Heidi Horten was the richest woman in Austria when she inherited a $1 billion fortune from her late husband, Helmut Horten. She was born in 1941 in Vienna and died on 12 June 2022 at the age of 81.
Forbes states her net worth was $3.2 billion at the time of her death. Horten amassed an art collection that is valued at nearly a billion dollars.
She died just days after opening her own private museum in Vienna to exhibit her extensive art collection. She was the owner of the superyacht CARINTHIA VII.
| NAME | Heidi Horten |
| NET WORTH | $3.2 billion |
| SOURCE OF WEALTH | Horten AG |
| BORN | 1941 – 2022 |
| COUNTRY | Austria |
| YACHT | CARINTHIA VII |
Heidi Horten’s NET WORTH
Horten’s net worth was estimated to be $3.2 billion at the time of her death. She has long been called the wealthiest Austrian.
She amassed an extensive art collection that spanned over 500 works, including artists like Bacon, Picasso, Warhol, and many more. The art collection is worth $1 billion.
In 2019, the billionaire announced plans that she would open a private museum to exhibit her extensive art collection.
She bought a 155-year-old 22,000-square-foot mansion in Vienna for the sole purpose of housing the collection.
Her collection was called one of the best portrayals of the innovative and progressive practices of 20th-century art. She died just days after the opening of the exhibit in June 2022.
Horten was the owner of a 35.56-carat Wittelsbach Diamond, which was formerly part of the Crown Jewels of Bavaria. She sold the diamond for $24 million in 2008.
Horten was the owner of the Carinthia VII, a Lurssen yacht launched in 2002. The yacht was listed for sale in 2021. Horten and her husband were experienced yachtsmen and owned several yachts during their marriage. She was also the owner of a Bombardier private jet with registration OE-HHH.
Horten owned homes in Sekirn, Vienna, and Lyford Cay in the Bahamas. She spent her time across many locations throughout the globe.
She also owned a large mansion on Belgrave Square in London. Schloss Sekirn was her primary residence.
BUSINESS
Horten married her husband when she was 25 in 1966. Helmut was 32 years older than her, at the age of 57.
She met him in an Austrian bar in 1959 when she was 19. In 1987, she inherited his $1 billion fortune when he died.
Her husband was a German entrepreneur and founded the fourth-largest supermarket chain of department stores in Germany. He introduced the idea of a supermarket to Germany after a visit to the United States.
His business grew rapidly, thanks to the copied business model. He floated the company on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 1968, with 25,000 employees and $1 billion in annual sales.
In 1972 he sold his stake in the company. He retired from the business, which soon devalued. In 1994, Kahouf Holding AG bought the chain and merged into the German retail group METRO AG in 1996.
PHILANTHROPY
Horten was on the board of Helmut Horten Stiftung, a philanthropic group. The charitable foundation supports medical research and health care institutions and helps those in need.
