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Secrets:
Bauhaus relies on a lack of transparency
Photo: Hanno Bode / imago images
Only once a year does
Dieter Bien
(64)
venture
into the public eye.
Shortly before Christmas, the financial director of the secretive DIY giant Bauhaus hands over a check to the "We want to help" initiative run by the local daily newspaper "Mannheimer Morgen".
A photographer from the company took the picture;
There is a quote on this: "The late company founder Heinz Georg Baus already attached great importance to social responsibility. From the beginning, Bauhaus has stood up for the socially disadvantaged and helps wherever it is necessary."
But above all, it seems, the company is helping itself. Shortly after the founder's death, manager magazin reported in 2016 how Germany's uncrowned DIY king built the first hardware store in the republic from his father's carpentry in 1960 and a huge empire with over 270 branches in 19 countries and has built a turnover of around seven billion euros.
Apparently, Baus not only helped his business acumen and inventiveness (he held over 140 patents personally), but also a controversial tax ethics.
The founder and his management have made Bauhaus one of the most opaque companies in the country, with branches in Luxembourg, Switzerland and on Caribbean islands such as Curaçao.
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