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Susanne Klatten's net worth was $27.6 billion per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on 29 September 2026, which ranked her 84th in the world. Bloomberg's own year-to-date line for her read down $4.95 billion, or 15.2%. Forbes' 2026 World's Billionaires list, a different tracker priced on a different date, had her at $29.7 billion, 79th. Both put her among the richest women in Germany, and both trace most of the number to a single listed company.
Klatten, 63, is a German industrialist and heir. Forbes describes her as owning about 19% of BMW, while her brother Stefan Quandt holds nearly 24%.
| Publisher | Date | Figure | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomberg Billionaires Index | 29 September 2026 | $27.6 billion | 84th |
| Forbes, World's Billionaires 2026 | March 2026 list | $29.7 billion | 79th |
Treat these as two separate series. The Forbes figure is an annual snapshot and the Bloomberg figure updates daily, so the $2.1 billion gap between them is not a change over time. The only before-and-after in this article is Bloomberg's own: down $4.95 billion, or 15.2%, since the start of 2026.
Most of it is BMW. Forbes puts her stake at about 19%, with brother Stefan Quandt, who Forbes ranks 75th at $30.1 billion, holding about 23.6%. The rest, per Forbes, comes from Altana, the specialty chemicals group of which she is the sole owner and deputy chair, and from Entrust, a cybersecurity company.
BMW is listed, so the largest piece of her fortune is repriced every trading day. Altana and her other holdings are private.
Bloomberg does not itemise why her number fell, and no publisher found for this article ties her 15.2% drop to one event. What can be sourced is the company's own news. When BMW reported full-year results on 12 March 2026, profit fell about 3%, according to Free Malaysia Today, and the company warned that tariffs and weaker demand in China would weigh on 2026 earnings, per Business Day and the New Straits Times. The same report from Swiss outlet Moneycab said the dividend would still rise by 10 cents to 4.40 euros per share, with Quandt and Klatten named as the main beneficiaries.
These are background facts about the company, not an explanation of Bloomberg's figure. A fortune that is mostly one listed stake rises and falls with that stock, and Bloomberg's year-to-date line is what that looks like from outside.
More than most, because the largest asset has a public price. BMW's share count and Klatten's disclosed stake can be checked. What cannot be checked is the private side, so the two trackers still differ by about $2.1 billion. Compare Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, whose inherited wealth also sits behind a family holding over one public stock, or Alice Walton, where one listed company again anchors the figure. For how listed companies are priced day to day, see NetWort's market page.
A fortune built on one listed stock moves with that stock. Bloomberg's 15.2% year-to-date fall is a reading of a share price as much as a verdict on a person.
Pick one tracker and stay in it. Forbes' $29.7 billion and Bloomberg's $27.6 billion were taken on different dates by different methods, so subtracting one from the other tells you nothing about what happened in between. Nothing in the public record found for this article suggests anything beyond a large, openly disclosed shareholding.