Stephan Schmidheiny

Industrialist turned philanthropist and environmentalist. In 1978 became president of the board of his father's Eternit, a construction materials manufacturer. Began moving the company away from asbestos long before it was a banned substance. Diversified over the next ten years, investing in forestry firm Grupo Nueva and other multinationals. In 2003 donated all shares of Grupo Nueva, worth $1 billion, to his Viva Trust, whose profits are used to promote causes like sustainability and education. Much of his wealth is now held in a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds and private equity investments and is handled by professional managers. Art collector favors contemporary painters.