Biography of Matthias Schmelz
A self-made millionaire, Matthias Schmelz has made his fortune in direct sales. Although his career began in construction, working for his father’s company, Bauunternehmung Augustin Schmelz, it did not take long for this adventurous and inquisitive traveller to see that he was destined for great things.
Born in 1961 in a small German village 100km east of Frankfurt, his childhood was spent reading books, bird-watching and hiking. At the age of 13, already eager to make a difference, he founded the "Vogel Club", an ornithological society with the aim of protecting animals and educating rural young people. To this day he is still a strong advocate of animal rights and nature conservation.
After completing his military service, he started studying Civil Engineering. Three years later, at the tender age of 23, he qualified as a "Diplom Ingenieur". After two years as a site manager in his father's company, he moved to Stuttgart, where he designed and made estimates for a company that built and sold turnkey projects. In 1986, when he was 25, he started his own business. Matthias' first company – "Dipl. Ing. Matthias Schmelz Wohn- und Umweltberatung" – proved to be a highly successful operation. It provided analytical and consulting services to medical doctors and the private sector, with the aim of building biologically healthy homes.
Already established as a pioneering businessman, in 1986 he added the "RAINBOW" vacuum cleaner to his list of ecologically recommended products. This proved to be the turning point for Matthias, as in 1989 he became "RAINBOW" World-Class Sales Champion for the first time. Promoted in 1992 to "Satellite", considered the second-highest position in the career of a RAINBOW distributor, he felt he had still not achieved his ambition, so he took it one step further and moved to Portugal to become an exclusive importer and registered general distributor (RGD).
Starting from scratch after his move to Southern Europe, in 1993 he officially established his import and distribution company – Matthias Schmelz Lda. It took only three years for his organization to average more than 1,000 RAINBOW sales per month; Matthias has recruited and trained more than 10,000 people since 1993. His direct-sales organization is number one in the world and achieved an all-time record of 2,748 sales "under one roof" and 4,143 sales nationally in one month. In 1998 alone Matthias’ distributors turned over a total of €60,000,000 (sixty million euros).
23rd May 1996 marked a very special time in his personal life, as it was during the Miss Portugal Pageant that he met his future wife, Fernanda Alves, who also went on to win and be elected Miss International 1996 in Kyoto, Japan. They got married in 1999 in Costa Rica, during a cruise on the Windsong. Two years later, on the 23rd of June their daughter, Electra, was born. Their second child, Fernando, was born on 23rd July 2005. Matthias, Fernanda and Electra have travelled to more than 50 countries. They live in Portugal but also have a home in Cape Town, South Africa.
Now a multimillionaire, Matthias is fulfilling his most important personal mission, that of sharing his experience and making a difference, by publishing his masterpiece, The MillionaireMaker – the most expensive how-to-grow-rich and business book in the world.