Wolfgang Grupp began running the textile maker Trigema in Burladingen, in the Zollernalb district, in 1969. Many Germans know him from television. For years he appeared in the advertising slot before the Tagesschau, the main evening news, chatting with an ape about Trigema. As a registered merchant, he was personally liable for the company with all his assets. During the Covid crisis, he said in an interview: Wir haben 100 Prozent Eigenkapital, we have 100 percent equity, so we finance ourselves. Equity is our strength, he said. We have reserves, and with them we got through all crises in the past. Otherwise, he said, he would have to go to the banks every week and ask. The company came through the crisis without loans or state aid. From March to June 2020, it switched to masks and delivered 2.3 million of them.