General Capital Group

Philipp A. Schoeller
Founding Partner of General Capital Group

Philipp Schoeller was key note speaker at the 150th birthday of Oskar v. Miller, the founder of the Deutsches Museum, Munich and the Great-Grandfather of Philipp Schoeller
 

Philipp A. Schoeller

Born in Goettingen, Germany

Education and Employment

Schools (1967 - 1979)
  • Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz, Switzerland, honors for academic success
  • Ashbury College, Ottawa, Canada: finished 11th in a national Math competition with 28,000 participants
  • SAMD, Davos, Switzerland: Matura degree in 11 instead of 13 years
MSc. Electrical Engineering, ETH, Zürich (1979 - 1983)
  • Graduate thesis on repeated root cyclic code: developed a self correcting code, best grade and only thesis of the year to be published in IEEE
  • Finished studies with a 9-months trip around the world without funds
MBA, INSEAD, Fontainebleau (1984 - 1985)
  • 2nd youngest participant - a small venture in Zürich was counted as work experience
  • Master focus on finance: overall deans list (top 10%)
The Boston Consulting Group London/Munich (1985 - 1988)
  • Focus on financial services and takeover due diligence, part of the practice´s M&A team
  • Fast track promotion to project leader within one instead of two years
  • Interviewed for the private banking business of a U.S. bank 500 entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurial Curriculum

Investor: GSM, Middle Market Private Equity (1989 - 1995)
  • Founding partner of GSM-Industries: a buy out firm concentrating on middle market turnaround companies
  • Group build from scratch to 3000 employees by 1995; most investments have been divested between 1995 and 2000
Investor: GCI, Venture Equity (1995 - 2001)
  • Founding partner of GCI Management, a consultancy firm, IPO in 2001
  • Founding financer of several start-up companies including a software firm for internet banking
Investor and Fund Management: GCG, Large Caps (since 2001)
  • Founding partner of General Capital Group (2005)
  • Focus on large MBOs, MBIs, OBOs (Owners buy outs)
  • Successfully structured a major transaction on behalf of the founding family Claussen and other key shareholders of Beiersdorf (with brands such as Nivea, Tesa), in defense against a hostile take-over bid by Procter&Gamble. The transaction had a total value of € 5b.
  • Quote from the founding family: "You successfully negotiated with the major shareholder, the Chairman and the CEO of Tchibo (2nd largest shareholder in Beiersdorf); with the Chairman and the CEO of Beiersdorf; with the Minister of Economics and the Minister of Finance in Hamburg and with the CFO of Allianz. … Without your creative, committed and professional work Beiersdorf would not be independent today."
  • Instrumental in investments of GCG or advised by GCG to date, cumulative
    total commitments of € 3.5 bn; initiated privatization project Continental; examples of successful GCG investments: Volkswagen, ThyssenKrupp, Lanxess
Philanthropic and Political Activities

  • Former chairman of the Young Presidents Organisation (YPO), Germany, Rhine Chapter
  • Co-author of book "Coaching Kids", a educational guide about a dialogue at eye-level with children, major articles about this approach in Germany print media and TV
  • Co-founder of the liberal network of the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP) in Germany - presently non-active
  • Founder of the “Fragile-World” Foundation (FWF)
  • Racing Sailing: Vice-Champion at Copa del Rey (King of Spain), Class X35
    (A Windfall Success)
  • Member of the Economic Advisory Board of German-Arab Friendship Society (DAFG)


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