Hans Melchers

Birthname

Hans Daniel Melchers

Birthdate

May 18, 1938

Birthplace

Apledoorn, Netherlands

Profession

Businessman

Net worth

$2,800,000,000

Source of Wealth

Chemicals, Investments

Nationality

Dutch

Marital Status

Divorced

Children

two children

Hans Melchers is a Dutch businessman who founded and formerly owned the chemical company Melchemie Holland BV and he has an estimated net worth of $2.8 billion as of April 2016. According to Forbes, he is the fourth richest person in the Netherlands and 882nd in the world.

Born Hans Daniel Melchers on May 18, 1938 in Apledoorn, Netherlands, he accumulated his estimated net worth of $1.7 billion when he founded Melchemie Holland BV. However, in the late 80's, he gave the daily management of the group and with the new owners, it continued to operate under the name Melspring.

Melchers is also a major shareholder with 15% stake that he acquired in 1985 in HAL Investment, an international investment company based in Netherlands Antilles. With his earnings, he was the 36th richest Dutch in the 2005 edition of the Quote-500 list of the wealthiest Dutch.

Hans Melchers is an avid fan of the card game bridge. He formed his own professional team in 2008 and is considered a major sponsor of the Dutch Bridge Federation (NBB). He also provided major funding for the 201 world bridge championship held in Netherlands.

Hans has a castle in the eastern Dutch city of Vorden. It was reported in 2012 that he bought 1000 works of art. In 2005, his daughter Claudia was kidnapped. Two days later, she was released for a ransom of 660 pounds of cocaine. It was insinuated by the press that he was involved in the drug trade. He formed the Melchers Fund to provide financial and legal aid to the victims of slanderous media reports.