Mourning for a great entrepreneur
Lapp Group says goodbye to Siegbert E. Lapp
Stuttgart, 26 April 2023 – He was a great entrepreneurial personality and had so much to do. Last Wednesday, Siegbert E. Lapp (70) died in a tragic road accident that was not his fault.
With his flair for technology and innovation, Siegbert E. Lapp has shaped the Lapp Group into a globally recognised company. His life was full of passion, entrepreneurial foresight and the ability to recognise electrical trends and successfully translate them into sustainable customer value. "My father was always a role model for me. He was my wise counsellor and my support. His sudden death has left a big hole in everyone's heart. We will continue his life’s work in his memory,” said Matthias Lapp, son and Chairman of the Board of the LAPP Group.
Passion for technology
Together with his brother Andreas Lapp, Siegbert E. Lapp has helped to make the family-owned enterprise into a market leader with a global reputation. Today, with around 5,055 employees worldwide and 19 international production sites, the Stuttgart-based Lapp Group is one of the leading providers of integrated solutions and branded products for cable and connection technology. LAPP has been managed by his son Matthias Lapp in the third generation since October 2022.
The eldest son of the company founders was born with a passion for technology: Siegbert E. Lapp initially trained as a toolmaker and studied mechanical engineering at Esslingen University after completing his military service. Following several industrial placements abroad at cable companies and after successfully graduating as an industrial engineer, he assumed responsibility for the family company in 1980. Siegbert E. Lapp was instrumental in driving forward the internationalisation of the family business. He initiated the establishment of numerous production plants in Europe and Asia, for example in Forbach, France, Italy, India and Korea.
Many own patents and inventions
Within the Lapp Group, Siegbert E. Lapp was responsible for technology and production as well as research and development until 2015. An important concern for him was the development and protection of the Group's intellectual property. To this end, he founded the company Lapp Engineering in Cham, Switzerland, in 2005. In doing so, he made a significant contribution to positioning the Lapp Group competitively and innovatively on the global market. He was particularly proud of his own numerous patents and inventions, which enabled him to enter new sectors and markets.
Siegbert E. Lapp has assumed social responsibility out of conviction for many years. As a founding member of the Kind e. V. association, he was very successful in campaigning for better childcare facilities for working mothers and fathers. He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Oskar Lapp Foundation, which is committed to research into cardiovascular diseases. Siegbert E. Lapp has always promoted young talent by founding several LAPP Centres of Excellence around the world to provide young people with an electrotechnical education. For his extraordinary commitment at local level, he was made an honorary citizen of the municipality of Edolo, Italy.
From 2015 to 2022, he provided important impetus for the successful further development of the Lapp Group in his role as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. In October 2022, he handed over this position to his niece Katharina Lapp.
Siegbert E. Lapp is survived by his wife, two grown-up sons and three grandchildren. The funeral service will take place in the closest family circle.