Peter Spuhler was born in 1959 in Seville (ES) and spent his school years in Zurich after the family moved to Switzerland. At the age of six, he started his ice hockey career of almost twenty years at the Grasshopper-Club Zurich. Today, he supports his favorite sport as vice president of the ZSC Lions with idealistic and financial commitment. From 1980 to 1986, Peter Spuhler studied business administration at the University of St. Gallen. At the same time he started his career in the Swiss Army, commanding the Mountain Grenadier Company 12 from 1991 to 1995 and the Mountain Fusilier Company III/148 from 1996 to 2000.

After an internship at the Union Bank of Switzerland, today’s UBS, Peter Spuhler joined Stadler Fahrzeuge AG in Bussnang in 1987 to take over the operational management. After almost two years, he acquired the company with 18 employees and CHF 4.5 million in sales. Over the years, Stadler Rail has developed from a local rail vehicle manufacturer into a competitive market player with a global presence which today generates sales of more than CHF 3.2 billion with over 12,000 employees. The stock exchange listing of Stadler Rail in April 2019 marked one of the biggest milestones in the company’s history.

After the millennium, Peter Spuhler started to get involved in other companies. In 2006, he became the majority shareholder of the Swiss Aebi company and merged it with the German company Schmidt. In addition, Peter Spuhler, together with Michael Pieper, restructured the crisis-stricken company Rieter. As the largest shareholder holding almost 20% of the shares, Peter Spuhler was elected to the Rieter board of directors in 2009. In 2011, Autoneum was spun off from Rieter to establish an independent company and at the same time successfully listed on the stock exchange.

As of 2012, Peter Spuhler diversified his portfolio and added three leasing companies: Estonia Train Finance, Nordic Train Finance and Austrian Train Finance. In 2018, the portfolio was also strengthened in the locomotive sector through the establishment of the European Loc Pool with Bank Reichmuth as business partner.

From 1999 to 2012, Peter Spuhler held a seat as parliamentary group spokesman in the National Council for the SVP Thurgau and was spokesman for the Commission for Economic Affairs and Taxation. As a business representative in Berne, he was particularly active in promoting Switzerland as a center of knowledge and industry, and was also a strong advocate of financial and economic issues. Due to the currency upheavals that had a severe impact on Stadler Rail, Peter Spuhler relinquished his political mandate as of 31 December 2012 in order to fully focus on the company’s management.