Corporate History

OHB Founder Christa Fuchs Wins German Founders' Prize Special Award

OHB Founder Christa Fuchs Wins German Founders' Prize Special Award

Bremen – October 28, 2026 -- Christa Fuchs, who built a five-employee hydraulics repair shop into a space group with about EUR 1.2 billion in FY2025 revenue, received a special award for lifetime entrepreneurial achievement at the Deutscher Gründerpreis.

The jury cited her contribution to building one of Europe's leading space companies and her influence on the German and European space industry.

Fuchs took over Otto Hydraulik Bremen in 1981 with five staff

Fuchs, born in 1938, acquired the family-run firm at Hemelinger Hafendamm in 1981. It mainly repaired hydraulic ship systems for the German armed forces (Bundeswehr).

Her husband Manfred Fuchs joined in 1985 and steered the company toward space. He set the technology vision, while she managed the finances.

Documentary Traces How David Duong Built California Waste Solutions

Documentary Traces How David Duong Built California Waste Solutions

Oakland, Calif. – September 20, 2026 -- California Waste Solutions, founded in 1992 with eight used trucks, now serves more than 343,000 customers across Oakland and San Jose and processes over 717,000 tons of recycling material annually, according to figures cited in the feature documentary "The King of Trash," which returns to Bay Area theaters this month.

Documentary tracks 34-year build from street collection to municipal contracts
Directed by Errol Webber, the film follows founder David Duong from the 1975 fall of Saigon, when he led 23 family members to sea, through a refugee camp in the Philippines to a 1979 arrival in San Francisco, where the family collected bottles and cardboard at night before founding CWS in Oakland in 1992. The company operates six Bay Area recycling facilities, processing roughly 1,000 tons weekly in Oakland and 1,300 tons weekly in San Jose, with more than three million tons managed over its history.