As a child, he attended a secondary school, which he left without graduating. At the age of 19, he worked as a salvage diver in Nigeria. Back in Germany, he discovered his passion for tinkering and repaired broken-down cars. In 1994, he took a step further and founded Morlock Motors in Peterslahr in the Westerwald region. There, he and his employees mainly buy, sell, and restore discarded US military vehicles.