Alexander Otto owns a stake in Otto Group and is majority shareholder and CEO of ECE Group, a commercial real estate firm focused on shopping centers. His late father, Werner Otto, started the empire by founding a mail-order business in Hamburg in 1949. With revenues exceeding $15 billion, Otto Group has more than 40 companies in retail (including Crate and Barrel), real estate and financial services. His stepmother Maren and her daughter Katharina share a 14% stake with him in Paramount Group, which owns and manages office properties in the U.S. Investing heavily in shopping centers, he became a shareholder of publicly-traded Deutsche EuroShop in 2001.