Mario Ohoven

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BVMW President Mario Ohoven
Mario Ohoven (2011)

Mario Ohoven (born May 18, 1946 in Neuss ; † October 31, 2020 in Düsseldorf ) was a German financial broker and investment advisor . From 1998 he was President of the Federal Association of Medium-Sized Enterprises (BVMW) and from 2002 of the European Association of Associations of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CEA-PME) and was managing partner of the Düsseldorf-based Investor- und Treuhand GmbH until 2005 .

Life and family

Mario Ohoven with his wife Ute and daughter Chiara (2012)

Mario Ohoven came from a traditional entrepreneurial family that had been producing paper since 1810 and running a hemp spinning mill . Ohoven himself trained as a bank clerk at Deutsche Bank and worked as an investment advisor in the mid-1970s. He worked intensively on the development of tax-optimized forms of investment .

Mario Ohoven was married to the UNESCO special ambassador Ute-Henriette Ohoven . The marriage had a son and a daughter: Michael Ohoven (* 1974) is a film producer and lives in Los Angeles ; Chiara Ohoven (* 1985) works as art director for the BVMW member magazine Der Mittelstand.

Ohoven was killed in a solo accident with his Bentley on the A44 between the Reichswaldallee tunnel and the Düsseldorf-Nord motorway junction at noon on October 31, 2020 .

President of the BVMW

From 1998 Ohoven was President of the Federal Association of Medium-Sized Enterprises (BVMW), of which he has headed the Senate for Economic Affairs since 1997. As BVMW President Ohoven represented the economic and political interests of his members with his own offices in all German federal states and with foreign offices in Brussels, the People's Republic of China, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Ukraine and Turkey. In addition to lobbying, the association, which was founded in 1975, concentrated on networking among its members and on providing foreign trade support. As president, Ohoven was responsible for the implementation of the goals and demands of the BVMW.

Criticism of TTIP

The BVMW, chaired by Ohoven, was the first - and for a long time only - trade association to point out the risks of the Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TTIP). The BVMW criticized the planned arbitral tribunals with non-transparent procedures without the possibility of appeal. Furthermore, instead of the European precautionary principle, a US aftercare principle will apply in terms of consumer protection. In addition, the Regulatory Council is a kind of legislature bypassing parliaments. Last but not least, a generally binding recognition of EU standards (e.g. mechanical engineering, electrical engineering) is not possible in the USA, there is a threat of a "one-way street" for exports.

Border controls at the external borders

As BVMW president, Ohoven spoke out in favor of border controls at the German external borders at the height of the refugee crisis in Europe in February 2016. “We are under all circumstances in favor of Germany accepting war refugees, but not economic refugees”. In Ohoven's opinion, most of the refugees were insufficiently qualified and lacked language skills.

Work and social

Mario Ohoven with his wife Ute (2012)

On the initiative of Ohovens and the BVMW, the federal government had taken self-employed pension schemes out of the bankruptcy estate. This serves to secure the livelihood of entrepreneurs. Thanks to the protests of the BVMW president, the federal government waived the introduction of a pension obligation for GmbH managers. As a result, substantial back payments could be averted.

Ohoven's initiatives in the field of taxation

Taxes and duties were an important issue for the BVMW. In accordance with a request by the BVMW President, the “cold progression” was reduced from 2016 onwards. For employers and employees, this should bring relief in the double-digit billions.

Initiative in schools

As of 1998, Ohoven, as BVMW President, campaigned for economic education and training in schools. The aim of the 1998 pilot project was to provide schoolchildren with first-hand information about business. On Ohoven's initiative, several thousand medium-sized company bosses visited the classrooms of grammar schools, secondary schools and secondary schools in order to whet the pupils' appetite for entrepreneurship. In the years that followed, Ohoven repeatedly advocated that teachers, like in Denmark, do internships in commercial enterprises and at the same time teach company bosses in schools. This is the only way teachers can get to know the future working world of their students. And they would also learn how entrepreneurs think and act.

Criticism of the stimulus package and the second lockdown

On October 22nd, 2020, Ohoven announced legal steps in the event of a further lockdown, since large parts of the economy and many companies would not survive this, in addition to the already de facto state-imposed professional bans for the trade fair construction industry or for cultural workers. Instead, he called for value-added tax to be permanently limited to a uniform 15 percent in order to give companies planning security and to relieve consumers.

On October 29, 2020, Ohoven criticized the German government statement from the previous day regarding the announcement of the second lockdown . He raised the question of the proportionality and constitutionality of the measures. Ohoven announced that he would initiate a review in the interests of medium-sized businesses and, if necessary, appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court.

Activity as a business advisor

Ohoven prepared economic and capital market forecasts for customers from the banking, business and media sectors and referred in this context to his early warnings of critical developments on the global capital markets (for example before the crash of technology stocks in 2000/2001 and before balance sheet manipulation in 2002) . As a financial expert, he gave interviews on radio and television, was invited as a speaker at events and symposia and was a guest on TV talk shows. Ohoven is the author of the book The Magic of Power Selling , which has been translated into twelve languages ​​and has long been featured in relevant bestseller lists. In it he presents a so-called "success strategy for perfect selling".

Proceedings against Ohoven's financial services company

In 2002, Ohoven's company was sued by a retired engineer who had invested in the Cinerenta I film fund in 1997 . According to his account, the plaintiff only got involved in the deal because Ohoven's salespeople had assured him beforehand that he was hardly taking any risk and that within 18 months he would get almost 80 percent of his investment back through distributions from the fund. These promises were unfounded and in the second instance the plaintiff was right. The difference between the dividends received and the participation amount had to be reimbursed to the man.

According to Stern, 232 investors had sued Investor Treuhand in a collective proceeding for payment of 16.7 million euros in damages. The claim was related to the losses of a real estate fund recommended by Investor Treuhand . Ohoven's lawyer regarded the claims as excessive or barred. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) dismissed the claim for damages against Mario Ohoven on July 15, 2010 in the last instance. Ohoven is not responsible for the errors alleged by the plaintiffs in Cinerenta brochures and liability is therefore excluded. In 2005 Ohoven sold Investor- und Treuhand GmbH. The company was then renamed Berintreg and went bankrupt. The insolvency administrator reclaimed 7 million euros from Ohoven, which he had illegally withdrawn from the company. The Munich Higher Regional Court overturned a judgment given against Mario Ohoven 20 July 2010 judgment in an appeal hearing on 19 January 2011th At the same time, the lawsuit in connection with the Cinerenta fund was ultimately dismissed (AZ 20U 4113/10).

Other engagement

Ohoven was an honorary member of the jury for " Top 100 ", an award for the most innovative medium-sized companies in Germany. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Reading Foundation .

Awards

In 1999 Ohoven received the European Prize from the European Economic Institute (EWI) in the Principality of Liechtenstein . In 2001 he received the Oscar of the German Mittelstand and was honored with the Mittelstandpreis Kustos des Mittelstandes Entrepreneurship . Mario Ohoven has been an honorary doctor and honorary professor at the University of St. Petersburg since 2018.

Trivia

Ohoven became known to the general public after he had presented a catalog of demands from his association at a press conference and was then asked to explain it again in an interview. When the reporter asked questions, it turned out that Ohoven was obviously poorly prepared, which is why instead of an answer he repeatedly pointed out that everything can be read in the association's brochure. Then he broke off the interview by looking at his watch and saying: "I have to go!" Stefan Raab often recorded this sentence as a video clip in his TV total from April 3, 2000, which made Ohoven the mockery of TV viewers .

literature

  • Mario Ohoven: The Magic of Power Selling: The Success Strategy for Perfect Selling , Verlag Redline Wirtschaft, 2013, ISBN 978-3864143397

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ President Ohoven dies in an accident in Düsseldorf. In: nrz.de. November 1, 2020, accessed on November 1, 2020 (German).
  2. ^ Peter Hild: President Ohoven dies in a car accident in Düsseldorf. In: wdr.de. November 1, 2020, accessed November 1, 2020 .
  3. ^ Mario Ohoven sells his company , Manager-Magazin, March 16, 2005
  4. ↑ Ohoven: The Magic of Power Selling: The Success Strategy for Perfect Selling , p. 128
  5. ↑ a b Stern 32/2006: Miss Moneypenny
  6. ↑ Oscar producer Michael Ohoven is the stranger to the family. In: Die Welt , March 8, 2006.
  7. ↑ Der Mittelstand - BVMW company magazine: Issue 3/2016, p. 94 (imprint), accessed on August 3, 2016.
  8. ↑ Chiara Ohoven has been in love since summer: Permit me, my fiancé Hermann. In: express.de , February 11, 2015.
  9. ↑ The charity ladies show what they can do at the stove. In: vox.de , June 12, 2015.
  10. ↑ Martin Poche: Mario Ohoven dies after a serious accident. In: Local compass . November 1, 2020, accessed November 2, 2020 .
  11. ^ Board of the BVMW
  12. ↑ ARD Plusminus from April 27, 2016 ( Memento from September 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ↑ TTIP Special. BVMW, May 11, 2016, accessed on November 2, 2020 .
  14. ↑ We don't need TTIP at any price. In: stern.de . May 13, 2015, accessed November 2, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Business association is in favor of border controls , sueddeutsche.de , February 28, 2016
  16. ↑ a b c special publication “40 years for medium-sized companies” (2015), p. 32
  17. ↑ impulse 2/99, "Ohovens Klassenkampf", pp. 8-10 [1]
  18. ↑ Wirtschaftsboss demands: Mario Ohoven: Teachers should do internships in companies , express.de, September 10, 2015
  19. ↑ 80 percent of the apprenticeships are offered by medium-sized companies , deutschlandradiokultur.de, September 30, 2006
  20. ↑ Announcement to politicians. SME chief warns Söder: "Second lockdown would be a death blow to the economy." Merkur.de 22 October 2020.
  21. ^ Ohoven: Checking the constitutionality of lockdown resolutions. In: presseportal.de. BVMW, October 29, 2020, accessed on November 1, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Die Magie des Power-Selling , 2004 in the 13th edition published by Redline ( ISBN 3-636-03023-X )
  23. ^ Sauber, Mann , Manager-Magazin, January 25, 2002
  24. ↑ PRESS RELEASE / DDP DIRECT Great success for Mario Ohoven: BGH throws off lawsuits
  25. ↑ Daniel Schönwitz: FINANCIAL SALES INVESTOR - AND TRUST: insolvency administrator requested 7 million euros by Mario Ohoven , Business Week, March 13, 2010
  26. ↑ Mario Ohoven recovers the past of his cinerenta funds , Die Welt , March 28, 2010
  27. ↑ website of the organizer compamedia ( Memento of 2 February 2016 Internet Archive ), accessed on February 2, 2016
  28. ↑ Reading Foundation | Board of Trustees. In: www.stiftunglesen.de. Retrieved May 24, 2016 .
  29. ↑ Mario Ohoven receives honorary doctorate and honorary professorship - BVMW . ( bvmw.de [accessed on July 15, 2018]).
  30. ↑ Mario Ohoven: “I'm a seller” , Der Tagesspiegel from December 14, 2015, accessed on November 1, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Ohoven, Mario
SHORT DESCRIPTION German financial broker
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuss
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 2020
Place of death Dusseldorf