While studying industrial engineering in
Germany, Manfred Schmitt was already building an empire. At 23 years,
he was a ...
concert pianist, going ahead to open five music stores and 10 music schools with more than 2,500 pupils under the name “Organschmitt.”
concert pianist, going ahead to open five music stores and 10 music schools with more than 2,500 pupils under the name “Organschmitt.”
When the 70s brought about the computer-controlled
synthesisers, he changed his company to “Schmitt Computersysteme” and
distributed the popular computer Commodore C64.
In the
early 90s he founded ESCOM that became the third largest computer
manufacturer in Europe in 1994 with more than 500 branches in 10
countries, with sales in billions of shillings.
Now he lives a sedate life in Msambweni, with his partner and co-founder of the brand, Jeanne Margaux, and his dogs and cats.
Now he lives a sedate life in Msambweni, with his partner and co-founder of the brand, Jeanne Margaux, and his dogs and cats.
He farms Moringa plants and packages them in his factory for export and local consumption. JACKSON BIKO met him in Msambweni for the launch of Me Moringa products.
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You are pretty fancy and flamboyant for a farmer…
(Laughs)
I was born a musician. My father was a musician in East Germany. My
father was sent off to fight in World War II and when he came back he
couldn’t make any more music. I started playing the piano when I was
five years old and when I was 12 or 13, I was playing it well daily,
five hours a day.
My parents were not rich. I
specialised in classical music, then I went into jazz music, American
jazz music. That’s Oscar Peterson kind of thing. I had my jazz band and
all that. Then my music schools, teaching American kids classical music
became super successful.
You were running all these music schools across Europe. How well did your engineering education serve you?
Mechanics
is a serious thing for Germans and I was studying mechanics and
economics and running my business at the same time. I guess after
finishing my degree the most sensible thing would have been to get a
good job in Germany’s car industry and so on.
Thing is I was not always at university (Chuckles) and so I quit because I had already made my first million and I was already known. It seemed pointless to proceed. At that point I knew I would never get employed in a company and work for someone else.
Thing is I was not always at university (Chuckles) and so I quit because I had already made my first million and I was already known. It seemed pointless to proceed. At that point I knew I would never get employed in a company and work for someone else.
Things went very well for you, didn’t they?
Yes
they did. But I was working day and night; get to the office at 4.30am
and get home at 11pm, every day of the week, non stop until at 55 years I
said, “Stop!”
Do you regret working all those hours?
No!
No! No! I loved it. Let me tell you, success gives you the power. When
you are successful you must not sleep, success is like an energy drink,
you never get tired. When you have no success it’s not nice. I was
always looking in the mirror and saying, “you must work, you must find
something else to work on.” Steve Job said, “Stay hungry, stay foolish”.
This is how it is.
What did you do when you stopped working?
I
moved to Monaco because my daughter was in Monaco and in school and I
wanted to be near her. I never had time for her growing up. My wife
divorced me because I was never there, I was always working. My daughter
is in London now. I also wanted to spend time with myself, spend time
with my body. I read a lot at that time.
When did you decide to come to Africa?
While
in Monaco I studied the literature about the energy situation of the
world in detail. Especially about oil, and how long we have oil
reserves, how much we need per day, where it says we have depleting oil
resources. I found out that we are not close to depleting the oil
reserves in the world, despite of what everybody else says. I came to
Africa for that quest. I went to Shimba Hills on a plantation for
research and came up short. But then someone was selling land by the
beach here in Msambweni, so I looked at it and my girl and I decided to
buy it.
The you decided ‘let me grow Moringa trees because I’m Manfred Schmitt…”
(Laughs)
I’m a curious man. (Pause) This is stupid because I didn’t have a plan.
There was no book that spoke of a Moringa plantation. People were
selling moringa on the Internet though, but I had to look at it as a
business man. Was it a great and organic product? Yes! Did it have
health benefits? Yes! Can it be grow here? Anything can so long as it’s
done right. So we did it right; we researched with local farmers, we set
up a factory, and now we are here.
Recent research from KEMRI showed that Moringa reduces the growth of cancer cells…
No,
I would not say it. I don’t believe it reduces the growth of cancerous
cells. I think it improves your immune system. I think cancer is too
complicated and varied for such a blanket conclusion. Having said that,
and I don’t want this to sound like a marketing speech, but Moringa
works but not as a drug but as a supplement product that helps your
overall well-being, it has nutrients and vitamins and oxidants that you
need for good health.
You look good for 67 years of age…
Thanks.
I used a lot of supplements in my younger days. I think that has helped
a great deal. Now I use the Me Moringa powder for my smoothies and
orange juice, so maybe that could be also why I look good. (Laughs)
What would you undo about your life?
(Sighs) Time is too short. I made so many mistakes in my life. I took too many risks which paid off but I also lost a lot.
What did you learn about money and success?
Money is security, it’s freedom to invest more, take bigger risks. But money can also easily change you. It never changed me.
What have you ever bought in your life that was most precious?
(Pause)
At some point I owned a boat and a private plane but I also had one of
the best Lamborghini Collection in the world. I had all Lamborghinis
which were produced from the beginning, a most beautiful Lamborghini
collection.
What time did you have to drive these cars when you were working from 4.30am to 11pm?
(Laughs)
That’s a very good observation. The truth is the only time I was having
fun was for 30 minutes when driving home and another 30 minutes in the
evening. So an hour of doing 200km/hr on the road because Germany
doesn’t have speed limit. That was my moment. Much later I would go to
Monaco for Formula One which I love very much even now.
What do you love about your life now?
(Pause)
This! Look at this! [Waves at the beach] I’m in Africa 90 per cent of
the time. I love the place. I don’t need to go to Nairobi, or Mombasa or
to a restaurant.
I’m happy here with my dogs and cats
and my girl. I hate travelling, I hate big cities, I don’t need a bar.
Young guys like you want a bar nearby but at my age I don’t need it. I
have made my life, I have driven beautiful cars, been with beautiful
women, eaten beautiful food...and everyone has to do it, you have to
make your life possible when you are young so that you don’t get regrets
in old age. I have seen the world, I don’t need to see it anymore. All I
want to see is this. [the sea.]
What’s your biggest fear now?
(Sighs)I
have no fear. I don’t have any fear for death because as our common
friend Steve Job says, the biggest invention in life is death. For sure
we do not want to die, even the people who think they’ll go to heaven
also don’t want to die.
But I haven’t missed a thing
in my life to be a afraid of death. I have had a wonderful life, I never
suffered in my life. I didn’t go to any war like my father and my
grandparents. And I had no health problems. I worked a lot but work was
never a punishment because it was fun and it made my life comfortable
and worthwhile, so why should I fear, Biko?
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