Aloys Wobben is a German electrical engineer and entrepreneur with an estimated net worth of $4.87 billion as of March 2017, according to Bloomberg. He is the 29th richest person in Germany and is ranked 458th in the list of World Billionaires. Born Bernhard Wobben on January 22, 1952 in Rastdorf, Lower Saxony in Germany, he grew up exploring water and wind, and he was initially trained in an electrical engineering company. He studied electrical engineering at the Fachhochschule Osnabrück and later at the Technical University of Braunschweig.
Wobben founded the wind turbine manufacturer, Enercon, in 1984 and he is known as Germany’s “Mr. Wind.” Since then, he has accumulated an estimated net worth of $3 billion as its owner and manager. He has made the company as the fifth largest in the sector behind Vestas of Denmark, Goldwind of China, GE and Spain's Gamesa. Enercon has also managed to avoid cash-flow and board room problems unlike its competitors. It consisted as much as 60% of the market in Germany but it does not market its turbines in the U.S. It is a privately held company with estimated revenues of around $5.34 billion in 2012.
Aloys Wobben transferred his 100% stake in Enercon to family trust in October 2012. The trust will be called the Aloys Wobben Foundation. He also announced that he was retiring from business for health reasons. His nephew, Simon-Hermann Wobben, is a member of the board in the company.