Siegfried Meister
German electrical engineer, founder and former major shareholder of Rational AG, billionaire (1938-2017)

Siegfried Meister (17 October 1938 – 28 July 2017) was a German billionaire businessman, founder and 63% owner of Rational AG.
Early life
Meister was born in 1938. He trained as an electrical engineer.
Career
In 1973, he founded Rational AG, which rose to success as a result of the popularity of the combination steamer, which he helped to develop. He owned 63.7% of Rational.
In March 2017, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$3.8 billion.
Personal life
He was married to Gabriella Meister, and they lived in Landsberg am Lech, Germany. He died on 28 July 2017.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Siegfried Meister” as german electrical engineer, founder and former major shareholder of Rational AG, billionaire (1938-2017). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as german electrical engineer, founder and former major shareholder of Rational AG, billionaire (1938-2017). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q23682510. The first chronological checks are 1938, 2017 and 1973.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Siegfried Meister”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Siegfried Meister primary sources, Siegfried Meister archive and Siegfried research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Siegfried Meister”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Siegfried Meister” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.