Reinfried Pohl, the founder of the Algarve’s luxury Vila Vita resort, has died at the age of 86.
Pohl was born in 1928 in Zwickau (now belonging to Germany but part of Czechoslovakia at the time) and began investing in Portugal in the early 70s.
His vast entrepreneurial legacy led the Portuguese Republic to honour him in 1998 with the Grand Cross of Industrial Merit.
His success began after he founded Deutsche Vermöngensberatung, a multi-level marketing investment company, in Frankfurt, 40 years ago.
The company now works with over six million clients, helping to sell them financial products and services.
Around 580 people are employed by Deutsche Vermögensberatung in Portugal, where Pohl established the Vila Vita Parc luxury resort in Porches, Lagoa, in 1989. It rapidly became known for being one of the Algarve’s best examples of luxury tourism.
The group also established itself in the Alentejo, with its private vineyard Herdade dos Grous in Beja.
Although best known for his business acumen, Pohl was also famous for his generosity.
He donated millions towards cancer research at the University of Marburg through a foundation named after his wife, who died in 2008.
He was also one of the founders of the Frankfurter House of Finance of the University of Johann Wolfgang Goethe in Frankfurt – and provided support to the Faculty of Law of Marburg, where he himself completed his academic studies.
Those close to him have said that Pohl’s definition of wealth was “to live a couple more years with some health”.
