Levi9 Global Sourcing

Early life and education

Bernhard was born on 25 December 1969 in Nijmegen in the Netherlands. He is the second son of Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven. He has three brothers: Princes Maurits, Pieter-Christiaan, and Floris.

His family lived in Apeldoorn throughout his childhood, moving to Het Loo House in 1975. He received both his primary and secondary education in Apeldoorn.

He studied economics in 1988 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, in 1989 he attended Groningen University in the Netherlands where he studied marketing and market research. In 1995 he received the degree of doctorandus (equivalent to Master of Science) at this university.

Bernhard is a self-employed entrepreneur.

Ritzen Koeriers

In 1991, he founded the company Ritzen Koeriers with three fellow students. It was a courier business that used students to deliver packages by public transport using the free public transport card for students that education minister Jo Ritzen had introduced earlier that year. In 1999, the company was suspected of fraud, because they were not paying payroll taxes over lease cars provided to some employees. In 2000, the company settled with the Public Prosecution Service for 12,000 euros. In 2002, the name Ritzen Koeriers was changed to Logistieke Meesters, at which time Bernhard was no longer involved in the business.

Levi9 Global Sourcing

He is a co-founder of a nearshoring IT company called Levi9 Global Sourcing.

Chapman Andretti Partners

In 2015, he founded the company Chapman Andretti Partners with Menno de Jong, named after Colin Chapman and Mario Andretti who are not personally related to the business. In 2016, the company bought the Circuit Zandvoort in Zandvoort. Circuit Zandvoort was scheduled to host the Dutch Grand Prix in 2020, but it was postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19. Several environmental groups litigated against the racing event to be held in the natural dunes, but were unable to stop it. In 2021, the company was criticized for having asked musicians including the band Chef'Special to perform at the Grand Prix without direct financial compensation.