In addition to his entrepreneurial activities, Stephan Schmidheiny also took on responsibility as a board member of renowned Swiss companies.
For example, he was a member of the Board of Directors of what is now UBS for 18 years, and sat on Nestlé's Board of Directors for 15 years.
He spent 16 years on the board of BBC Brown Boveri, where he also played an active role in shaping the merger with Asea that resulted in today's ABB.
Stephan Schmidheiny established the foundations Fundes and Avina in the 1980s. This set the basis for his entrepreneurial philanthropy, a concept centred on the belief that the great challenges facing humanity cannot be overcome with financial donations alone, but only with entrepreneurial solutions.
Stephan Schmidheiny remains committed to philanthropic endeavours to this day.
Committed to Sustainability
At the beginning of the 1990s, Stephan Schmidheiny increasingly turned to societal discourse and philanthropy.
After being appointed Chief Advisor for Business and Industry in the preparations for the UN Conference on Environment and Development, he focused in more detail on questions relating to ecological and social sustainability.
He published several international bestsellers on the topic, and acted as a catalyst for politics and business through the World Business Council for Sustainable Development WBCSD that he founded.
His pioneering work in the field of eco-efficiency has been recognised by various universities, and he has received honorary doctorates from the INCAE Business School in Costa Rica, Yale University in the US, Rollins College in the US and Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Venezuela.
Shaping the Daros Collection
After his brother Alexander’s early death, Stephan Schmidheiny began from 1995 onwards to take an active role in shaping the former’s art collection. He took the conscious decision to have the collection run in an entrepreneurial manner, ensuring that it would be managed in future within a professional structure, namely Daros. The Daros Collection is thus an evolutionary project to some degree: the goal is for it to develop in line with the Zeitgeist and the works of art it brings together, rather than merely standing still.
The Daros Collection currently comprises some 250 pieces, including outstanding works by Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Brice Marden, Willem de Kooning and Cy Twombly. There are also impressive groups of works by Mark Rothko, Robert Ryman, Barnett Newman, Sigmar Polke, Bruce Nauman, Robert Gober, Christopher Wool and Thomas Schütte.
In addition to ensuring that the management of the foundation remains keenly focused, Daros has for many years placed great emphasis on making the works accessible to the general public. Initially it used its own premises in Zurich for this purpose, and between 2001 and 2008 Daros displayed selected works from the collection in various temporary exhibitions. Regular loans to renowned museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate Modern in London are testament to the outstanding quality of the collection.
Since 2010, the Daros Collection has been working together closely with the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, with individual groups of works from the collection being put on display at the Fondation Beyeler.
Daros Latinamerica Collection
In the course of Stephan Schmidheiny's engagement in Latin America, contemporary Latin American art also became into focus at Daros at the end of the 1990s. It soon became apparent that the Latin American collection would develop better in a separate context. Accordingly, the Daros Latinamerica Collection, independent of the Daros Collection, was founded in 2000. The collection is one of the most comprehensive private collections of contemporary Latin American art.
The Daros Latinamerica Collection was owned by Ruth Schmidheiny, Stephan Schmidheiny's first wife. It comprises over 1,200 works by 117 Latin American artists. The works in the Daros Latinamerica Collection have been exhibited in dedicated museums and on loan to renowned institutions around the globe.
Following the untimely death of Ruth Schmidheiny in 2019, the works in the Daros Latinamerica Collection found a new home at the end of 2025 in the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (Malba) in Argentina. The museum's founder, Argentine entrepreneur and collector Eduardo F. Costantini, acquired the entire collection and will integrate it into the museum's permanent collection in 2026, marking the museum's 25th anniversary.
The Gift of Life
Stephan und Viktoria Schmidheiny
With his entrepreneurial success and his commitment to sustainable development, Stephan Schmidheiny played a prominent role on the world stage for many years.
Following his father’s example, he was keen to ensure at an early stage that the responsibility for his businesses and initiatives could be handed over to the next generation. He therefore stepped down completely from all executive functions and formal positions in 2003.
After years of working for the common good, he sought a different quality of life and devoted his efforts to his own personal interests.
Shortly before his 60th birthday – in October 2007 – Stephan Schmidheiny suffered an aortic rupture and life-threatening internal bleeding. As if by a miracle, he survived. Shortly after his 70th birthday at the end of 2017, Stephan Schmidheiny finally stepped down from his last mandate—the presidency of his non-profit Avina Stiftung.
Grateful to have received this precious gift, he is enjoying his new chance at life with his second wife, Viktoria. A Vienna-born doctor, Viktoria Schmidheiny shares her husband’s passion for music, art and culture.