johanna bruhn became a secretary in her future husband's office in the 1950s and eventually became his personal assistant. the two married in 1960. after his death in 1982, she was a major shareholder in bmw and sat on its supervisory board from 1982 until she retired in 1997. much of that time she served as deputy chairwoman of the board. she owned 16.7% of bmw at the time of her death.