Mercedes-Benz is a brand of the Mercedes-Benz Group AG, a publicly listed German multinational automotive group based in Stuttgart, Germany. The company is not owned by any individual, family or government. Thousands of shareholders around the world hold ownership, with the biggest ones being the BAIC Group of China (9.98%), billionaire Li Shufu (9.69%) and the Kuwait Investment Authority (around 5.57%). It is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and a member of the DAX 40 index of Germany. Ola Källenius has been CEO of the company since 2019.
Key Takeaways
- Mercedes-Benz Group AG is a publicly traded German company listed under the ticker MBG on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
- Mercedes-Benz belongs to no one. It has thousands of shareholders worldwide.
- The largest individual shareholder is China’s BAIC Group with 9.98% of voting rights.
- Chinese billionaire Li Shufu (Geely’s founder) has a 9.69% stake in the company via Tenaciou3 Prospect Investment Limited.
- Kuwait Investment Authority has been a shareholder since 1974 and presently owns about 5.57%.
- The brand was established by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, who founded their companies in 1926 and merged into the predecessor of the present-day Mercedes-Benz Group AG, called Daimler-Benz Group AG.
- Since May 2019, Ola Källenius has been the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Management.
The historical owners of Benz
The name Mercedes-Benz originates from the name of the German mechanical engineer Karl Benz, who is credited with the invention of the first practical gasoline-powered car.
Karl Benz (1844 to 1929)
Karl Friedrich Benz was born in Karlsruhe, Germany on 25 November 1844. According to Britannica, he designed and in 1885 built the world’s first practical automobile to be powered by an internal-combustion engine. In 1886 he was granted Patent No. 37,435 for the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, which is considered the birth certificate of the automobile.
In 1883 Benz founded Benz and Cie. The Mercedes-Benz Group’s own records show that Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik in Mannheim was the world’s first motor car factory and largest of its time. His wife Bertha Benz was instrumental in the company’s early survival, having to acquire an unreliable business partner using her own dowry, and completing the world’s first long-distance car journey in 1888 to prove its commercial viability.
Benz retired from active management in 1912 and handed over the management of the company to his sons. He served on the board of directors until the merger of 1926 and until 4 April 1929, as a member of the new Daimler-Benz board of directors.
Gottlieb Daimler (1834 to 1900)
The other company that came together with Benz and Cie. to form the modern Mercedes-Benz was co-founded by Gottlieb Daimler. Daimler and his master engineer Wilhelm Maybach built the first horseless carriage in 1885 by attaching a one-cylinder engine to a four-wheeled coach, according to EBSCO Research. In 1890, Daimler established his company, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG), to manufacture internal combustion engines for vehicles. He passed away in 1900, the year before the Mercedes name was used.
The origins of the name “Mercedes”
It was not Karl Benz or Gottlieb Daimler who named the car Mercedes. Daimler died in 1900 and his car dealer and passionate supporter of the Daimler car, Emil Jellinek, insisted on a more advanced auto to be called Mercedes in honour of his daughter. In 1901, the car was named after her and was the first to be light and fast, setting a new standard in the new automobile industry. The French distributor had proposed the name as it was more French than the name Daimler and thus more palatable to French buyers.
The 1926 Merger
On 28 June 1926, Benz and Cie. and DMG finally merged as the Daimler-Benz company, baptizing all of its automobiles as Mercedes-Benz. The reason for the merger was the financial crisis of post-World War 1 Germany. The article on Carl Benz on Wikipedia states that in 1926 a new logo was created that features a three-pointed star, which symbolises the motto of Daimler: engines for land, air, and water, with traditional laurels from the Benz logo.
EBSCO Research reports that Karl Benz himself was a member of the newly formed Daimler-Benz AG until his death in 1929, but was not actively involved in the management of the company at that time.
This is the ownership of the Mercedes-Benz today
Mercedes-Benz Group AG is a publicly listed company without a controlling owner. The official page of the Mercedes-Benz Group on the shareholders’ structure states that around the world there are approximately one billion outstanding shares of the Mercedes-Benz Group. Ownership is fragmented among institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, strategic industrial partners and retail shareholders.
Major Named Shareholders in 2026
| Shareholder | Stake | Type | Since |
| BAIC Group (China) | 9.98% | Strategic industrial partner | 2019 |
| Li Shufu / Geely (China) | 9.69% | Individual investor | 2018 |
| Kuwait Investment Authority | 5.57% | Sovereign wealth fund | 1974 |
| BlackRock | ~5 to 6% | Institutional investor | Ongoing |
| Vanguard Group | ~5% | Institutional investor | Ongoing |
| Mercedes-Benz Group AG (treasury) | 7.26% | Share buyback program | Ongoing |
The Chinese BAIC Group is the largest individual shareholder of Mercedes-Benz Group AG with 9.98% of the voting rights. Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC Group) is a Chinese state-owned automotive group.
Li Shufu has an equity stake of 9.69% in Mercedes-Benz Group via Tenaciou3 Prospect Investment Limited. He bought this stake in 2018 and is also the owner of Volvo Cars. He is the No. 2 individual shareholder, by Companies History.
Kuwait Investment Authority has been a major shareholder in Mercedes-Benz since 1974. It is one of the world’s longest-running roles in a major auto firm held by a sovereign wealth fund.
BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, is consistently in the top 5 to 6% institutional shareholders, Untaylored said. A similar percentage is held by another big American asset management company, Vanguard Group.
A Company with no Single Controlling Owner
Growthscribe says that Mercedes-Benz is owned by Mercedes-Benz Group AG, a publicly traded company based in Germany and headquartered in Stuttgart. It is not under the control of any single individual. There are no executive management positions held by the major named shareholders. Executive management team – appointed by the Board of Directors and elected by the shareholders – are the people who actually run Mercedes-Benz Group AG.
The structure is such that BAIC and Li Shufu have almost 20% of the company, but they do not own the majority or control the company. Although there are big shareholders such as the Kuwait Investment Authority, Geely, and BAIC, none of them has a controlling stake in the company, according to Brands Owned By.
Corporate Structure: How Mercedes-Benz is Organized
It’s important to note that there are three entities related to Mercedes-Benz that need to be understood.
Mercedes-Benz Group AG is publicly listed and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker MBG. This is the company that the shareholders have invested in. It was previously known as Daimler AG, and became known as Mercedes-Benz Group AG on 1 February 2022.
The operating division for passenger cars and vans is called Mercedes-Benz AG. It is located under the Group and as a separate subsidiary was created in 2019. It is the company that actually produces and sells the cars which are bought by consumers.
The public faces of the vehicles, dealerships and brand identity are referred to as the consumer brand, which is Mercedes-Benz.
On 28 January 2022, Ola Källenius, the CEO of Daimler, announced that the company would become Mercedes-Benz Group, to aim for a higher valuation for the company as it moves further into high-tech electric vehicles. In February 2022, Daimler became Mercedes-Benz Group in a separation of its commercial vehicle business into an independent entity called Daimler Truck.
Who’s in charge of Mercedes-Benz?
Ola Källenius, CEO
Ola Källenius is the Chairman of the Board of Management and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Group AG. He has been in charge since May 2019 when he replaced Dieter Zetsche. Under Källenius, Mercedes-Benz has been taking a proactive stance on electrification, sustainability and software innovation, according to Companies History. The company ended 2025 strong, selling 2.16 million cars and vans globally.
Two-Tier Governance
Germany has a two-tier governance system, with Mercedes-Benz Group AG as a user. A Board of Management is responsible for day-to-day management and direction. The Supervisory Board, which consists of 20 members, is split into 10 members representing the shareholders and 10 members representing the employees, in accordance with Germany’s co-determination system. This provides a significant power dynamic for labor unions in areas like plant closures and EV transition, as described in the businessmodelcanvastemplate.com.
History of Ownership: From Daimler-Benz to Mercedes-Benz Group AG
| Year | Development |
| 1883 | Karl Benz founds Benz and Cie. in Mannheim |
| 1890 | Gottlieb Daimler founds Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft |
| 1901 | First Mercedes automobile introduced by DMG |
| 1926 | Benz and Cie. merges with DMG to form Daimler-Benz AG |
| 1974 | Kuwait Investment Authority acquires first stake |
| 1998 | Daimler-Benz merges with Chrysler to form DaimlerChrysler |
| 2007 | Chrysler sold, company reverts to Daimler AG |
| 2018 | Li Shufu acquires 9.69% stake through Tenaciou3 |
| 2019 | BAIC Group increases stake to 5%, later to 9.98% |
| 2019 | Ola Källenius becomes CEO |
| 2022 | Daimler AG renamed Mercedes-Benz Group AG |
| 2022 | Daimler Truck spun off as independent company |
Why No One “Owns” Mercedes-Benz Outright
Like some other major automobile brands, the ownership of Benz is often confused, and it is assumed that it is owned by one person or family. That’s not the structure at Mercedes-Benz.
Businessmodelcanvastemplate.com reports that, unlike Porsche, majority-owned by the Porsche-Piëch family (Porsche Automobil Holding SE), or Ferrari, controlled by the Agnelli family (Exor), the ownership of Mercedes-Benz Group AG is no longer dominated by a founding family, but by a global mosaic of institutional investors and strategic industrial partners.
The Benz family no longer has a stake in the company. Since the early 20th century, the descendants of Karl Benz have not occupied a position in the company. The brand name Benz is still alive in the identity of the brand, but for decades the corporate structure has been fully public and institutional.
This type of transition from a founder’s own business to a worldwide distributed public company is one of the hallmark transitions of industrial history. It is a question that relates to the wider theme of the legacy of an individual’s creative or inventive activity in institutions that are no longer under the founder’s control. In the guide to who decides whether information is classified, the same principle is explored in a different light; systems of authority set up by certain individuals continue to shape outcomes long after those individuals have passed.
Mercedes-Benz Ownership Quick Facts
| Question | Answer |
| Who owns Mercedes-Benz today? | Mercedes-Benz Group AG (publicly traded) |
| Largest shareholder | BAIC Group, China (9.98%) |
| Second largest shareholder | Li Shufu / Geely (9.69%) |
| Long-term sovereign investor | Kuwait Investment Authority (since 1974) |
| Current CEO | Ola Källenius (since May 2019) |
| Stock exchange listing | Frankfurt Stock Exchange, ticker MBG |
| Company headquarters | Stuttgart, Germany |
| Previous company name | Daimler AG (until February 2022) |
| Founder of Benz | Karl Benz (1844 to 1929) |
| Year brand was established | 1926 (merger of Benz and Cie. with DMG) |
| Total shares outstanding | Approximately 1 billion |
Conclusion
Historically speaking, Benz’ owner was Karl Benz, the German engineer who created the first practical automobile in 1885 and established Benz and Cie. in 1883. In 1926 his company united with Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and the result was a publicly traded company, which later became the Mercedes-Benz Group AG.
In the present context, there is no one owner of Mercedes-Benz. The company is owned by about one billion shares held by institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds and strategic industrial partners around the world. The three largest shareholders are BAIC Group of China, Li Shufu (Geely) and the Kuwait Investment Authority, although none of these have a majority stake and none of them have executive management roles.
The company founded by Karl Benz in a workshop in Mannheim in the 1880s is one of the most valuable automotive companies in the world, with billions in revenue and operations in more than 100 countries. His name is not passed on as a family name in the corporate organization, but rather as the second half of one of the most well-known brand names in industrial history.
To learn more about business history, ownership, and other subjects, check out Shani Levni‘s entire collection of guides.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the owner of Benz?
Mercedes-Benz Group AG is a public company based in Germany that owns Mercedes-Benz. It is not owned by any individual. The top three shareholders are the BAIC Group of China (9.98%), Li Shufu (Geely) (9.69%) and the Kuwait Investment Authority (c. 5.57%). Most shares are owned by institutional investors and retail investors across the world.
Who founded Mercedes-Benz?
The two companies, Benz and Cie. and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, were established in 1926 when they merged to form Mercedes-Benz. The first practical car powered by gasoline was invented in 1885 by Karl Benz. The Mercedes name was derived from Emil Jellinek, who named a 1901 racing car that was built by Daimler in his name for his daughter, Mercedes.
Is China the owner of Mercedes-Benz?
No. Chinese companies own majority, but not majority, stakes. BAIC Group holds 9.98% and Li Shufu holds 9.69% of the company, together about 19.67%. They do not own more than 50% of each other and neither has executive management control. The company is still a German company based in Stuttgart.
Who leads the Mercedes-Benz?
Ola Källenius has been CEO and Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG since May 2019. In his tenure, the company has been on a journey towards electrification and a rebranding from Daimler AG to Mercedes-Benz Group AG in 2022.
At what time did Daimler become the Mercedes-Benz Group AG?
On 1st February 2022, Daimler AG officially changed its name to Mercedes-Benz Group AG. The name change was part of a larger restructuring that saw the commercial vehicle business become a separate entity, Daimler Truck.
Did the Kuwait Investment Authority always own shares of Mercedes-Benz?
The Kuwait Investment Authority has been the company’s biggest shareholder since 1974. It has been on the move over the decades and is presently around 5.57%.
Is Mercedes-Benz a family-owned company?
No. Today, the founding families of both Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler do not own any shares in the company. Mercedes-Benz Group AG is fully publicly traded with a diverse international shareholder base. No family or majority control.