In a few days, Frits Goldschmeding would have celebrated his 91st birthday. But the Nestor of the Dutch temporary employment sector, born in Amsterdam on 2 August 1933, has unfortunately passed away.
‘With the passing of Frits, we lose a great visionary and a wonderful, inspiring personality,’ Randstad CEO Sander van ‘t Noordende said in a press release. Randstad, which has an annual turnover of more than €25 billion, made the news announced this morning.
Randstad did not disclose any details about the cause of his death. However, the multinational emphasized that Goldschmeding had ensured the continuity of his shareholding for years before his death.
Goldschmeding, who started Randstad in the 1960s, still owned more than a third of the shares. At the current market value of the employment agency of more than €8.2 billion, these are worth around €2.7 billion. Frits Goldschmeding was in 3rd place on the Quote 500.
The Goldschmeding legacy
In addition to a solid shareholder foundation under the listed Randstad, Goldschmeding wanted the company to be more than a legacy. The intention was that the annual dividend of hundreds of millions would also benefit people and society.
But not through inheritance tax. The devout Goldschmeding, scion of a well-known, reformed Amsterdam family of piano dealers, set up an impressive construction during his lifetime to keep his inheritance out of the hands of the tax authorities, as Quote discovered a few years ago.
How that structure is put together, where Goldschmeding comes from and how he turned that employment agency into a billion-dollar concern? You can read all about it here.
