Lars Windhorst Places

Lars Windhorst, born in the North Rhine-Wesphalian town of Germany on November 22, 1976, became fascinated in the stock market at the age of ten and began studying stock reports. By the time he reached ten years of age, in 1986, he had already begun eyeing specific companies and selecting stocks with great promise. In 1991 he and a few of friends from school set up a workshop in the back room of his father's stationery business and began building computers and writing software systems. What started out as a simple way to earn a few bucks evolved into a thriving business, but since he was still under 18 years of age his mother drove him around to business meetings and his father signed the company checks. That same year he traveled to China to seek out inexpensive suppliers of computer components so that he could increase his profitability and one year later, in 1992, he dropped out of high school and began to make business plans with a Chinese businessman who was living in Germany. As his business interests grew, so did his fame and he became the source of much media attention, being labeled Germany's own "wunderkind".

By 1993 Lars Windhorst was only 16 years old but had already made a name for himself as being one of the youngest and most successful businessmen in Germany. In October of that year he and his Chinese partner, Ming Rong Zhang, co-founded Windhorst Electronics.

By the time 1995 rolled around, the Windhorst Group had mushroomed into 13 companies with an annual turnover of 80 million Deutsche marks in its first year. At that time, Lars Windhorst realized that to be in better control of his business, he needed to be closer to the action. He left Germany and moved to Hong Kong that year as he created Windhorst Asia Pacific Holdings, which served as a holding group for his Asian activities. By 1996 the company had become a conglomerate that dealt with real estate, trading and finance as well as electronics with offices established in Vietnam and Mainland China.

At 20 years old Lars Windhorst joined The World Economic Forum in Davos and was the youngest participant ever to achieve the position of Global Leader for Tomorrow that was held in Davos that year. During those years he continued to branch out in business with the establishment of Windhorst AG and Windhorst Capital Holding GmbH, which were holding and investment firms.

Read more about Lars Windhorst's Honors and Awards on Linkedin.

As his businesses flourished along with his popularity, he was also given the sole privilege of accompanying the former German Chancellor Dr. Helmut Kohl as he made official rounds to diplomats as they visited China and Vietnam in 1997. Through these visits, Lars Windhorst became acquainted with many high-ranking officials, famous entertainers and businessmen that he is still in contact with today.

Additional photos and resources for further reading can be found here:
Teenage Businessman Lars Windhorst Accompanies Chancellor Kohl on Business Trips to Asia

The UK based Mentor Foundation is a an important international organization that works to help thwart potential drug abuse by teaching youngsters the power of making healthy decisions. Lars Windhorst joined the cause and served as a board member at Mentor from 1997 - 2002. During that time he supported the organization’s efforts to educate those people who are influential in the lives of young people including parents, schoolteachers, youth leaders and community caregivers in methods that will encourage them to stay drug-free. The Queen of Sweden helped establish the Mentor Foundation, which is connected with the World Health Organization.

The year 2,000 was a memorable year as his business focus began to swing towards the New Economy and the Internet. Unfortunately, the Internet bubble that many companies had been riding on burst in 2001 resulting in severe financial difficulties for investors. Unable to recover, Windhorst AG, Windhorst Capital Holding GmbH and Windhorst Electronics GmbH were all forced into bankruptcy proceedings in 2003.

With the bankrupt companies behind him, Lars Windhorst began to renew his business dealings in 2004 by founding Sapinda, an investment group. Primarily funded by the family of a South African industrialist, the new business completed transactions worth more than 2 billion EUR over a 5-year period. The company enjoyed some great financial successes and in 2006, Lars Windhorst began to represent the British fund Sapinda International as well as holding the position of Managing Director at the Berlin based Vatas Holding GmbH. Personally, Lars Windhorst reached a point of being personally insolvent in 2007 and a court agreement was reached wherein he was no longer indebted.

Personal tragedy struck Lars Windhorst later that year when he was a passenger in a plane that crashed into a wall during take-off on a Kazakhstan runway. He was thrown from the damaged plane and suffered serious facial burns, several broken ribs and multiple bruises.

As he was returning to work after the crash, the effects of a world recession began to be felt in the business world. In 2008 Sapinda was restructured but by the end of the year its shareholders began insolvency proceedings and in January 2009 Vatas Holding GmbH petitioned the bankruptcy court as well. By April 2009, Sapinda's assets were restructured and the shareholders founded a new holding company.

As CEO of Sapinda UK Limited, Lars Windhorst manages that company's transactions as well as being the Managing Director at Sapinda Deutschland GmbH, the German subsidiary. He currently oversees the company's varied investments, which include debt as well as public and private equity.