In our article “Peter Spuhler 101: A Successful Entrepreneur” on Zatrun.com, we will cover everything you need to know in detail about Peter Spuhler, a successful entrepreneur and also a Swiss industrialist and politician of the Swiss People’s Party.
Who is Peter Spuhler?
Peter Christoph Spuhler, born in 1959, is a Swiss industrialist, politician, and entrepreneur from the Swiss People’s Party. He served as a member of the Swiss National Council for the Thurgau canton from 1999 to 2012. Spuhler served as the CEO of family-owned Stadler Rail from 1989 to 2017 and again from 2020. As of April 2019, he held a 40% stake in Stadler.
Peter Spuhler was born in Seville, Spain. After completing his compulsory education and high school in Zurich, he studied business administration at the University of St. Gallen from 1980 to 1986 after completing mandatory military service. In his youth, he played ice hockey for the Grasshopper Club Zurich team. Spuhler is married to Daniela Spuhler-Hoffmann and has one child from their marriage, as well as two children from a previous marriage. In 2017, his assets were estimated at 2.25 billion Swiss francs by Swiss business magazine Bilanz.
Navigating a Successful Business Career Path
After marrying into the Stadler family, Peter Spuhler joined Stadler Fahrzeuge AG, led by Irma Stadler, in 1987. Two years later, he took over the company with 18 employees and around CHF 4.5 million in revenue, and restructured it with a loan of approximately CHF 5 million from the bank. He opted for the Stadler GTW, a new vehicle more suitable for modern local transport.
To continue to succeed in the construction of railway vehicles, Spuhler purchased Werk Altenrhein from Schindler Waggon AG in 1997. The new holding structure encouraged expansion into Germany and Eastern Europe. On April 1, 2018, Spuhler handed over the management of the Stadler Rail Group to Thomas Ahlburg. Since then, he has focused as Chairman of the Stadler Rail Group’s Board of Directors. As of May 2020, he temporarily took on the role of Group CEO due to differences in the strategic and organizational development of Stadler Rail AG.
Additionally, Peter Spuhler is a member of the board of directors of the Aebi-Schmidt Group and has other seats on the boards of Gleisag in Rorschach and Walo Bertschinger AG in Zurich. Since April 2019, he has been a member of Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG and also sits on the supervisory board of Robert Bosch GmbH. He is also a member of the Mittelthurgau Employers Association in Weinfelden, IG Freiheit, the Thurgau Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Weinfelden), and the Public Transport Information Service (Bern). Spuhler is also involved in the work of the Tele D Foundation (Diessenhofen) and serves as Vice President of ZSC Lions Betriebs AG.
