Friedhelm Loh is the owner and chairman of Friedhelm Loh Group, the industrial services company that controls electrical enclosure maker Rittal. The Haiger, Germany-based group is closely held and its six other businesses include software provider Eplan. Friedhelm Loh Group had revenue of 3.1 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in 2024.
Loh's fortune is derived from his ownership of the Friedhelm Loh Group, a consortium of seven manufacturing and industrial services companies including enclosures maker Rittal. Friedhelm Loh Group has been family-owned since it was founded in 1961, according to its website. Loh is credited with all of the business in this analysis to reflect his control of the group.
The Friedhelm Loh Group had revenue of 3.1 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in 2024, according to its website. It's valued based on the average enterprise value-to-sales multiple of four publicly traded peers: Schneider Electric, Eaton Corp, Legrand and Siemens.
The communications office for Friedhelm Loh Group didn't respond to requests for comment on the net worth calculation.
Friedhelm Loh was born in 1946. He's one of three children of Rudolf and Irene Loh.
Rudolf Loh Elektrogeraetebau was founded in 1961 after Rudolf, a metalworker, acquired a small weaving mill. His plan was to standardize the manufacture of electrical enclosures. The metal casings used to house electrical components were previously custom built and Rudolf's ability to quickly provide high quality enclosures proved popular. The company was renamed Rittal in 1969 to reflect the name of the village in which it began, Rittershausen.
Friedhelm took over the company in 1974 when he was 28 years old. It had about 200 employees at the time.
Rittal began investing software provider Eplan in the 1980s to improve the technology-side of electrical enclosures. Rittal and Eplan are two of the seven companies within the Friedhelm Loh Group as of 2024.