[3][4] Under the Nazi regime, the family was forced to flee Germany; they found exile in Ankara, Turkey, where Reuter spent his childhood and youth.

[8] After applying for a job for Daimler-Benz and failing, possibly because of his political orientation,[2] Edzard Reuter became an authorized signatory for UFA, the German film studio and then an executive for Bertelsmann, a media corporation.

[8] In 1964, Hanns Martin Schleyer recruited Reuter to work at the Daimler-Benz headquarters in Stuttgart, where he advanced to the board of managers.

[3] His takeovers were the aircraft and defense technology of Dornier, Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm and MTU Friedrichshafen, electronics from Matra, and household appliances from AEG.

[3] In May 1995, Reuter was succeeded by Jürgen E. Schrempp, who gave up his predecessor's business philosophy choosing instead to emphasize shareholder value.