Michael Otto
Encyclopedia
Michael Otto is the head of German Otto Group
, the world's largest mail order
company, with US$24 billion in sales in fiscal year 2003. Thanks to a 30% rise in Internet sales last year, Otto also maintains its position as the Web's second-biggest retailer, behind Amazon.com
.
They were the former owners of Spiegel, Inc., (the parent company of Eddie Bauer
and former owners of Spiegel catalog
), which filed for bankruptcy on 17 March 2003. On 25 May 2005, Spiegel, Inc., emerged from bankruptcy renamed Eddie Bauer Holdings and is now owned primarily by Commerzbank
. The Otto Group no longer has any stake in the company.
Otto and his family own extensive real estate in Canada and in the United States, shopping centers in Germany and part of home-furnishings chain Crate & Barrel. Known as a committed environmentalist
, his company has long touted environmentally safe products. In 1993, he created the Michael Otto Foundation (German: Michael Otto Stiftung). This foundation played, and is still playing, an important role in furthering multi-stakeholder dialogue on hot environmental issues.
Otto GmbH
The Otto group, or Otto , is the world's largest mail order company, operating in more than 20 countries. The family of executive board chairman Michael Otto owns the majority of the company. The company is based in Hamburg, Germany...
, the world's largest mail order
Mail order
Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
company, with US$24 billion in sales in fiscal year 2003. Thanks to a 30% rise in Internet sales last year, Otto also maintains its position as the Web's second-biggest retailer, behind Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
.
They were the former owners of Spiegel, Inc., (the parent company of Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. is a holding company that operates the Eddie Bauer clothing store chain, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, United States. EBH was formed after Eddie Bauer's former parent company, Spiegel, Inc., went bankrupt in 2003...
and former owners of Spiegel catalog
Spiegel catalog
Spiegel is one of the USA's leading direct marketing companies. Spiegel began as a "wareroom" in downtown Chicago; it is a US$3 billion, international, tri-channel, specialty retailer....
), which filed for bankruptcy on 17 March 2003. On 25 May 2005, Spiegel, Inc., emerged from bankruptcy renamed Eddie Bauer Holdings and is now owned primarily by Commerzbank
Commerzbank
Commerzbank AG is the second-largest bank in Germany, after Deutsche Bank, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main.-Activities:Commerzbank is mainly active in commercial bank, retail banking and mortgaging. It suffered reversals in investment banking in early 2000s and scaled back its Securities unit...
. The Otto Group no longer has any stake in the company.
Otto and his family own extensive real estate in Canada and in the United States, shopping centers in Germany and part of home-furnishings chain Crate & Barrel. Known as a committed environmentalist
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
, his company has long touted environmentally safe products. In 1993, he created the Michael Otto Foundation (German: Michael Otto Stiftung). This foundation played, and is still playing, an important role in furthering multi-stakeholder dialogue on hot environmental issues.