Hans-Peter Wild was born in Heidelberg in 1941, the son of Rudolf Wild, who founded the Wild company in 1931. He passed the first state examination as a Lawyer in Heidelberg with distinction. He completed a degree in Business studies in Mannheim, majoring in fiscal law and auditing. He completed a PhD entitled "The market-dominating company under French law" at the Faculty of Law at the University of Mannheim. After graduation, he worked at the Diersch & Schröder group of companies for four years as managing Director, being responsible for the company's mineral oil, chemistry and shipping activities. In 1974, he joined his parents' company - with the aim of expanding the world markets with Capri Sun and taking the company global.