Carl Hirschmann Jun. Died of Cancer

A speaker of the Hirschmann family announced the death by cancer of Carl Hirschmann Jun. at the University Hospital in Zurich. He also said that no statements would be made by his sons Michael and Carl Hirschmann on the occasion. Addressed specifically to the media, he stated that the funeral would be a family affair and that no media representatives were welcome to attend. 

Carl Hirschmann

Carl Hirschmann Jun. was one of the children of the founder of Jet Aviation Carl Hirschmann Sen. He served in the company under his father until he was chucked out in 1983. The affair behind the boot was so ridiculous, it is hardly credible. Carl Hirschmann Sen. had ordered a driver and car to take him from Basel to Baden-Baden in Germany. But driver and car were already on their way to Nice in the South of France to pick up Carl Jun.’s wife. Carl Hirschmann Sen. took this rather personally and chucked his son out of the company.

Carl Hirschmann Jun. was succeeded as crown prince by his brother Thomas Hirschmann. Carl spent the following years waging a war of attrition against both his father and his brother culminating in denouncing them for tax fraud. Carl Sen. and Thomas were found guilty and had to pay over 24 million pounds in taxes and fines.

Carl Hirschmann Sen. died in 1995 leaving Thomas in command of Jet Aviation. This changed in 2003, when a shareholder coup supervised by Carl’s widow Rita replaced the existing board of directors with herself and three of her cronies. Thomas was fired the same day. In 2005, the family sold the majority of shares to private equity firm Permira Funds and Carl Hirschmann Jun. replaced Rita on the board while retaining his shares. He even acted (oh irony) as CEO ad interim for a while until the company was sold to General Dynamics in 2008.

Carl Hirschmann Jun. died of cancer at the University Hospital of Zurich on July 30th, 2010 at the age of 61. His son Carl Hirschmann’s speaker Sacha Wigdorovits made it quite clear that the media would not be welcome at the funeral. Carl Hirschmann had a permanent media presence over the past year thanks to several scandals instigated by him.

The name Carl Hirschmann still seems to bring forth the worst in media sloppiness. Most of the headlines and articles pertaining to the death of Carl Hirschmann Jun. confuse him with his father. Accordingly, they credit him with having founded Jet Aviation. Considering the amount of capital needed for that, it would have been an extraordinary feat for an 18 year old.

Add this sloppiness to the earlier usually incompetent media coverage pertaining to Carl Hirschmann and his scandals, the pointed barb against any media presence at the funeral is highly understandable.

The article was originally published on Triond on 07/08/10.

Further reading
When a Sassy Headline Becomes an Embarrassment
The Hirschmann Family Saga
Carl Hirschmann Repeat Performances