German Billionaire Missing in Swiss Alps

Karl-Erivan Haub (above) has been reported missing. Free rights image.

One of Germany’s richest men, 58-year-old Karl-Erivan Haub, has been reported missing after a backcountry ski trip in the Swiss Alps. Haub is the heir to the Tengelmann supermarket chain, one of the largest retailers in Germany and Central Europe, and has been in charge of the firm since 2000.

According to reports from various European news agencies, a company spokeswoman confirmed that Haub was missing on Tuesday in a statement, saying that a "full-speed" search for him was currently underway. Haub was skiing outside of Zermatt and reportedly did not show up to function on April 7, when he was reported missing.

Haub is an avid ski mountaineer, and was training for the Patrouille des Glaciers ski race, an international long distance ski mountaineering race put on by the Swiss Army in which both military personnel and civilians compete.

Karl-Erivan took over the company from his father, Erivan, in 2000. The elder Erivan passed away March 6 at the family’s ranch near Jackson, WY.