Klaus Jacobs

* 03 Dec 1936, † 11 Sep 2008, Swiss, Businessman

Klaus Jacobs receives me in his office next to the coffee museum in Zurich and explains me that he never crosses hands behind his back. The hands must always be in front of you, ready to defend and attack.

Klaus Johann Jacobs was born in 1936 in Bremen, Germany. He started his career in the global coffee and chocolates industries, where he became 1962 Director of Purchasing and Marketing for the Jacobs AG coffee business and ten years later its General Manager. In 1982, the company merged with Interfood to create Jacobs Suchard AG, Europe's number one chocolate and coffee business. After selling a part of the company to Philip Morris, Jacobs created with the remaining parts of Jacobs Suchard a company now known as Barry Callebaut, today world's largest raw chocolate producer. In 1991, Jacobs became also involved with the human resource services industry with the acquisition of Adia Personnel Services where he led the company to a Global Fortune 500 Company following the merger with Ecco in 1996 to form Adecco.

Klaus Jacobs established the Jacobs Foundation in 1988 to contribute to Productive Youth Development and surrendered his entire share of the Jacobs Holding AG (CHF 2.3 billion, 2008) to the foundation.

Klaus was a family man with six children and a great horse enthusiast. He died on September 11, 2008, in Switzerland.
Source: Wikipedia