At the Forefront of Philanthropy and Innovation in Social Investment

“My forebears also instilled in me the deep conviction that wealth demands certain responsibilities. This conviction has led me to seek and implement new ways of doing philanthropic work.” “Stephan Schmidheiny, My Vision, My Path”, January 2006

Stephan Schmidheiny has been involved the philanthropic community since the beginning of his professional career in the 1980s. He inspired and created a series of non-profit organizations to encourage the development of entrepreneurs, as well as financial, social and environmentally sustainable businesses, with global reach and regional impact in Latin America. He also promoted the arts and made important contributions to education and professional training.

Several of the foundations created by Schmidheiny are established in Latin America, as a result of his interest in the region and its people. There are notable cases, such as FUNDES, Fundación AVINA, MarViva and VIVA Idea, that continued to evolve until they attained international standing. FUNDES promotes and strengthens the management of SME (small and medium-sized enterprises); Fundación Avina contributes with concrete and relevant changes for a more sustainable development in Latin America and beyond; MarViva’s objective is to protect the vast marine resources of the Tropical Eastern Pacific; and VIVA Idea articulates learning communities around sustainable development

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In order to provide long-term funding for these institutions, Stephan Schmidheiny created VIVA Trust in 2003. The word VIVA is a simplified version of the expression Vision and Values, and is how the trust is known. He bequeathed the shares of the companies that form Grupo Nueva to VIVA Trust. Part of the profits and dividends that these companies generate are invested in the Latin American foundations in order to ensure their permanence and transcendence.

As part of his involvement in the arts, he created the Alexander Schmidheiny Foundation, which supports cultural, social and ecological projects and activities, and increases and promotes the Daros modern art collection in Europe and Latin America.

His contribution to education and professional training has been made through his support of and, in some cases, participation in, the professional training of top executives and business owners.

Sustainable Philanthropy

“It was obvious that traditional philanthropy was not the option I was looking for. I needed to find a catalyst that would trigger the type of sustainable human development that all governments of the world had agreed upon at the Earth Summit.” “Stephan Schmidheiny, My Vision, My Path”, January 2006.

Education

International Institute for Management Development, IMD

In 1986, Stephan Schmidheiny was elected president of the International Management Institute (IMI) in Geneva, for his vast knowledge of the business world. During his term he identified other entities that also specialized in establishing executive committees and encouraged the merger with the Institute for the Study of Business Management Methods in Lausanne. The goal was to create a more robust organization that resulted in the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, a world leader, like others, in the field of business management education.

Together with Canadian businessman Frank Tilley, Schmidheiny inspired the establishment of the Family Firm Institute (FFI) for research and training in the field of family business. With the emergence of the IMD, the FFI became the IMD Global Family Business Center, which to this day continues to offer the “Managing the Family Business” program.

In the 1990s, Schmidheiny bestowed to that Center the “Stephan Schmidheiny Family Business Chair,” subsequently titled the “Stephan Schmidheiny Business and Finances Chair,” dedicated to the training in and research of the sustainable business field. Having completed the project, he resigned from the Board of the IMD Foundation in 1992.

www.imd.org

Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development

at the INCAE Business School

In 1996, Stephan Schmidheiny and naval mechanical engineer Roberto Artavia founded the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development at the INCAE Business School in Costa Rica.

This research center, or “think tank,” supports change towards a more sustainable society, both financially and socially, for the governments of the region, as well as the private sector and public companies.

Watch the video about INCAE’s history.

www.incae.edu/es/clacds

Conservation

MarViva

In 2002, Stephan Schmidheiny and Erica Knie created the MarViva foundation in Costa Rica and Panama, and four years later added Colombia. The foundation adopted the mission to protect the vast marine resources of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. It proposed and implemented a model for the management and responsible use of marine resources, based on supporting monitoring and surveillance efforts, establishing laws, and improving legal proceedings. These activities are carried out by multidisciplinary teams comprised of marine biologists, journalists, political scientists, oceanographers, geographers, among others.

From the beginning, MarViva has operated as a non-profit NGO, aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal resources, paying special attention to protected marine areas.

www.marviva.net

Culture

The Alexander Schmidheiny Foundation

The Alexander Schmidheiny Foundation was created by Stephan Schmidheiny as a philanthropic entity in 1993, in honor of his younger brother Alexander, who passed away the previous year.

The Foundation started its philanthropic endeavors in the Schmidheinys’ neighborhood, in eastern Switzerland. It then extended its activities all the way to the Rhine Valley where it has been supporting cultural, social and environmental projects.

With its Daros Art Education program, aimed at a young audience, it explores and achieves new alternatives to bringing art to the public.

www.alexanderschmidheinystiftung.ch/ueber-uns/

The Daros Collection

The Daros Collection dates back to the 1980s, when Alexander Schmidheiny and Thomas Ammann came together through their shared passion for art.

As a result of their excellent connections in the art world, Alexander and Thomas were able to acquire pieces from notable artists of the mid-20th century, such as Andy Warhol, Brice Marden, Cy Twombly, among others.

After the premature death of the two entrepreneurs, Stephan Schmidheiny wanted to continue the cultural initiative his brother had been part of. Therefore, he sponsored the Daros Collection, ensuring the evolution of the project and making it accessible to the public through open exhibits. At that time and after a specialized evaluation, some pieces were sold and acquisitions were made, adding new artists such as Gerhard Richter, Willem de Kooning, Agnes Martin and Mark Rothko.

Between 2001 and 2008 some of the pieces of the Daros Collection were presented at the Daros Exhibit at the Löwenbräu-Areal in Switzerland. As of 2010, the collection can be permanently seen at the Bayeler Foundation in Riehen, Switzerland.

www.daros.ch

Daros Latin America

Founded in 2000 by Stephan Schmidheiny and Ruth, his wife at the time, Daros Latin America is an art institute with headquarters in Zurich. Its objective is to create and preserve a collection of Latin American contemporary art.

With several international exhibits, numerous publications, the largest art library in Europe, and an expanding international network, Daros Latin America has become a platform that facilitates lasting dialog about art between Latin American artists and the international audience.

After 10 years of successful exhibits at the Löwenbräu-Areal in Zurich, Daros Latin America focuses on its public activities from its headquarters, Casa Daros in Rio de Janeiro, since 2013. As a platform for arts and culture, Casa Daros has become a meeting point between Rio de Janeiro, Latin America, and the rest of the visual arts world.

Along with the permanent exhibit in Rio de Janeiro, the Daros Latin America collection is exhibited at museums and institutions all over the world, in the framework of several partnership projects.

www.daros-latinamerica.net

Timeline

1850
- 1867
  With the creation of a brick factory in Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Jacob Schmidheiny, Stephan’s great-grandfather, lays the foundation of the family business.
- 1891
  Brown, Boveri & Cie. is founded in 1891 in Baden, Switzerland, by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri.
- 1906
  The Eternit company is founded in Italy, a corporation with numerous local shareholders and a few foreign shareholders.
- 1912
  Ernest Schmidheiny I, Stephan’s grandfather, invests in the emerging cement industry through Holderbank (now called Holcim) and then in the processing of asbestos, through Eternit Switzerland.
- 1947
  On October 29, 1947, Stephan Ernest Schmidheiny is born in Balgach, St. Gallen, Switzerland. He is the second of four siblings, the children of Max Schmidheiny and Adda Schmidheiny – Scherrer.
- 1969
  Stephan Schmidheiny works in an Eternit factory in Brazil, performing tasks that bring him in direct contact with asbestos.
1970
- 1972
  After studying law, he obtains a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Zurich, Switzerland.
- 1973
  The Swiss Eternit Group (SEG) becomes the largest shareholder of the Italian company Eternit SpA. The ILO convenes a meeting of experts to debate the safe use of asbestos. Subsequently, the international body publishes the report “Asbestos: Health Risks and their Prevention”.
- 1974
  Stephan Schmidheiny is formally named Head of Sales for Eternit A.G in Niederurnen, Switzerland.
- 1975
  Schmidheiny is named General Manager and member of the Board of Directors of Eternit A.G. in Niederurnen, Switzerland.
- 1976
  Schmidheiny succeeds his father as General Director of the Swiss Eternit Group (SEG), becoming responsible for a conglomerate of companies with factories in more than 20 countries.
  He promotes the “New Technology” program, a pioneering, innovative initiative to find a substitute for asbestos in the manufacturing of panels and other products, as well as to set up safety measures to protect workers in Swiss Eternit Group (SEG) plants across the world.
- 1978
  Schmidheiny becomes a member of the Board of Directors (1978 – 1996) of the Union Bank of Switzerland (which later becomes UBS).
  The ILO convenes again with an emphasis on the need to adopt international standards for the prevention and control of the risks caused by exposure to asbestos, as well as the urgent need to produce a set of practical recommendations for the safe handling of asbestos. The document “Safety in the Use of Asbestos” is published in 1984. The majority of the recommendations had already been put into practice voluntarily by Eternit before the ILO published the code of practice.
- 1981
  Schmidheiny publicly announces that the Swiss Eternit Group (SEG) will stop manufacturing products that contain asbestos due to the potential human and environmental problems associated with the mineral. SEG takes this radical step before the majority of European countries adopt legislation banning asbestos and certainly before the rest of the world, given that in several countries in Latin America the use of asbestos as a raw material for construction products is still legal and quite prevalent to this day.
  Schmidheiny joins the Board of Directors (1981 – 1997) of Brown, Boveri & Cie., a position from which he promotes a merger with Asea, forming Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) in 1988. Schmidheiny steps down from the position in 1997.
  He starts to diversify his investments and acquires the Swiss newspaper kiosk company, Distral Group.
- 1982
  Schmidheiny enters the Latin American market for the first time, investing in the forestry industry in Chile through the company Terranova.
  Six years after Stephan Schmidheiny started a workplace safety and innovation program at Swiss Eternit Group (SEG) plants, and months after Schmidheiny issued the order for SEG to exit the asbestos industry completely, Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to prohibit the use of asbestos.
- 1984
  His father, Max Schmidheiny, hands over control of the Swiss Eternit Group (SEG) to Stephan and turns the cement company Holderbank (later called Holcim) over to his brother, Thomas.
  The Swiss Eternit Group (SEG) plants manage to manufacture numerous asbestos-free products, replacing it with a component based on paper pulp. SEG becomes less competitive due to the high production costs.
  Stephan Schmidheiny and the archbishop of Panama, Marcos McGrath, create FUNDES, a foundation to build the capacity of small and medium sized businesses in Latin America.
- 1985
  Schmidheiny acquires a third of the shares of the SMH group, the largest manufacturer of Swiss watches. He actively participates in the restructuring of the company, which leads to the formation of the successful Swatch Group.
  The mayor of Casale Monferrato, Italy sends a personal letter to Schmidheiny, explaining his concern about the effects that the closing of the Eternit factory in his town could have on the labor market.
- 1986
  Schmidheiny becomes a Board Member of Landis & Gyr, a firm dedicated to energy management. One year later he becomes the majority shareholder and in 1995 he sells his shares to Elektrowatt. He steps down from the board in 1996.
  He is elected as President of the International Management Institute (IMI) in Geneva. In 1989, he promotes a merger with IMEDE to form the International Management Development (IMD) business school in Lausana, Switzerland. Schmidheiny steps down from the Board of the IMD Foundation in 1992.
  Eternit SpA Italy declares bankruptcy. An official receiver takes control of the company, eliminating the Swiss Eternit Group’s (SEG) role in its administration. The bankruptcy liquidation lasts until 2008.
- 1988
  Schmidheiny becomes a Board Member of Nestlé (1988 – 2003).
  Eternit Switzerland sells its shares in Eternit Brazil and Amindus Holding to the Saint Gobain firm. After these sales, Schmidheiny no longer holds any shares in these companies.
- 1989
  In 1988 Schmidheiny starts the process of selling the Swiss Eternit Group (SEG), which concludes in 1989. The shares are sold to the legal buyers with all the corresponding rights and responsibilities.
  He acquires Wild-Leitz, a company that in 1990 merges with Cambridge Instruments, creating Leica Microsystems, which currently has factories in five countries and sales and services in more than 20 countries.
- 1990
  Maurice Strong, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), names Schmidheiny Chief Advisor for Trade and Industry, due to his reputation as a pioneer in social and environmental issues, in preparation for the Earth Summit to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
  Switzerland bans the processing of asbestos, nine years after Stephan Schmidheiny announced that he would eliminate its usage in Swiss Eternit Group (SEG) plants.
- 1991
  Schmidheiny founds the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD), along with high ranking executives from different industries and regions, to inform his work as chief adviser to the Secretary General of the UNCED. The first meeting takes place in The Hague.
  Together with Hernando de Soto, he publishes the book “Las nuevas reglas del juego: Hacia el desarrollo sostenible en América Latina” (“The New Rules of the Game: Towards Sustainable Development in Latin America”).
  Stephan’s father, Max Schmidheiny, passes away.
  Italy introduces national rules according to the regulation issued by the European Union in 1983 regarding the maximum concentration of asbestos fibers permitted for industrial uses.
- 1992
  Italy bans the processing of asbestos six years after Eternit closed its Italian factories.
  Schmidheiny publishes and is the main author of the best-seller “Changing Course: A Global Business Perspective for Development and Environment”, with the results from the work of the BCSD.
  Stephan’s younger brother, Alexander Schmidheiny, passes away at an early age and leaves Stephan the Daros art collection, which was created together with Thomas Ammann in the 1980s. From 2001 to 2008, some of the pieces from the Daros Collection were shown at exhibitions in Löwenbräu-Areal, Switzerland. Since
- 1993
  Schmidheiny is designated as a member of the Board of the World Resources Institute (WRI), headquartered in Washington (1993 – 2001).
  Stephan receives an honorary doctorate from the INCAE Business School, Costa Rica.
- 1994
  Schmidheiny founds Avina Stiftung in Switzerland, a foundation that promotes social and ecological sustainability, combining philanthropic work with an entrepreneurial spirit.
  Together with Bruno Fritsch and Walter Seifritz, he publishes the book “Towards an Ecologically Sustainable Growth Society: Physical Foundations, Economic Transitions, and Political Constraints”.
- 1995
  After the Earth Summit, the members of the BCSD merge with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to form the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
  In honor of his brother who passed away in 1992, Stephan creates the Alexander Schmidheiny Stiftung, a foundation to support cultural, social, and environmental projects and activities.
- 1996
  Schmidheiny establishes the Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS), a partnership among the four most important scientific and technological universities in the world. He serves as president of the International Advisory Board between 1996 and 2001.
  He creates the Centro Latinoamericano para la Competitividad y el Desarrollo Sostenible (Center for Latin American Competitiveness and Sustainable Development - CLACDS) at the INCAE Business School in Costa Rica, together with Brizio Biondi-Morra and Roberto Artavia.
  Stephan receives an honorary doctorate from Yale University, New Haven.
  Together with Federico Zorraquín and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Schmidheiny edits “Financing Change: The Financial Community, Eco-efficiency, and Sustainable Development”.
  He publishes the book “Sustainable Development: The Financial Markets in a Paradigm Shift,” together with Rolf Gerling.
  Stephan Schmidheiny recieves the “Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul” (“Order of the Southern Cross”) award from then president of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
- 1997
  Schmidheiny is named co-president (1997 – 1998) of the OECD’s High Level Advisory Group on the Environment. His recommendation to make sustainability a general principle of the organization serve as the basis for a Ministerial Meeting of the OECD in 1998.
- 1998
  Stephan Schmidheiny creates the holding company Grupo Nueva, which encompasses his investments in companies in Latin America —Terranova (later called Masisa), Grupo Amanco, and Ecos— and is committed to the three areas of corporate responsibility: financial, social and environmental.
  Together with Jeff Gates he publishes the book “Ownership Solution: Toward a Shared Capitalism for the 21st Century”.
2000
- 2000
  Schmidheiny is named Honorary President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
  Schmidheiny, together with Ruth, his former wife, create Daros Latin America, an art institution headquartered in Zurich with the goal of creating and conserving a collection of contemporary Latin American art. Since 2013, it offers activities for the public at the Casa Daros (Daros House) in Rio de Janeiro.
- 2001
  In line with his humanitarian mission, Stephan Schmidheiny tasks Becon A.G. with a plan to analyze possible ways of helping with situations caused by asbestos.
  Stephan receives an honorary doctorate from Rollings University, Florida.
  Stephan receives an honorary doctorate from Universidad Católica de Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela.
  Schmidheiny establishes Fundación Avina in Latin America to promote social and business leadership for sustainable development in the region.
- 2002
  Schmidheiny publishes the book “Walking the Talk: The Business Case for Sustainable Development,” together with Chad Holliday and Philip Watts.
  Together with Erika Knie, he founds Fundación MarViva, a non-profit entity focused on the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal resources in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.
  Through Grupo Nueva, Schmidheiny acquires a majority stake in the forestry company Masisa, headquartered in Chile and with forestry and industrial operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Venezuela.
- 2003
  Schmidheiny establishes an irrevocable trust, VIVA TRUST, donating all of the stock and investments of the Grupo Nueva holding group, a cash sum, and other liquid investments. The donation, with a total value of more than 1 billion USD, ensures the long-term sustainability of Avina and Fundes and the continuity of their philanthropic activities in Latin America. After the creation of this trust, Schmidheiny announces his gradual retirement from executive functions.
- 2005
  The shareholders of Terranova approve a merger with Masisa. The new company is named Masisa S.A.
- 2006
  Stephan Schmidheiny publishes an autobiography titled “My Path - My Perspective.”
- 2007
  Becon A.G. starts to give out humanitarian aid to the former employees (or the families of former employees) of Eternit SpA in Italy.
  Amanco, part of Grupo Nueva, is sold to Mexican firm Mexichem.
  Plycem Company, also part of GrupoNueva, is sold to Mexican company Mexalit Industrial. After these sales, the productive activities of the companies in VIVA TRUST are concentrated in the forestry industry.
- 2008
  Schmidheiny participates in the creation of Fundación Latinoamérica Posible (LAP) with the goal of promoting the growing and responsible participation of the productive sector in the sustainable development of communities and nations.
- 2009
  Schmidheiny expands the humanitarian aid program that was first started in 2007 through Becon A.G. to people affected by asbestos living in the areas surrounding the Eternit SpA industrial plants.
  In Turin, Italy, the Criminal Court of first instance begins criminal proceedings against the Belgian Baron Louis de Cartier de Marchienne and against Stephan Schmidheiny, in his capacity as shareholder of the Italian company Eternit SpA.
2010
- 2010
  The authors René Lüchinger and Ueli Burkhard publish a biography about Stephan Schmidheiny titled “Stephan Schmidheiny: The Long Journey to Find Himself. Heir - Entrepreneur – Philanthropist.”
- 2012
  On February 13th, The Criminal Court of Turin rules in the case of Eternit SpA and sentences Baron Louis de Cartier and Stephan Schmidheiny to prison. The ruling sustains that they were responsible for causing an “intentional disaster” and for “intentional non-compliance with safety measures” in two of the four Eternit SpA production plants.
- 2013
  Upon hearing an appeal of the sentence, the Court of Appeals in Turin pronounces a new ruling confirming the sentencing of Stephan Schmidneiny, changing the charges and increasing the length of the sentence. Baron Louis de Cartier de Marchienne passes away before the sentence is handed down.
  In order to celebrate the 10th anniversary of VIVA TRUST, the Centro de Intercambio de Conocimientos (Center for Knowledge Exchange - CiC) is launched, with the goal of sharing lessons learned by the organizations created by Schmidheiny and to inspire a new generation of social and business entrepreneurs in Latin America and around the world.
  By this date, more than 1,500 people affected by asbestos from the north and south of Italy have received humanitarian aid from Becon A.G. since 2007.
- 2014
  On November 19, Italy’s highest court, the Corte Suprema di Cassazione in Rome, overturned the June 2013 verdict of the Turin Court of Appeals and acquitted Stephan Schmidheiny. Italy’s General Attorney denounced that the process had no legal grounding and requested the complete annulment of the trial with no possibility of reopening the cause. The defense attorneys held that the process severely violated the right to a fair and equitable trial, as well as the principle of “there can be no penalty without law” as stated in article 7 of ECHR.
2015

At the Forefront of Philanthropy and Innovation in Social Investment

Sustainable Philanthropy

Education

Conservation

Culture

Timeline

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