Klaus Johann Jacobs (3 December 1936 – 11 September 2008) was a German-born billionaire in the coffee and chocolate industry, with Swiss citizenship.[1]
He started his career in the global coffee and chocolates industries.[3]
In 1962, he became Director of Purchasing and Marketing for the Jacobs AG coffee business.
In 1972 he became General Manager of the company.
In 1982, the company merged with Interfood to create Jacobs Suchard AG, Europe's number one chocolate and coffee business.
In 1987, Jacobs expanded his business in North America with acquisition of Brach's.[4]
In 1990, when most of the consumer-oriented elements of Jacobs Suchard were sold to Philip Morris, Jacobs created with Brach's and non-consumer businesses of Jacobs Suchard a company which is now known as Barry Callebaut. Barry Callebaut is today the world's largest raw chocolate producer being embroiled in both childslavery[5] and deforestation of protected areas[6][7][8] As a result of cocoa production, 7 of the 23 Ivorian protected areas have been almost entirely converted to cocoa.[9]
In 1991, Jacobs became also involved with the human resource services industry with the acquisition of Adia Personnel Services where he led the company to a Global Fortune 500 Company following the merger with Ecco in 1996 to form Adecco.[3]
Philanthropy
The Jacobs Foundation was established by Klaus J. Jacobs in December 1988, in Zurich, Switzerland. In 2001, the founder surrendered his entire share of the Jacobs Holding AG to the Jacobs Foundation, with an effective value of CHF 1.5 billion ($ 900 million). The Jacobs Foundation's goal is to contribute to Productive Youth Development by bringing together basic research, application and intervention projects and through dialogue and network building.[10] The Jacobs Foundation supports research and projects worldwide. Klaus J. Jacobs donated EUR 200 million to the Jacobs University Bremen in 2006.
The Klaus J. Jacobs Research Award honours outstanding achievement in child and youth development and the Klaus J. Jacobs Best Practice Award for positive development of children and youth are awarded annually in memory of Jacobs. The first award ceremony took place on 3 December 2009. The awards are given by the Jacobs Foundation of Zurich.
Background
The prizes are given to honour outstanding achievements in research and practice that make a significant contribution to young people's success in life and development.
The Klaus J. Jacobs Research Award
The Klaus J. Jacobs Research Award recognises academic research of significant social relevance for child and youth development. Additionally, research findings from the interdisciplinary projects thus honoured should be suited to active practical implementation. The prize money for the award comes to one million Swiss Francs, which can be used for an academic project chosen by the recipient.
The award winner is chosen by a jury of internationally respected researchers: Albert Bandura (Stanford University, USA), Monique Boekaerts (Leiden University, the Netherlands), Jeanne Brooks-Gunn (Columbia University, USA), Anne C. Petersen Michigan University, USA), Meinrad Paul Perrez (Université de Fribourg, Switzerland), Rainer K. Silbereisen (Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Germany) and William Julius Wilson (Harvard University, USA).
The Klaus J. Jacobs Best Practice Award
The Klaus J. Jacobs Best Practice Award is given for exceptional engagement by an institution or individual whose practical work makes real use of innovative ideas for the positive development of children and youth. The prize money amounts to 200,000 Swiss Francs which can be used for a project chosen by the recipient.
The award winner of the Best Practice Award is chosen by the board of the Jacobs Foundation.
