Building Wealth
Conrad and Karin manage their finances simply and transparently. “For everything we want to buy, we have one account and that’s all.”
Both have full access, there is no tallying or scorekeeping, and he is clear that they have never policed each other’s spending. “If someone takes some money, we do it together and we do… the way they think it should be done,” he explains.
The underlying structure is simple, shared account, shared responsibility, and a high level of trust.
On the investing side, Conrad is the main driver, his professional life is all in finance, but large decisions are always discussed.
The key driver of their wealth, he says, is “a good mix of being risky and being non risky” paired with a personal rule to “never be greedy.”
He is cognizant of the twin forces of behavior that drive investors, “greed and fear,” and uses them as a mirror. If he notices either in himself, that is his cue to pause and often “do the opposite” of his first impulse.
Their most interesting asset is his second business. A large, concentrated investment in a rare Italian white grape, Timorasso, that he calls an “alternative investment.”
Over more than a decade he became the world’s largest holder of this variety, supplying one, two and three Michelin star restaurants in Germany and building close relationships with producers.
Prices on older vintages have risen 300 to 500 percent, and the producers have named him “ambassador of the world” for the grape.
He is clear that there was risk, that he and Karin talked about it, but the pattern was consistent. start small, learn deeply, build relationships, and only scale as proof of concept emerges.
When he makes mistakes, including an overly cautious stance that cost him investors after the 2008 crisis, Karin’s response is short and generous. “she says “shit” or something, but she also says “shit happens.”” She does not attack his judgment; she knows he is trying his best. And vice versa.
Family support has also played a role. Both sets of parents helped financially in lean years, especially shortly after the marriage when “there was no real income,”
Today they support Karin’s aging father in a senior residence. “One day you give and at one day you take” he says of that cycle.
