- Jan-Patrick Schmitz

Our Founder

Jan-Patrick has spent his career falling in love with things made by hand — and helping the people who make them build something lasting. That instinct is what led him to found Muirbury & Company, a firm built around a simple belief: the best consumer brands are not manufactured, they are nurtured. By partnering with family offices, strategic investors, venture and growth-stage firms,  and private equity funds,  Muirbury & Co. helps product-centric companies grow into the kind of brands people seek out — ones defined by craftsmanship, quality, and genuine design integrity.

It is a belief shaped by more than twenty years inside some of the world's most storied luxury houses. At Montblanc, Jan-Patrick was part of the global leadership team that took a wholesale-only German pen maker and turned it into a billion-dollar brand sold in over seventy countries — expanding into watches, jewelry, leather goods, fragrance, and eyewear, and proving along the way that heritage and growth are not opposites. He later led the Wüsthof Group as CEO and Chairman of the Management Board, and chaired the Steiff Group, the German toymaker behind the original Teddy bear. Today he serves as Chairman of the Board of John Hardy, the jewelry house born in the artisan villages of Bali, where sustainability has been a guiding value since its founding.

That same appreciation for craft shows up across his board and advisory work — as an independent director of Timeless Wine Co., home to Silver Oak, Twomey, and Ovid; as a board member of Polywood, a leader in sustainable outdoor living products; and as an advisor to Thornwillow Press, whose books find their way into institutions like the White House, The Morgan Library, and The Vatican.

Beyond the boardroom, Jan-Patrick has shared what he has learned as a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, Columbia, NYU, and the Fashion Institute of Technology, and has long supported arts and youth organizations, including Urban Arts Partnership and The 24-Hour Plays. He holds a BA in International Business from IBS, Germany, and an MBA from Southern Illinois University, where he was recognized by Beta Gamma Sigma for academic excellence.

At Muirbury & Co., he brings all of it together — a lifelong respect for the people who make things well, and a track record of helping them build brands that last.