The wealth of entrepreneur Ralf Dümmel

How much wealth does Ralf Dümmel really have?

Thanks to the TV format “Die Höhle der Löwen”, Ralf Dümmel is now also known outside of the German business scene as a member of the jury. How very rich the man who is happily in a relationship with TV presenter Anna Heesch is, however, cannot be said. He will probably have several million euros on the high edge. In his role as a partner in the trading company DS Produkte, he is likely to have already earned millions (last annual turnover: 250 million euros) – and that before he was even seen on television. As some media report, his total income should amount to between 5 and 8 million euros in recent years. Dümmel probably collected around 50 million euros through the takeover of the DS Group by Social Chain AG. We so appreciate that Ralf Dümmel assets to around 75 million euros.

Since Ralf Dümmel has been on the show “The lion’s den“As an investor appears at the side of Frank Thelen, Judith Williams, Carsten Maschmeyer, Georg Kofler, Nils Glagau, Nico Rosberg and Dagmar Wöhrl, he will probably be able to increase his fortune even further. How much Dümmel earned as a juror on the VOX TV format is not known. Ralf Dümmel made a lot of investments in the third season. For this purpose, the DS Group has even founded its own investment company “DS Invest”, which in turn buys into the young start-up companies. In 2021, the entire DS Group was taken over by Georg Koflers Social Chain AG for 220.5 million euros. 100 million were transferred immediately and the remaining sum was spent in shares of Social Chain AG. Since then, Ralf has also been on the board and CPO (Chief Product Officer) of Social Chain AG. With his nearly 25% stake in the DS Group, he probably got around 50 million euros.

Ralf Dümmel in the “Den of the Lions”

Ralf Dümmel has shown enough on TV that he has no problem taking a calculated risk. In November 2016, for example, the press reported that no one had concluded more deals in the TV format for investors and start-ups than the man who is also known as “Mister Regal”. During his time as a juror, 76 start-ups were given the unique opportunity to pitch their idea to prominent investors. Dümmel offered a deal to 23 of these young companies. So does he have one good nose for business or how did so many offers on his part come about?

On Twitter, comments like “It’s stupid again” wide. Ralf Dümmel says of himself that, based on almost three decades of experience, he can easily estimate which products are suitable for the mass market and which are not. He has had countless pitches in a previous career and during his time at DS Produkte he was able to actively support and help shape the market launch of a good 100,000 products. This experience of course pays off and also leads to a high fortune.

So it came about that Ralf Dümmel struck a lot with “Die Höhle der Löwen”. His Total investment in front of the camera: over 15 million euros. As the Leo himself says, he doesn’t know any other Leo who has invested as much as he does. According to his own statements, he does not regret his more than 90 deals, even if the entrepreneur has a lot of work to do if he wants to support all his start-ups equally competently and energetically. Many of these deals have already paid off for him, even if Ralf Dümmel cannot yet estimate how much profit he will make overall. The generous Leo is a precisely calculating businessman who seems to have done everything right again. DS Produkte also enjoyed the additional publicity and has since become an even more popular employer. But what you should definitely keep in mind: The deals as they are presented in front of the camera do not always actually come about. The actual investments are therefore far below the level shown on TV, as the following list shows.

Cave of the Lions Investments by Ralf Dümmel (DSInvest)

Ralf Dümmel appears in the lion’s den on behalf of DS Invest, the investment offshoot of DS Produkte, which was also transferred to Social Chain AG in 2021. The following investments were actually made and were successfully achieved:

DHDL Season 10 autumn 2021 (10 deals realized)

• DeWok (Raclette Wok) – 100,000 euros for 20% shares
• Early Green (meat substitute) – 100,000 euros for 25% shares
• Soapflaker (side donor) – 120,000 euros for 30% shares
• CATLABS – (cat toys) – 37,500 euros for 15% shares
• Don’t eat anything! – (Currywurst) – 49,000 euros for 49% shares
• Puregreen – (shower water saver) – 100,000 euros for 30% shares
• Botanyia – (plant pots) – 100,000 euros for 30% shares
• Glossy Dreams – (cleaning pen) – 75,000 euros for 30% shares
• Ms. Poppes – (seasoning mix) – 150,000 euros for 20% shares
• ASTAELA – (scent stone) – 70,000 euros for 20% shares

DHDL Season 9 spring 2021 (17 deals realized)

• Mary’s Dream Coffee (Iced Coffee) – 100,000 euros for 30% shares
• sked (knife block) – 100,000 euros for 30% shares
• Summersaver (anti-chafing) – 250,000 euros for 20% shares
• Hilli Fruits (fruit puree) – 150,000 euros for 25% shares
• mysleemask – (sleep mask) – 50,000 euros for 20% shares
• Winemaster – (wine bottle cap) – 100,000 euros for 30% shares
• Bath sofa – (pillow for bathtub) – 150,000 euros for 33% stake
• Udo – (reusable coffee lid) – 100,000 euros for 33% shares
• SmartQ – (wallpapering brush) – 40,000 euros for 15% shares
• Pottburri – (plant pots) – 150,000 euros for 20% shares
• Hazel heart – (hazelnut cream) – 80,000 euros for 25% shares
• nao / qinao – (energy coated tablets) – 150,000 euros for 12.5% ​​shares
• BeerBag – (beer backpack) 20,000 euros for 30% shares
• pinky (women’s hygiene glove) – 30,000 euros for 20% shares (withdrawn from trading after Shitstorm)
• FLÜWA (water level) – 60,000 euros for 30% shares
• Back’o’Funny (cake cream) – 33,000 euros for 33% shares
• Bideo (toilet paper holder) – 100,000 euros for 20% stake

More details on Ralf Dümmel’s life and fortune

Not only little is known about Ralf Dümmel’s fortune, but also about his life. But we do know that Ralf Dümmel’s career at DS products began at the tender age of 22. At that time he started there as a sales assistant. In 1996, 8 years after joining the company, he already became a partner in DS Produkte. From 2000 he then took on the role of managing director. Under his leadership, the group was even able to expand internationally and now has its own subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Poland. In total, Ralf Dümmel owned 24.46% of the DS Group through a stake held by Dümmel Verwaltungsgesellschaft, until it was taken over by Social Chain AG by Georg Kofler for 220.5 million euros in 2021.

The entrepreneur has also been a member of the Supervisory Board of VfB Lübeck since 2015. In autumn 2016 he worked on the third season of “Die Höhle der Löwen”. Since then he has been an integral part of the jury team and the lion with the most investments.

_{Photos: VOX / Rieka Anscheit & Stefan Gregorowius}