German FIS Council Member Fritz Wagnerberger Dies

Long-term International Ski Federation (FIS) council member and former Willy Bogner Company chief financial officer, Fritz Wagnerberger has died. Wagnerberger was 73 and had been battling stomach cancer for several years.

Wagnerberger had been a member of the FIS council since 1971 as well as its executive committee. He was a longtime advisor and confident of the long-term former president of the FIS, Marc Hodler as well as his successor and current president, Gian Franco Kasper. He served as chairman of the FIS Finance Commission since 1975 and as FIS Treasurer since 1990.

“Fritz Wagnerberger was an excellent finance professional with an exceptional understanding of the global financial markets. He oversaw FIS’s finances over the years and made sure that we continue to find ourselves in a strong position despite the recent financial crisis,” Gian Franco Kasper, FIS President said. 

“He was also one of the truly outstanding members and contributors of FIS. Personally he was an extremely good friend, 100% dependable, and one who did not say much but when he did, it was always well-founded.  For me Fritz Wagnerberger was a role model and mentor who’s helped me very much during my time at FIS,” Kasper continued.

Wagnerberger was a five-time German alpine champion in both Downhill and Giant slalom. He participated in the 1960 Olympic Games in Squaw Valley and in the 1964 Innsbruck winter games. Willy Bogner, who was to become a longtime business associate, was also a member of the German Olympic team at the time. He was also President of the Marc Hodler Foundation and was Vice President of the German National Olympic Committee. For 19 years (1970-1978 and 1994-2005), he headed the German Ski Association and was named its first Honorary President in 2005.

“He was one of the most important contributors to skiing in the last 40 years” said Hank Tauber, a long-term associate and former FIS council member. “As chairman of the finance committee Fritz was in the center of FIS activities. The organization relied on his judgment. He is a great loss.”

An avid golfer, Wagnerberger came often to Naples, Florida to play in the spring as the snow in the Alps melted away.

In lieu of flower the family has requested donations be made to the “Netzwerk Hospiz”, account No.11700, BLZ 71052050 at the Kreissparkasse Traunstein.