E ric Wittouck is a Belgian billionaire investor and an heir to the Tiense Suikerraffinaderij sugar fortune. His family was a major player in the European sugar industry for generations. In the late 1980s, the family sold its stake in the sugar business, providing them with a massive infusion of capital that Wittouck has since successfully invested and grown.

His most successful investment, and the primary source of his current vast fortune, was his backing of the private equity firm Invus. Invus has a remarkable track record, but its most legendary success was its early and massive investment in the diet company Weight Watchers (now WW International). The firm bought the company, took it public, and made a phenomenal return. Wittouck's quiet backing of this highly successful private equity firm has made him one of the wealthiest and most discreet billionaires in Europe.