Interview with Sueddeutsche magazine

On November, 22nd in 1976 Lars Windhorst is born in the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Rahden. At the age of 16 he drops out of high school and founds the company Windhorst Electronics GmbH which trades with computers. Within the first business year he turns over 80 million Deutsche Mark. From 1995 on he mainly lives in Hong Kong managing several companies and working in investment and financial services. 2001 his group of companies becomes shaky, in 2003 it collapses. By the end of 2009 he has to answer for that to a court of law in Berlin. At the same time he is already back as co-founder of investment group Sapinda. Windhorst is married and lives in London.

For eight years Lars Windhorst (33) has not given an interview. "Most likely even nine years", he says. Windhorst meteoric ascent as a teenaged entrepreneur was later followed by a number of bankruptcies and a plane crash. Today he is back in business as Financial Manager of the British investment group Sapinda

"Wunderkind" of the New Economy. Crashed young entrepreneur. glittering figure. Windhorst equals a mare's nest. Always gets back on his feet - there are several descriptions about you. Which one do you prefer?
I cannot identify with it at all. This is not who I am.

Not at all? You were one of the youngest most extraordinary businessmen who substantially went bust in his mid-twenties...
Well, I didn’t say that the reproaches behind the stereotypes are completely unjustified. I disappointed people who invested and lost a lot of trust in me...

 …and a lot of money.
That as well. Accordingly a lot of people responded emotionally. Even though some reactions were unfair I do have understanding for it - money and friendship don't mix.

How do you handle facing severe criticism for ten years?
At times I had difficulties keeping my mouth shut. But I didn't want to fuel the conflict. Extremely difficult years are behind me with lots of turbulences. Today my ambition is to oppose the scorn with facts and to win over the critics in the long run. After all I want to continue to engage in entrepreneurial activity for a few more decates.

It is said that your mother does not open the newspaper anymore where she would be constantly reading negative headlines about you.
Anyway it was impossible for her to avoid the news. Certainly parents are extremely sensitive in their reactions once their son is being publicly attacked. Especially when living in a small town. Of course, I also screwed up.

Such as?
10 or 15 years ago I made a lot of decisions which from today's perspective turned out to be wrong.
Why?
In part I was naive, careless and inexperienced. Due to a combination of euphoria, motivation and enthusiasm for new projects I immersed myself in all sorts of things without risk protection and without being prepared properly. Based on the belief, somehow I will manage to get it right.

Were you a megalomaniac?
No, just overly motivated beyond all limits.

At the age of 18 you wanted to build a 55-story skyscraper in Vietnam which proved to be an empty vessel.
Even today I found it a great idea, a visionary pioneer venture. But I was very young back then and had not even built a single-family house...
  … a megaproject which of course should have carried the name "Windhorst-Tower".
Well, that is true it was my concern for the project to bear my name. From today's point of view of course it's crazy. But then, one must not forget in all this: I dropped out of school at the age of 16. A year later I had a company with nearly a hundred employees and all the fuss about me began.

All of a sudden there was talk of "the Wunderkind".
Of course I was excited and it felt great to show my former classmates at the Espelkamp high school who had laughed at my early school leaving what I am capable of. The publicity became a stepping stone at that time to get out of the tight corset.

Have you never wanted to become a pilot or a professional football player like other boys?
Never. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. To mix it at the top of the wide world of business has always been my dream. At the age of 14 I got my first company my father was running. We were trading with computer parts.

Were you a computer or an electronic freak?
Not at all. Interesting to me was the business, the trading, dealing with the customers. To me, the sector was just a means to an end. I have been active as an investor and salesman since 1996. I created and build up values through transactions and investments.

Did you not have to go to the Bundeswehr, the German army?
Back then I explained to the district recruiting office that my presence at the company was absolutely necessary and they released me. It was not uncommon in those days.

Soon, Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl discovered you, praised you as a role model and took you along to Asia amidst business heads and top managers as a young entrepreneurial flagship.
At that time everything was happening so quickly. Two years after I dropped out of high school I suddenly was surrounded by my biggest idols, business leaders who joined the game globally at the highest level. Mr. Kohl was very courageous to invite me and I am very grateful to him for doing so. In this way I established many contacts which I maintain and use until today.

And when you overplayed and got into financial difficulties: Where was the chancellor then?
Oh, everbody suspected he would pull back. But again he invited me to accompany him to his Chancellor's visits to Latin America and Asia. He was in contact with me before the eyes of the press just like he cared to do with business leaders. There was encouragement from all sides.

So, through the kindness of Kohl you were up there with the leaders. To the opening event of your office in Berlin even Hollywood star Michael Douglas arrived. How much did you pay for that?
Nothing. Michael and I got to know each other through a friend at a dinner of the ruling family of Bahrain. We liked each other and he found my life career interesting. Out of that an amicable relationship between us emerged.

Michael Douglas was the greedy Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street".
And? Well, he is an actor. But that is not the point. We met occasionally, and once, I believe it was at his cottage in Mallorca, we talked about the coming inauguration of my new office in Berlin. Up to that point I just had been living and working in Rahden and Hongkong. As a joke I said: Come around if you want. Michael said: Okay, I will. I did not really expect him to come. But he came and stayed to the surprise of all about five hours. It was a great evening.

After that things did not go that well. At the end of 2001 your steep crash began. What went wrong?
There were several reasons for that. On the one hand there was too much of a cult about me. I was not yet mature enough to find managers who operated independently. We did not have stable structures at the Windhorst companies. Everything was individually tailored to suit me, each decision fell to me, and everyone was looking at me. The companies and projects were highly complex and this I failed to realise. Furthermore we were placing all bets on the New Economy. When the New Economy collapsed we did, too.

What did you learn from this?
Windhorst: I was not focused consistently on my businesses. There were just too many distractions. I was young, curious, met interesting people and there were parties and the press. And of course, I already had my head in the clouds without even noticing.