Wolfgang Grupp jr., Elisabeth Grupp, Wolfgang Grupp sr. and Bonita Grupp (from left)
Image: Michael Schulz
Trigema boss Wolfgang Grupp is in his late 70s. He has two children and they both want to inherit him. Only one thing will come into play. The mother has the last word.
Many families quarrel over the inheritance. Children feel disadvantaged, old wounds tear open. When it comes to a company, it’s even more complicated. Who gets how much power and what position? Who is really capable of running the company?
It is a sunny day in May when the Grupp family sits down on the terrace of their villa to talk about hereditary control. She tries to present a harmonious picture. It starts with the clothes: father and son wear suits with their initials “W.G.”. Mother and daughter have opted for monochrome dresses in the Trigema colors: mother white, daughter blue. The constellation – they know that, even if they demonstrate unity – has all the ingredients that are needed for a proper inheritance dispute: strong, idiosyncratic and ambitious characters, long traditions, a lot of wealth. And one, that’s for sure, will lose. It sounds like the script.