Peter Löw
Peter Werner Maria Löw (born 21 October 1960) is a German lawyer and entrepreneur. Life. Peter Löw was born in 1960 in Ludwigshafen, Germany. In 1987 he started his doctoral studies in history at the University of Münster under the supervision of military historian Werner Hahlweg. After Hahlweg passed away, Löw found a new supervisor in Eckardt Opitz of Helmut Schmidt University, originally known as the University of the Bundeswehr Hamburg, and in 1989 obtained his Doctorate (Dr. Phil) for his dissertation "The Prussian NCO in the Standing Army of Absolutism until 1806 - By the Example of the  Infantry Company". In 1991 he enrolled at the French Business School Insead at Fontainebleau, where he received his MBA. By 1992, he submitted his dissertation on municipal law in Nazi Germany. Using the example of the German Municipal Code of 1935 ("Kommunalgesetzgebung im NS-Staat. Am Beispiel der Deutschen Gemeindeordnung 1935") under the supervision of Franz-Ludwig Knemeyer at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg for which he received the title Doctor of Law (Dr. iur. utr.). In 2012 Löw became a member of the senate of the college of philosophy and theology of Pope Benedict XVI at the  Cistercian Abbey Heiligenkreuz in Lower Austria. He was elected honorary professor for philosophy of economics in 2013 and regularly holds lectures on interdisciplinary and intra-confessional subjects. In late 2014, he survived an airplane crash with a twin-engine Beechcraft Duchess in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is currently living in Starnberg, Bavaria, and at Hofhegnenberg Castle. Peter Löw was listed as one of the 500 richest Germans (rank 320) according to the research of German Manager Magazin in 2020. Löw is married and is a father of six children. Career. Peter Löw worked as a consultant for McKinsey and Company  in Düsseldorf, Germany from 1991 and 1992. Between 2002 and 2007 Löw co-founded and lead Arques Industries based in Starnberg, Germany together with partner Dr. Dirk Markus. Together with Dr. Markus he led the IPO of Arques as a corporate restructuring holding. In 2005 Löw entered the printing business. The Holding Arques acquired several printing companies and incorporated them in the reverse takeover of the off market listed Arques subsidiary Circel Grundstücks- und Vermögensverwaltung AG. The subsidiary was renamed in December 2005 to operate under the name Arquana International Print & Media AG. It was planned to establish Arquana as  Europe's market leader in offset printing. However this plan did not work out. The company was sold on the exchange. In 2007, Arques' shareholding was allegedly profitable sold in August 2007 to the British printing group Printec from Birmingham. Only five month later Arquana had to register for bankruptcy and the liquidator could not find any valuable assets their having been transferred to foreign companies.Herinafter the German financial supervision authorities Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) investigated the Arquana case. Löw sold his Arques shares spring 2007 and handed over his position as CEO to Martin Vorderwülbecke. Soon after Löw  founded the London-based gold trading company 24k Trading Partners and for which he acted as Managing Partner. Trading gold was a questionable model used for tax shield purposes at this time in Germany. Löw always denied accusations in this sense. Already one year acting having started it, Löw ended the business. In 2008 the incorporation of the investment company bluO in Munich followed. Löw became managing partner which he remained until 2013. Löw made the headlines with another spectacular bankruptcy, this time with German news agency "dapd". Löw and his partner Martin Vorderwülbecke has been accused of mismanagement, vanity  and megalomania. In 2013 Löw founded LIVIA Group as a family office. BaFin-Investigations against Löw. In 2008 German financial market supervision BaFin) investigated the bankruptcy of Arquana and the role of Löw in it. In 2014 the German BaFin started to investigate against Löw in connection with his trading of Arques shares (later named "Gigaset AG"). Others. Löw claims to have acquired majority stakes or significant shares in more than 250 national and international enterprises since 1992. These under performing companies were predominantly acquired at a symbolic valuations. However his business model was questioned as balance sheet cosmetics instead  of sustainable value creation. Neverstheless Löw's claimed to have successfully restored numerous companies and trademarks from diverse industries, such as Teutonia, Zielpunkt, Adler Modemärkte, Versatel, SKW Metallurgie and Alzchem SE in Trostberg, Bavaria, a special chem group. Löw introduced the company to the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in October 2017 with the IPO AlzChem Group AG (formerly Softmatic AG). The current portfolio of the LIVIA Group includes some listed historic properties that have been extensively renovated and restored; for example, Hofhegnenberg Castle in Bavaria, Frankenberg Castle in Central Franconia, the South African wine estate Vergenoegd, and  the Tuscan estate San Martino a Sezzate. Löw collects is a passionate collector of art and antiques. His collections contain works of the Old Masters, modernist as well as contemporary art. Peter Löw is an reserve officer to the Bundeswehr (presently Oberstleutnant. He states to regularly serves as a liaison officer to the Franco-German Brigade and to support the reconstruction of the Catholic Church in the Republic of Montenegro, to have organized the reconstruction of the Apostolic Nunciature in Belgrade and to have supported the renovation of a Catholic spiritual education center in Bad Wimpfen, Baden-Württemberg. Löw restored  Hofhegnenberg Castle, in the Landkreis of Aichach- Friedberg, Swabia, since the estate's acquisition in 2008. In 2014 he acquired Frankenberg Castle including its adjoining estates. Löw was district commissary to the charitable Malteser Hilfsdienst e.V. in the Starnberg district from 2000 to 2013. During this time he took a leading role in building the "Winter Aid Starnberg" initiative (Winterhilfe Starnberg). Löw furthermore states to have supported the pope's visit to Germany in 2011 with a major donation. He was received by Pope Benedict XVI at the seminary Collegium Borromaeum in Freiburg. Löw is the initiator of the  European Heritage Project, which buys historic properties from its own funds, renovates them and thus protects them from safe decay. Among the cultural monuments acquired are the Palazzo Tron, as well as the Palazzo Belloni-Battagia, both located on the Grand Canal in Venice, several palaces, monastery complexes and castles, as well as a medieval Limonaia on Lake Garda. In a citizens' decision, more than 70% of the population supported the European Heritage Project-project "Markt Renewal Lauffen". As part of this project, a nativity museum will be opened in the historic market in the Salzkammergut in Advent 2021. Peter