Reinhold Würth is a German businessman. He took over his father's tiny wholesale screw business at 19 and built it into the Adolf Würth Group

Würth

The Würth Group is a worldwide wholesaler of fasteners, screws and screw accessories, dowels, chemicals, furniture and construction fittings, tools, machines, installation material, automotive hardware, inventory management, storage and retrieval systems. Würth was founded in 1945 by Adolf Würth...

, which posted record $8.2 billion in sales in 2004.

Honors and awards

Reinhold has received many honors over the years, including, but not limited to being inducted into Hall of Fame of German Industry and receiving the Ludwig Erhard

Ludwig Erhard

Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard was a German politician affiliated with the CDU and Chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is notable for his leading role in German postwar economic reform and economic recovery , particularly in his role as Minister of Economics under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer...

 medal, which rewards individuals who have attained exemplary results in their work for the public good and for the development of the social market economy.

Reinhold Würth is honorary doctor and honorary senator of the University of Tübingen and was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz

Bundesverdienstkreuz

The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...

 (Grand Cross of the Order of Merit) of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Diesel medal, and the Medal of Merit of the state of Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

.

In March 2004, Reinhold Würth received the French medal and was appointed a "Knight of the Legion of Honour". On 18 November 2005, Professor Reinhold Würth was appointed officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau

Order of Orange-Nassau

The Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...

, which is a military and civil order of the Netherlands, on the basis of a royal decision.