At the 2025 Value Investing Seminar, Norman Rentrop, a veteran German investor and businessman, detailed his investment journey, philosophy and favorite opportunities. His discussion spanned topics from the foundational principles of value investing to opportunities in space technology, alongside remarks on the challenges posed by regulatory environments and the importance of cyber security in today's digital landscape.
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Rentrop’s investment journey began remarkably early, buying his first stock at the age of 10. By 15, with four shares, he attended his first annual shareholder meeting at a chocolate factory in Cologne, Germany, where he was captivated by the CEO's storytelling and the generous treatment of minority shareholders. Unlike many Germans who favored bricks and mortar, Rentrop developed an early affinity for investing in public companies.
In 1998, he established his family office, channeling all profits from his successful publishing business into stock of companies. This led to the creation of Investmentaktiengesellschaft fuer langfristige Investoren TGV, a firm that invests for 5 members of his family and for 424 members of other business owner families. However, due to German financial regulations requiring multiple co-CEOs, Rentrop closed this fund in 2022, opting to return to his roots as a private investor, a move reminiscent of Warren Buffett's decision in 1969.
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