Jan Henric Buettner (born 10 September 1964) is a German entrepreneur.
Biography Born in Hamburg, Buettner studied business management there and did an internship at a precursor of Vodafone, then started his career as a trainee at Axel Springer AG, where he worked on interactive media.Niko Rönnfeldt, "80-Millionen-Coup bei Erdbeerkuchen" , Kieler Nachrichten, 10 March 2014 .Gerhard Waldherr, "Und jetzt was Handfestes", brand eins 12/2011 In 1995 he developed AOL Europe with Andreas von Blottnitz. He became head of AOL Germany, then in 1997 moved to the US, where he established a venture capital firm specialising in internet companies, BV Capital, as general partner for Bertelsmann.Martin U. Müller, tr. Ella Ornstein, "For Millionaires, By Millionaires: Transforming a Baltic Sea Village into Paradise", Der Spiegel, 11 January 2013.John Johnson, "High-Tech Firms Plug Into Santa Barbara Lifestyle", Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2000, p. 2. In 2003 he and Blottnitz were awarded €203 million in damages by a California court for Bertelsmann's failure to pay them part of the proceeds from the sale of its share in AOL Europe; the amount was reduced to €160 million in an out-of-court agreement.
In 2005 he bought a historic estate by the Baltic Sea for €7 million,Nina Schwarz, "Neu im Club: California Dreaming – Jan Henric Buettner", club!, 5 September 2013 .Dorothea Topf, "Jan Henric Buettner - Zurück zu den Wurzeln", Made in Germany, Deutsche Welle, 16 April 2013 (video) . and converted the estate buildings and village into Grand Village Weissenhaus, a privately operated luxury resort which opened in 2014.Maren Hoffmann, "Luxusresort Weissenhaus: Keine Angst vorm Millionärswatching", Der Spiegel, 20 June 2014 Maren Hoffmann, "75 Hektar Luxus", Manager, 27 June 2014 Some of the funding for the renovation and conversion was raised on the crowdfunding site Companisto.de, where it drew more investment than any other for-profit European organisation to that date.Dalia Fahmy, "Germans Warm to Crowdfunding as Resort Attracts Investors ", Bloomberg Businessweek, 27 August 2014.David Drake, "Five Realty Crowdfunding Projects Raising $50M Or More", My Say, Forbes, 4 November 2014. In 2024, Buettner organized a high profile chess tournament at his resort, the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge. Buettner and five time world chess champion Magnus Carlsen announced in March 2024 that the tournament would expand into a yearly series of events with increased prize funds. Buettner was announced as a candidate for the 2026 FIDE Elections, running for FIDE President with International Master Malcom Pein as his Deputy.
Buettner lives in Hamburg. He is married to Holly Chelsea Marie Buettner. His former wife and their children continue to live in Santa Barbara, California.
References
External links "Über verpasste Chancen und wie man sie vermeidet: VC Jan Henric Buettner". Interview with André Vollbracht, Venture TV, 16 February 2013