Klaus Jacobs, temp agency and chocolate mogul
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BERN, Switzerland - German-born billionaire Klaus J. Jacobs, who built world-leading businesses in two fields, died of cancer Thursday, his family company, Jacobs Holding, said. He was 71.
Mr. Jacobs, originally from Bremen and later a Swiss citizen, played a key role in building Barry Callebaut into the world's top seller of chocolate and
He took over the leadership of the coffee trading firm founded by his great-uncle, Joh. Jacobs & Co., when he was 33. He moved the company to Zurich in 1973 and took over the Swiss firm Tobler and Suchard, creating Europe's biggest chocolate and coffee seller.
He sold the consumer interests in the combined company to US giant
But he retained parts of the company, including the US candy maker Brach's, the Van Houten powdered chocolate brand, and Belgian chocolate producer Callebaut. In 1996 he added French chocolate maker Cacao Barry to create Barry Callebaut, which has since become the world's leading producer of cocoa, chocolate, and confectionary products.
Mr. Jacobs also turned his attention to human resources, purchasing the Swiss company Adia Personnel Services in 1992 and spearheading its emergence as a global Fortune 500 company following a merger with the French firm Ecco four years later.
Swiss financial magazine Bilanz estimated the total share holdings of Mr. Jacobs and his wife last year at well over $3 billion, placing them among Switzerland's richest people.
Mr. Jacobs was educated in Germany and at Stanford University in California.
