About
Carsten Maschmeyer is a German self‑made billionaire, tech investor, and television personality best known for sitting in the investor’s chair on Die Höhle der Löwen, the German counterpart to Shark Tank. Long before the cameras rolled, he built and sold AWD, one of Europe’s largest independent financial‑services groups, and later launched ALSTIN Capital, whose latest €175 million fund backs B2B software scale‑ups. Today he balances prime‑time pitches with a portfolio that ranges from renewable‑energy ventures to med‑tech startups and holds residences in Munich, Hanover, the Côte d’Azur, and Beverly Hills.
Before Fame
Born on 8 May 1959 in Bremen, Maschmeyer had a childhood of simple means and spent some part in an orphanage. Sport—he was particularly good at middle‑distance running—taught him discipline, and his two years of service as a medical orderly in the Bundeswehr sharpened his toughness. To fund medical school in Hanover, he worked a side job selling investment products; the commissions soon surpassed student life, and by age 24 he was running a 3,000-member sales force for OVB Vermögensberatung. He went independent in 1988 and started AWD. The company’s European expansion accelerated to a 2000 IPO and, seven years hence, CHF 1.9 billion sale to Swiss Life, an exit that propelled him into Germany’s rich list.
Trivia
- Athletic roots: Maschmeyer credits the mileage he logged on the track for his stamina in marathon deal negotiations.
- Art aficionado: His private collection features works by Damien Hirst, Anselm Kiefer, and Andreas Gursky, displayed across homes in four countries.
- Author & speaker: His books Selfmade and Die Millionärsformel became German best‑sellers, and he remains a sought‑after keynote voice on entrepreneurship and sales psychology.
- Deal drama: Not every on‑air handshake survives due diligence—his headline‑grabbing €500 k AI software investment collapsed after filming, a reminder that televised enthusiasm still bows to paperwork.
- Grandfather status: In late 2023 he celebrated the birth of his first grandchild, a milestone he says “puts quarterly KPIs into perspective.”
Family Life
Maschmeyer has two adult sons, Marcel and Maurice, from his first marriage, and calls himself a “bonus dad” to actress Veronica Ferres’s daughter, Lilly Krug. He and Ferres began dating in 2009 and wed in November 2014 at a lakeside ceremony near Munich. The couple split time between Germany, the French Riviera—where Maschmeyer cultivates a small palm grove—and California, which doubles as a base for his U.S. tech bets. Family support proved critical during a publicly acknowledged struggle with prescription‑sleeping‑pill dependence; he has spoken openly about kicking the habit with Ferres’s help and now donates to addiction‑recovery programs.
Associated With
On Die Höhle der Löwen, Maschmeyer shares the studio floor with fellow investors such as Judith Williams, Ralf Dümmel, Dagmar Wöhrl, and Nils Glagau, often co‑investing when a startup’s valuation climbs. Away from TV, he co‑founded Maschmeyer Rürup AG with renowned economist Bert Rürup to advise institutions on demographic‑driven pension solutions. Through ALSTIN Capital he regularly partners with European funds—including Earlybird and HV Capital—to syndicate Series A rounds. Founders value his sales‑force background: he is known to cold‑call target customers alongside them during due‑diligence sprints. In media interviews he cites Richard Branson and Bill Gates as role models for combining business success with philanthropy, and his own Maschmeyer Group foundation backs education and child‑health initiatives across Germany.
