GREEN RANKING FOR 2009
Ranking: 37
Worth: £1.1bn
Green investment: Solar power

The German industrialist Otto Happel turned his father’s dust removal business into the thermal engineering firm, GEA. In 1999 Happel sold his stake to MG Technologies in exchange for $1 billion in cash and a 21% stake in the combined group, eventually selling that holding for about $630m. He now runs a consulting firm from his Swiss base. Among his investments is a stake in Conergy, Europe’s largest solar power company. He put in £125m last November which should help Conergy ride the recession, which has hit it hard. Bilan magazine in its December 2008 Swiss rich list put Happel’s wealth at £1.1 billion. We agree.