Jacob Schapiro

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Jacob Schapiro , also Jakob Schapiro , (born November 6, 1885 in Odessa ; died April 17, 1942 in New York ) was a Russian-Jewish car dealer, taxi entrepreneur and stock market speculator in Berlin . At times he was the largest automobile dealer in Germany.

Entry into the automotive industry

Jacob Schapiro grew up in a Jewish family with at least two brothers. Jacob Schapiro graduated from commercial college and was then enrolled at several technical schools in Germany. From 1905 to 1906 he studied mechanical engineering at the Mittweida technical center . He later moved to Berlin, where he was based from 1914 at the latest. In 1919 he took over the management of the coachbuilder Schebera in Berlin . Under his leadership Schebera entered the auto trade and in a short time became one of the largest German automobile dealerships. For example, the company was the general agency for Benz & Cie. for the Berlin and Brandenburg area.

Schapiro is also known for making high profits in German inflation in the early 1920s . He bought automobiles in large numbers from many German automobile manufacturers and paid for them with bills of exchange . He let these bills prolong until the real values ​​of the bills had been reduced by the currency devaluation to such an extent that he could pay them from the proceeds of the vehicle sales and, in addition, made large profits.

Corporate investments

Jacob Schapiro used his growing fortune to invest in various companies in the automotive industry over the years. In addition to vehicle manufacturers, his company network also included suppliers and taxi companies. By the end of 1922 he owned z. B. 45% of the share capital in Benz & Cie. and 42% of the shares in Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . As a result, he also had a seat and vote on the supervisory boards of the companies concerned and thus regularly had an influence on their business policy. For example, he got Benz to undertake to purchase 30% of the bodies from Schebera.

Furthermore, Schapiro was also involved in the following companies:

Often he was also one of the manufacturers' largest customers. He used many vehicles in the Berlin taxi company Kandelhardt , which was also part of his group of companies.

When the financial situation in Germany normalized again in 1924 with the introduction of the Rentenmark and later the Reichsmark , Schapiro's procedures no longer worked. The bills of exchange failed, and with his insolvency he damaged a large part of the German automotive industry: Benz & Cie. and the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft could only survive through a merger (1926), NSU had to take over Schebera and hand over the automobile manufacturing to the newly founded company NSU-Fiat , Protos was sold to NAG and BMW took over the Dixi-Werke .

After the merger of Daimler and Benz, Schapiro was briefly the largest shareholder in Daimler-Benz AG. Wilhelm Kissel , CEO of the merged company, tried, however, to reduce Schapiros influence. When his bills of exchange were not renewed and made due, Schapiro had to sell shares. In the course of 1930 he left the supervisory board of Daimler-Benz AG.

From 1929 to 1934, Schapiro was also the owner of the Berlin Sportpalast , which was foreclosed to its main creditors, two Swiss financing companies.

Jacob Schapiro fled Nazi persecution to Paris in 1938 and to the United States in 1940. There he died in New York in 1942.

literature

  • Wilfrid Bade: The car is conquering the world - biography of the motor vehicle , Zeitgeschichte-Verlag Wilhelm Andermann, Berlin (1938), p. 257 ff.
  • Christiane Simsa: Der Speculant (on the 100th birthday of Jacob Schapiro), Motor Klassik Heft 11/1985, pp. 32–35
  • Werner Oswald : Mercedes-Benz Personenwagen 1886–1986 , 4th edition, Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart (1987), ISBN 3-613-01133-6
  • Werner Oswald: Deutsche Autos 1920–1945 , 10th edition, Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart (1996), ISBN 3-87943-519-7
  • Jan-Peter Domschke, Sabine Dorn, Hansgeorg Hofmann, Rosemarie Poch, Marion Stascheit: Mittweida's engineers all over the world , Mittweida University (ed.): Mittweida 2014, p. 141

Web links

Jacob Schapiro
Link to the picture

(Please note copyrights )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The pre-war car company: Jacob Schapiro wanted to create a multi-brand company in the 20s - like Ferdinand Piëch decades later, Autobild Klassik issue 1/2017, p. 116 f
  2. ↑ Der Motorfahrer , No. 31 from August 1, 1914.
  3. ↑ Gerald D. Feldmann in: Die Deutsche Bank 1870–1995 , Munich (1995), p. 240.
  4. ↑ Christiane Simsa, the speculator , MotorKlassik Heft 11/1985, pp 34th
  5. ↑ ADAC Motorwelt , No. 28 of July 11, 1930, p. 29.
  6. ↑ Alfons Arenhövel, Arena of Passions. The Berlin Sports Palace and its events 1910–1973 , Berlin 1990, p. 353.
personal data
SURNAME Schapiro, Jacob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schapiro, Jakob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ukrainian punter
DATE OF BIRTH November 6, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Odessa
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1942
Place of death new York