Erivan Haub Net Worth

Early Life

Erivan Haub was born Erivan Karl Matthias Haub on September 29, 1932, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Erivan was the son of Elisabeth Schmitz-Scholl and Erich Haub. The Schmitz-Scholl family owned the Tengelmann grocery chain. Haub earned an Economics degree from the University of Hamburg, and he completed two internships in the USA prior to his graduation, at Chicago’s Jewel Tea company and La Habra, California’s Alpha-Beta company.

Career

After college, Haub and his wife, Helga, moved to the U.S., settling in Tacoma, Washington. Erivan was at one time said to be the sixth-richest man in America. In 1963, Haub joined his family’s business, and after his uncle Karl Schmitz-Scholl  (who had no children) died in 1969, Erivan became the managing director of the Tengelmann Group. He focused the business on the retail trade, and when he was in charge, the Tengelmann Group expanded, taking over the Kaiser’s grocery chain in 1971 and founding a discount grocery retailer called Plus in 1972. The Tengelmann Group later began focusing on international business and acquired The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company in 1979. In 2000, Haub handed the reins over to his son Karl-Erivan and joined the company’s supervisory board.

Personal Life

Erivan wed Helga Otto in 1958. They welcomed three sons together: Karl-Erivan, Georg, and Christian. Karl-Erivan was declared dead in 2021, three years after he disappeared in the Swiss Alps, but in April 2024, it was reported that he “may have faked his own death to live with his alleged mistress in Moscow.” Erivan died a month prior to his son’s disappearance, passing away at the age of 85 on March 6, 2018, in Pinedale, Wyoming.

Honors

In 1988, Saint Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania named the Haub School of Business in Erivan’s honor. The University of Wyoming named the Helga Otto Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources in honor of Erivan’s wife.