Lars Windhorst Info Page |
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| German Entrepreneur, CEO at Sapinda Deutschland GmbH | ||
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Location: Berlin, Germany |
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Lars Windhorst - Short Biography
Lars Windhorst is only 33 years old yet he has been a businessperson for longer than half his life. In 1991 when Lars was 15 years old he co - founded Windhorst Electronics along with Chinese businessperson Ming Rong Zhang. By purchasing computer parts directly from manufacturers in the Far East and assembling computers for sale in Germany and Western Europe, Lars was able to make a handsome profit and still charge less than the competition. In the first year of business, Windhorst Electronics had close to 80 employees and generated sales of $50 million.
The press, politicians, and even movie stars such as Michael Douglas were impressed. Lars had become famous for being an extraordinarily successful young entrepreneur. Two major acknowledgments were followed; Lars was invited to accompany Helmut Kohl on official state visits to china, Japan, Vietnam, Brazil, Indonesia, and Russia. Additionally, the World Economic Forum in Davos chose Lars Windhorst to become a member of the Young Global Leaders for Tomorrow.
Lars Windhorst, as written in an article in the German magazine Handelsblatt, feels at home among the world’s rich and famous, doing business at the highest levels with international financiers. Through his unique ability to make his way into offices that are usually closed to outsiders, he is able to secure investments and loans for the companies and projects that he represents. Even though not every business venture has ended in success, at the age of 33 he is still considered to be an excellent businessman who can get things done as he studies the market and takes calculated risks.
Lars Windhost's business ventures were growing further, Lars had relocated temporarily to Hong Kong where he had started Windhorst Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. The company had several bureaus in both Vietnam and Mainland China. The Windhorst group at that point had diversified immensely and had exposure not only to electronics but also to several industries such as real estate and finance.
Between 1997 and 2002 Lars served as a board member in the Mentor Foundation, a foundation closely affiliated with the World Health Organization, which was founded by no other than the Queen of Sweden herself.
In 2000, Windhorst AG the parent company for Windhorst electronics increased its exposure to the internet market as part of the new economy and with the goal of listing the company on the Frankfurt Stock exchange. When the internet bubble collapsed, stock markets came down significantly and Windhorst AG ran into severe financial difficulties. The company had to cease its activities in 2003.
Lars Windhorst is nowadays the CEO of Sapinda Deutschland GmbH. a privately owned investment firm, primarily financed by a South African manufacturer. The firm has global exposure to public equity, private equity and debt. Sapinda Deutschland GmbH is the German subsidiary of Sapinda Holding B.V.