Porsche executive, Wolfgang Porsche is reportedly divorcing his partner of 16 years, Claudia, due to severe dementia that has left her housebound’
Sources close to the couple have said Porsche, 79, has struggled to live with his wife, 74, due to changes in her behaviour since she was diagnosed.
Claudia, who is a grandmother, has four carers who look after her around the clock, having suffered from the illness for the last two years.
She has reportedly not been able to move independently for months and her mental awareness has undergone a rapid decline.
Wolfgang and Claudia have been together since 2007 and married in 2019. The Porsche family’s assets have been estimated at EUR 20bn (£18bn).
Media in Germany report that Wolfgang has been getting closer to his friend of 25 years, 59-year-old Gabriela Prinzessin zu Leiningen, in recent months.
Like Porsche’s wife Claudia, she studied law in Munich, and in Cologne. She married Prince Karl-Emich zu Leiningen in 1991, but the couple divorced in 1998.
Later that year she married the Swiss Karim Aga Khan IV, 86, the 49th Imam of the Nizari Ismailis who is considered a direct descendent of the Prophet Mohammed. The couple divorced in 2014.
Wolfgang Heinz Porsche is a German-Austrian shareholder and chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, as well as of Porsche AG.
The Stuttgart-born executive is the youngest son of former Porsche AG designer and Chief Executive Officer Ferdinand ‘Ferry’ Porsche and Dorothea Reitz.
His grandfather was Ferdinand Porsche, the Austro-Bohemian founder of Porsche AG. His oldest brother is Ferdinand ‘Butzi’ Porsche, who designed the first Porsche 911.