On September 26, 1952, Willi and Christiane Illbruck founded a small business for the production of steel wool dies in Leverkusen-Opladen.

[6][7][8] At first, the 2-man business manufactured steel die-cutting tools and later plastic parts like platters, index tabs, lottery stencils etc.

[6] Within 20 years, the company had grown and established subsidiaries in Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Australia and the USA.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Illbruck dominated the German offshore yachting scene together with Udo Schütz and Hans-Otto Schumann.

[12] Illbruck and his yacht Pinta won the Admiral's Cup in 1983[13][14] and 1993[15][16][17] for Germany (skipper Russell Coutts[18][19] ).