Meet Anna Kasprzak, the 29-year-old billionaire co-owner of ECCO shoes

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The young billionaire isn’t just an owner of the ECCO shoe company. She’s also an Olympic dressage rider.
Friso Gentsch/picture alliance via Getty Images

Anna Kasprzak is one of the richest billionaires under 30 years old, according to Forbes.

She was 29 years old at the time of this story.
Alex Grimm/Getty Images

Source: Forbes

Her $1 billion fortune comes mostly from her partial ownership of ECCO — a shoe company based in Denmark.

An ECCO shoe store.
Shutterstock/Sorbis

Source: Forbes

Kasprzak’s grandfather, Karl Toosbuy, started the company in 1963.

A display showing the break-down of how ECCO shoes are made.
Franziska Krug/Contributor/Getty Images

Source: ECCO

Toosbuy was a shoemaker by trade and managed a shoe factory in Copenhagen by the time he was in his early 30s.

Some ECCO stores display the craftsmanship that goes into their shoes.
Franziska Krug/Contributor/Getty Images

Source: ECCO

He wanted his own company, so in 1962 Karl and his wife Birte took out an ad in Jyllands-Posten — a newspaper in Denmark — asking, “Who wants us?” They were looking for some business partners.

Headquarters of the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten.
Polfoto/Kaare Viemose/AP Photo

Source: ECCO

By 1963, the company was fully established — they were able to hire 74 employees in the year following.

Mikael Thinghuus, five-year COO of ECCO in the early 2000s, with ECCO shoes pictured above.
Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP

Source: Associated Press, World Ocean Council, ECCO

The company has since grown drastically — it expanded into the US market in 1994, when it was named Footwear Company of the Year.

The company has established its own leather tanneries to ensure the highest quality product possible.
ECCO/YouTube

Source: ECCO

Today, the ECCO company makes around $1.46 billion in sales, according to Forbes.

An ECCO factory.
ECCO Shoes/YouTube

Source: Forbes

Kasprzak is part owner of the company — along with her mother Hanni Toosbuy Kasprzak and brother André Kasprzak — but running the business isn’t her full-time job.

Kasprzak is a professional dressage rider.
AFP Contributor/Contributor/Getty Images

Source: ECCO

The heiress is actually a professional horseback rider. She competes in a sport called dressage riding where the goal is for the rider to train the horse to respond to subtle commands.

Kasprzak (left) passes another rider during competition.
Picture Alliance/Getty Images

Source: United States Dressage Federation

She is part of the Danish national team, which allows her to travel internationally for competitions …

Kasprzak (left) speaks to press after her team won silver at the FEI European Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.
NurPhoto/Contributor/Getty Images

Source: Getty Images, Kasprzak Dressage

… and she has also attended 12 Olympic Games.

Kasprzak’s horse is dressed in a Rio 2016 blanket.
Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Source: Olympics

Kasprzak has not yet medaled in the Olympics, but she has had success at other tournaments and dressage events like the CHIO Aachen in 2017. Also in 2017, her national team took home the silver medal at the FEI European Championships.

Kasprzak at the London Olympic Games in 2012.
John MacDougall/Getty Images

Source: Olympics, CHIO Aachen

Kasprzak also runs a private dressage barn in Haderslev, Denmark. Some of the horses at the barn are already trained and have been competing with Kasprzak, while others are still being “educated.”

She also houses horses that belong to other riders.
Friso Gentsch/picture alliance via Getty Images

Source: Forbes, Kasprzak Dressage

“These horses are top athletes, and if we want to deliver results, we need horses that are healthy and strong — physically as well as mentally,” Kasprzak said. “I take great pride in working with this dimension of the sport.”

Kasprzak hosts another rider and their horse at her barn.
Anna Kasprzak/Instagram

Source: Kasprzak Dressage

Her website also says the team at Kasprzak Dressage believes no two horses are alike. “I spend a lot of time getting to know my horses and understanding their personalities,” she said.

Kasprzak rides in a competition.
David Rogers/Getty Images

Source: Kasprzak Dressage

Kasprzak and her brother seem to share a love of sports. He was a professional golfer, according to Forbes, and joined the ECCO board in 2017 — their mother is the chairman of the supervisory board.

The ECCO brand makes golf shoes.
ECCO Shoes/YouTube

Source: ECCO Shoes, Forbes, ECCO

Kasprzak is a mother herself — her daughter was born in the spring of 2018.

Kasprzak and her daughter.
Anna Kasprzak/Instagram

Source: Eurodressage

While not much is known about the rider, aside from her athletic profession and involvement with her barn …

Kasprzak and her teammates.
Julia Reinhart/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Source: Forbes

… we do know that her inheritance has placed her among the top 8 billionaires under 30.

Kasprzak at the FEI European Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Julia Reinhart/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Source: Forbes, Insider



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