He used his wealth, estimated by Forbes last year to be $9.2 billion, to take stakes in HeidelbergCement and Ratiopharm. HeidelbergCement shares were down 5.8 percent at euro31.39 ($43.18) in Frankfurt trading after news broke of Merckle's death.
Merckle also owned stakes in companies that made a wide array of goods from all-terrain vehicles, software to textiles.
The governor of Merckle's home state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Guenther Oettinger, said the region had lost a "great entrepreneurial personality" who built up a "business of European significance."
Merckle was awarded Germany's highest decoration, the Bundesverdienstkreuz, in 2005.
Despite his wealth and prominence in corporate Germany, Merckle mostly avoided publicity. He is survived by his wife, Ruth, and four children.
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Associated Press Writer Oliver Schmale contributed to this report from Stuttgart, Germany.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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