm+Voss, manufacturers of ships
• Carl F. W. Borgward (1890-1963), founder of Borgward
• August Borsig (1804–1854), founder of Borsig Werke
• Robert Bosch (1861–1942), industrialist, engineer and inventor; founder of Robert Bosch GmbH
• Hugo Boss (1885–1948), fashion designer, founder of Hugo Boss AG
• Max Braun (1883–1967), founder of Braun GmbH, makers of personal care appliances, coffee makers and other home appliances
• Adolphus Busch (1839–1913), co-founder of Anheuser-Busch brewing company
• Adolph Coors (1847–1929), founder of the Adolph Coors Company brewery, now part of MillerCoors
• Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), inventor, engineer and industrialist; founder of Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, now Daimler AG
• Adolf Dassler (1900–1978), founder of sportswear company Adidas
• Rudolf Dassler (1898–1974), founder of sportwear company Puma
• Adelbert Delbrück (1822–1899), co-founder of Deutsche Bank
• Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck (1830–1916), founder of company Schlesische AG für Bergbau und Zinkhüttenbetrieb
• Friedrich Engelhorn (1821–1902), founder of the chemical company BASF
• Kaspar Faber (1730–1784), founder of Faber-Castell, manufacturers of office supplies, art supplies, writing instruments and leather goods
• Günther Fielmann (born 1939), founder of Fielmann
• Wilhelm von Finck (1848–1924), co-founder of Munich Re and Allianz
• Eduard Fresenius (1874–1946), founder of Fresenius
• Jakob Fugger the Elder (1368–1469), founder of Fugger bank
• Marcus Goldman (1821–1904), co-founder of Goldman Sachs
• Max Grundig (1908–1989), founder of Grundig
• Edmund Heckler (1906–1960), co-founder Heckler & Koch, 1948
• Ernst Heinkel (1888–1958), founder of Heinkel, manufacturers of airplanes
• Richard Hellmann (1876–1971), founder of Hellmann's Mayonnaise
• Johann Peter Henckels, founder of (Zwilling) J.A. Henckels, manufacturers of kitchen knives, scissors, cookware and flatware
• Friedrich Karl Henkel (1848–1930), founder of Henkel
• Max Herz (1905–1965), co-founder of Tchibo, 1949
• Dietmar Hopp (born 1940), co-founder of SAP
• August Horch (1868–1951), founder of Audi automobile company in 1909
• Helmut Horten (1909–1987), founder of Horten AG
• Georg Ferdinand Howaldt (1802–1883), founder of Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in 1835
• Nicole Junkermann, founder of NJF holdings
• Hugo Junkers (1859–1935), founder of Junkers in 1895, manufacturers of airplanes
• Rudolph Karstadt (1856–1944), founder of Karstadt
• Ernst Keil (1816–1878), founder and publisher of Die Gartenlaube
• Erich Kellerhals (1939–2017), co-founder of Media Markt
• Carl Kellner, founder of Ernst Leitz GmbH, which later became Leica Camera AG, Leica Geosystems AG, and Leica Microsystems AG, producing cameras, geosurvey equipment and microscopes
• Roman Kirsch, founder of Lesara
• Carl Heinrich Theodor Knorr (1800–1875) founder of Knorr
• Georg Krauß (1826–1906), co-founder of Krauss-Maffei, 1838
• Theodor Koch (1905–1976), co-founder of Heckler & Koch, 1948
• Friedrich Krupp (1787–1826), steel manufacturer and founder of the steel producers ThyssenKrupp AG
• Heinrich Lanz (1838-1905), founder of Heinrich Lanz AG
• Henry Lehman (1822–1855), Emanuel Lehman (1827–1907) and Mayer Lehman (1830–1897), German-born bankers, co-founders of Lehman Brothers
• Louis Leitz (1846–1918), founder of Leitz
• Carl von Linde (1842–1934), founder of The Linde Group
• Henry Lomb (1828–1908), co-founder of Bausch & Lomb
• Friedrich Lürssen (1851–1916), founder of Lürssen in 1875, manufacturers of ships
• Joseph Anton von Maffei (1790–1870), founder of Maffei, later 1838 Krauss-Maffei
• Wolfgang Marguerre (born 1941), founder of Octapharma
• Oscar Ferdinand Mayer (1859–1955), founder of the processed-meat firm Oscar Mayer
• Friedrich Jacob Merck (1621–1678), founder of Merck KGaA (Engel-Apotheke in Darmstadt)
• George Merck (1867–1926), founder of Merck & Co.
• Joseph Mendelssohn (1770–1848), founder of former bank Mendelssohn & Co.
• Willy Messerschmitt (1898–1978), founder of Messerschmitt
• Heinrich Meyerfreund, founder of Garoto, chocolate company in Brazil
• Carl Miele (1869–1938), founder of Miele, manufacturer of domestic appliances
• Frederick Miller (born as Friedrich Eduard Johannes Müller) (1824–1888), founder of the Miller Brewing Company in 1855

N–Z

• Josef Neckermann (1912–1992), founder of the company Neckermann
• August Oetker (1862–1918), founder of the company Dr Oetker
• Adam Opel (1837–1895), founder of the automobile company Adam Opel AG
• Salomon Oppenheim (1772–1828), founder of bank Sal. Oppenheim
• Ernest Oppenheimer (1880–1957), diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa
• Werner Otto (1909–2011), founder of Otto GmbH, now Otto Group, a mail order company
• Hasso Plattner (born 1944), co-founder of SAP
• Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951), designer and founder of Porsche
• Günther Quandt (1881–1954), industrial, entrepreneur of different companies (today includes BMW AG and Altana (chemicals)
• Karl Friedrich Rapp (1882–1962), co-founder of Rapp Motorenwerke GmbH, which later became BMW AG
• Emil Rathenau (1838–1915), founder of AEG
• Paul Reuter (1816–1899), pioneer of telegraphy and news reporting; founder of Reuters news agency
• Hans Riegel, Sr. (1893–1945), founder of Haribo, the manufacturer of gummi and jelly sweets
• Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777–1836), founder of British company N M Rothschild & Sons
• Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering (1824–1889), founder of the pharmaceutical company Schering AG
• Gustav Schickedanz (1895–1977), founder of Quelle
• Anton Schlecker (born 1944), founder of Schlecker
• Ernst Schmidt and Wilhelm Schmidt-Ruthenbeck (1906–1988), founders of Metro AG
• Alex Seidel (1909–1989), co-founder of Heckler & Koch, 1948
• Fritz Sennheiser (1912–2010), founder of Sennheiser Electronic GmbH & Co. KG, specializing in high fidelity products
• Georg von Siemens (1839–1901), co-founder of Deutsche Bank
• Werner von Siemens (1816–1892), inventor, founder of Siemens, the electronics and electrical engineering company
• Friedrich Soennecken (1848-1919), founder of Soennecken
• J.S. Staedtler, in 1835 founded Staedtler Mars GmbH & Co. KG, suppliers of writing, artist, and engineering drawing instruments
• Bruno Steinhoff (born 1937), founder of Steinhoff
• Henry E. Steinway (1797–1871), founder of the piano company Steinway & Sons
• Hugo Stinnes (1870–1924), co-founder of Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG
• August Storck-Oberwelland, in 1903 founder of Werther's Sugar Confectionery Factory, now August Storck AG
• Franz Ströher (c. 1854–1936), in 1880 founded cosmetics company Wella AG
• Carl Tchilinghiryan (1910–1987), in 1949, co-founder of company Tchibo
• Carl von Thieme (1844–1924), founder of Allianz AG, a financial services company
• August Thyssen (1842–1926), founder of Walzwerk Thyssen & Co. in Mülheim an der Ruhr
• Friedrich Thyssen (1804–1877), founder of Draht-Fabrik-Compagnie in Aachen
• Hermann Tietz (1837–1907), founder of Hertie, a department store
• Klaus Tschira (1940–2015), co-founder of SAP
• Leopold Ullstein (1826–1899), founder of publishing company Ullstein Verlag
• Ernst Voss (1842–1920), in 1877, co-founder of Blohm+Voss, manufacturers of ships
• Carl Walther (1858–1915), founder of company Carl Walther, manufacturer of guns
• Moses Marcus Warburg and Gerson Warburg, co-founder of M. M. Warburg & Co., German bank
• Siegmund Warburg, founder of S. G. Warburg & Co., British bank
• Claus Wellenreuther (born 1935), co-founder of SAP
• Bartholomeus V. Welser (1484–1561), Welser brothers bank
• Georg Wertheim (1857–1939), founder of Wertheim, a department store
• Aloys Wobben (born 1952), founder of Enercon
• Reinhold Würth (born 1935), company Würth
• Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), founder of Carl Zeiss AG, a maker of optical instruments
• Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838–1917), inventor of the Zeppelin; founder of the Zeppelin Airship company