Klaus Heidegger: Slalom Ace to Cosmetics Tycoon
Until the mid 1980s, when the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) relaxed the rules governing athlete endorsements and prize money, ski racers made little to no money. In order to make a decent living, a former competitor had to retire young, open a ski shop or a pension, or turn pro.
Only a few hit the jackpot: Toni Sailer became a movie star. Jean-Claude Killy endorsed Chevrolet, Rolex, Coca-Cola and dozens of other consumer products with the help of International Management Group founder Mark McCormack; he then became co-president for the 1992 Olympics (Albertville), then IOC coordinator at the 2006 (Turin) and 2014 (Sochi) Olympics, as well as president of both the Tour de France (1992–2001) and the presenting organization of the Dakar Rally. Jean Vuarnet, meanwhile, built his own brand of sunglasses and goggles into a multi-national success.
Photo top: Klaus and Jami Heidegger, courtesy Klaus Heidegger
Yet the most successful post-racing business career of all probably belongs to the Austrian slalom specialist Klaus Heidegger, who helped turn his father-in-law’s New York City pharmacy, Kiehl’s, into a skincare empire. The family sold the brand to L’Oréal in June 2000 for north of $150 million.
Heidegger, who turned 68 last August, was born on a small farm in the village of Goetzens, above Innsbruck. It was close to the ski slopes of Lizum, which hosted most of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics Alpine races. Like most local kids, he began skiing and racing early, though Goetzens itself had no lifts or training facilities.
Nonetheless, Heidegger qualified for the Austrian ski team in 1975, at age 17, and became one of the best racers in the technical specialties. In the late 1970s, he regularly challenged Italians Gustavo Thoeni and Piero Gros, the American Mahre twins and Sweden’s incomparable Ingemar Stenmark. He finished closely behind Stenmark in the 1977 overall World Cup standings and won the prestigious slalom races in Wengen and Kitzbühel in 1978.
Heidegger retired in March 1985 after the World Cup Finals at Heavenly Valley, California, with a total of five World Cup victories—but also a lot of frustration. He still believes that with more support from his coaches he’d have done much better. “I had a good chance to strongly challenge Ingemar in the 1977 overall World Cup if I would have been allowed to compete in a few downhills to score big points in combined,” he says.
“I still remember that you and your dad, Serge, often told me to give a try but my trainers were against that idea,” he adds. “I felt ready for it, as I like speed. At the end of the season, we still had to train hard despite feeling tired. Before the crucial races at Sun Valley [Idaho] in early March, Ingemar took a short break at Hawaii and was rested before the competitions, which allowed him to score many big points while I failed to claim any.”
An athletic racer who adored crushing steep and icy courses, Heidegger regularly clashed with the coaches about his vision of physical training and choice of equipment. In that period, the Austrian Ski Federation (OeSV) forced its Alpine racers to exclusively use Austrian gear—a huge problem for Heidegger, who felt extremely confident and comfortable using U.S.-brand Lange boots.
Tension with his training staff and the business-political issues with the powerful Austrian ski producers also prevented Heidegger from qualifying for the 1976 Winter Olympics slalom. This occurred despite the fact that the slalom would take place less than half an hour from his home, on a slope he knew perfectly; he was also by then one of the best gates specialists on the technical team, led by Hansi Hinterseer. Due to ankle injuries, Heidegger failed to participate in the 1980 and 1984 Winter Olympics, but providence ultimately helped him more than any Olympic gold medal.
In a twist of fate, Heidegger met a wealthy U.S. businessman, Aaron Morse, the owner of Kiehl’s pharmacy in Manhattan. Morse was a great fan of ski racing, and he had an attractive daughter—Jami Morse, a six-foot-tall athletic trainer who studied biology and chemistry at Harvard before joining her father at Kiehl's. She also worked as an aerobics coach at New York’s Vertical Club. In the summer of 1983, Morse talked his daughter into taking a gig as a fitness counselor with the Austrian ski team during a training camp at Hintertux. When she arrived, however, she found that tough-guy downhill stars like Franz Klammer and Harti Weirather weren’t interested in training with her.
Heidegger, on the other hand, thought the exercises helped his slalom training. At the close of another training camp in Schladming, Aaron asked if Heidegger could help Jami, who had wrecked her Ferrari 512 on the road to Innsbruck. He went to give her a ride.
In Innsbruck, Jami and Heidegger, who had just parted ways with his previous girlfriend, had time to get better acquainted and soon entered into a relationship. They spent a lot of time together during the following ski season, when Jami worked part-time at the sport-hotel in Axams that Heidegger had built in 1980, for about $300,000.
After Heidegger’s final race at Heavenly Valley, the couple went to Los Angeles to relax for a few days and visit with Jami’s father. Heidegger was caught off guard when Aaron suggested he marry Jami “mach schnell!”
In fact, Aaron had already made the arrangements. After brief reflection, and without an official engagement, Heidegger unexpectedly found himself married and on the verge of an entirely new life.
But Aaron was not done with his plans for the couple—he wanted them to take over his company in Manhattan’s East Village, which he had inherited from his father. Irving Morse bought the apothecary in 1921 from its founder, John Kiehl, a pharmacist. Irving, a Russian Jewish emigrant who had worked as an apprentice for Kiehl, soon transformed the store into a modern, full-scale pharmacy, while also adding homeopathic cures and herbal remedies from the old country.
“You buy it or I’ll sell it,” was Aaron’s ultimatum to Jami and Heidegger. They succumbed once more to his demands and took over the company in 1986. Heidegger, who had sold his hotel, invested half a million dollars into the pharmacy.
The couple sank enormous energy and time into the business over the next 15 years. “It was a tough period at the beginning, with days often lasting over 14 to 16 hours,” recalls Heidegger, who started modestly by cleaning the laboratory or the shop, wearing a grey lab coat while the other employees wore white ones. “I learned everything from top to bottom,” he continues. “I was very eager to know as much as possible about the entire business. The determination and focus I acquired as a racer helped me a lot to stay motivated and charging. I was also lucky to have done some business studies during my career between my times in the Austrian army and service in border customs.”
After a few years, Heidegger took on more oversight. As Jami created new skincare products, her husband computerized operations, expanded manufacturing and took distribution worldwide. Retail distribution grew from a few high-end outlets in New York and Los Angeles to about a thousand boutiques around the world.
“Having a family made it difficult to run the business,” Heidegger explains about the sale of the company. “Jami was mostly staying in California with the kids and I flew over there for the weekends. At the end it was really challenging for all of us so we decided to move in another direction. L’Oréal (among other top beauty brands) had pursued the company for a couple of years and at the end we made a good deal.” While newspapers mentioned a sales price of $100 to $150 million, Heidegger won’t disclose a specific figure. “We would not have sold it for the money presented by the media,” he says with a grin.
At 43, the kid from a small Tyrolean village may have become the richest former Alpine ski racer ever and was ready for an exciting new life. Spending more time with his three children— son Maximilian and daughters Nicoletta and Hannah —Heidegger was able to enjoy life at his estates in Chatsworth and Malibu, traveling on a Falcon 50 private jet and driving one of his fancy cars or vintage Harleys.
Today, former colleagues from the Austrian team such as Franz Klammer or Hansi Hinterseer visit often, and Heidegger likes to exercise with experts like Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom he met in the early 1980s in Austria, before “Arnie” became a movie star. (In fact, Schwarzenegger wrote the foreword for Heidegger’s book, My American Dream, which was only published in Germany, unfortunately.)
Last summer, Heidegger biked in the Austrian and Italian mountains with pal Franz Weber, the former speed skier, while visiting resorts in the Dolomites. “My weak knees don’t allow running any longer,” Heidegger says, “but I ride my bike an average of 5,000 miles a year.” He also appreciates skiing powder with friends—after not doing so for nearly 20 years while building Kiehl’s after moving to the U.S.
Son Max, now 28, was an excellent college basketball player who turned pro in the Euroleague. Hannah, his twin sister, was a world-class equestrian who was named U.S. Show Jumping Hall of Fame Rider of the Month in November 2014. Their older sister, Nicoletta, 34, is family therapist who earned advanced degrees at Stanford and Pepperdine.
After taking a break from the cosmetics business, Jami developed a line of anti-aging products branded as Retrouvé. She first shared them only with close friends, but her husband eventually persuaded her to sell them in small amounts, mostly online. The skincare line can now be found in high-end boutiques.
“Life can surely be unpredictable,” says Heidegger. “It really is incredible that the kid from Tyrol who dreamed about an Olympic medal before moving to the U.S. achieved such a fantastic life. I guess someone up there guided me in the right direction!” 
Contributor Patrick Lang has been reporting on the World Cup tour since 1969. He previously covered Lindsey's Vonn's return to racing in the January-February 2025 issue.
My American Dream
A few years ago, Klaus Heidegger published his attention-grabbing autobiography, My American Dream, in German. The book presents in great detail his life and career as a ski racer and a businessman. Heidegger also includes some emotional experiences and frank memories from his childhood, such as his father’s death and the sexual abuse he was subjected to by an older ski coach. Readers learn about disappointing financial operations in companies like Health Drink and Masai Barefoot Technology. Shockingly, the Heidegger family dealt with a kidnapping and poisoning attempt by the kids’ nanny. Heidegger recounts friendships from his racing days with teammates like Franz Klammer, a frequent roommate, and Hansi Hinterseer and with speed skier Franz Weber. Heidegger also relates his connections to Arnold Schwarzenegger and members of the Kennedy family, whom he met while running Kiehl’s. My American Dream shows the many sides of a special man and a great friend. —P.L.