Ulrich Schmid-Maybach – MKRF2026 speaker

Ulrich Schmid-Maybach

Fourth-generation member of the Maybach dynasty, founder of the Maybach Foundation and co-founder of Maybach Icons of Luxury (USA)

The Perspective He Brings to the Congress

The story of the Maybach family is one of the most recognized examples of how a family legacy can endure and evolve across four generations. At the congress, Ulrich will offer an inside perspective — the perspective of someone who carries and shapes that legacy today.

Keynote

Legacy & Multi-Generational Challenges

What does it take to build a brand that survives generations? Ulrich will offer insight into the decisions that shape the survival of a brand — including those the family would approach differently today. He will show why the ability to let go is often harder than building itself, and what separates families that create truly enduring brands from those that do not. The session will explore how decisions are made with a horizon spanning decades, where the boundaries between values and profit lie, and what a family will never sacrifice. It will reveal what legacy thinking truly means in practice — and why this mindset ultimately determines whether a business survives across generations.

About the Speaker

Ulrich Schmid-Maybach, great-grandson of Wilhelm Maybach and grandson of Karl Maybach, represents the fourth generation of a legacy built on creativity, innovation, and quality.

As co-founder of the official Maybach accessory group, the Maybach Icons of Luxury, and founder of the Maybach Foundation, which promotes mentoring as a means to social and economic good, he continues a family tradition that began with his great-grandfather, once an orphan, whose mentorship led to his designing the very first Mercedes. The Foundation is developing a Maybach Archive and heritage showroom in Friedrichshafen, Germany – preserving the Maybach legacy. Paulo Coelho, Quincy Jones, and Julian Schnabel have supported the Foundation’s mission of mentorship.

Ulrich Schmid-Maybach led the successful IPO of Maybach Motorworks (Tognum) in 2007, subsequently diversifying into real estate and technology investments with strong connections to global founders and Silicon Valley innovators. As Co-Founder of Maybach Icons of Luxury, he has expanded the brand’s presence globally, with a growing number of boutiques and resellers worldwide. With a master’s degree in international business focused on U.S.-German relations, he is a featured speaker at family office, private wealth conferences, sharing insights on building and sustaining a multigenerational family brand.

Further information is available at: maybach.com | maybach.org