Overview
- Josef Anton “Toni” Meggle died on October 30 at age 94, renewing public focus on his family’s long-running estrangement.
- His widow’s obituary omitted any mention of children or grandchildren, and Bild reported that son Tom and twin daughters were not invited to the funeral.
- The rupture followed years of succession discord, including a 2019 lawsuit by three children who said he misled them into waiving forced-share inheritance claims.
- Court records valued the company at about €500 million, pointing to at least €125 million in potential Pflichtteil payouts that he argued would strain finances.
- He transferred his shares to a namesake foundation in 2019 with a no-sale clause, and the 2020 court case ended in a settlement reportedly providing monthly payments via a second foundation.