Person of the Week: Andreas Guldin – a family dynasty scion’s right-hand man

Andreas Guldin helps guide one of Germany’s wealthiest family dynasties – and, in particular, the patriarch of the family business. That guidance could be about to trigger a major liquidity event if media reports prove accurate.

​Guldin works closely with the Haub family, particularly Christian Haub. Christian is the main shareholder of Tengelmann Twenty-One, a multi-billion-dollar Munich-based investment and holding group. Tengelmann Twenty-One owns the Tengelmann Group, a family-owned retail conglomerate. Christian is part of the family’s fifth generation.

​In his role as strategic officer, Guldin has likely helped position two of Tengelmann’s most valuable assets—DIY retailer OBI and discount chain Kik—for a potential public listing

​Guldin started working for the Haub family in 2005, joining as co-chief financial officer of Tengelmann’s holding group. He has worked with the family ever since, especially with Christian. Both are in their early 60s, and their careers have progressed in tandem.

​Guldin’s relationship with Christian deepened in 2011, when he helped establish Emil Capital Partners (now ECP Growth), a US-based private equity firm. Guldin became CEO, gained private equity experience, and oversaw many of Emil’s deals. He remains chairman of ECP.  

​But the move to oversee more of the Haub’s prize possession, the Tengelman Group, happened with the untimely death of Christian’s eldest brother and heir apparent to the family dynasty, Karl-Erivan Haub.

​Karl-Erivan mysteriously disappeared on a skiing trip in the Swiss Alps in 2018. He was pronounced dead by a German court in 2021. After these events, Guldin took a more prominent role in the Tengelmann empire. He joined the group’s executive board in September 2018 and became the holding group’s chief strategic officer.

​In his role as strategic officer, Guldin has likely helped position two of Tengelmann’s valuable assets—DIY retailer OBI and discount chain Kik—for a potential public listing. Guldin sits on OBI’s supervisory board. If the listings go ahead, Tengelmann and Christian could face a major liquidity event. Media reports value the two retailers at more than €2 billion.

​If the listings take place, Guldin can justifiably take some of the credit. Whatever happens, his business relationship with Christian remains strong, forming one of the closest bonds between a family dynasty’s scion and his right-hand man.