HASSO PLATTNER
FOUNDER
SAP
END OF AN ERA: SAP Co-Founder Hasso Plattner stepped down from the companyโs Supervisory Board in May after 21 years as its chairman. Fellow Co-Founder Dietmar Hopp once said about Plattner: โItโs hard to quantify his legacy. All I can say is that without him, SAP would never have been so successful.โ
THE MONEY: Plattner and a handful of other former IBM employees started Germanyโs SAP, an enterprise software company that went public in 1988 and is now one of the worldโs largest software companies, valued at $242B as of mid-July. Shares up 50% in past year. Stepped down as CEO in 2003 and as chairman in May. Owner of San Jose Sharks NHL franchise.
THE INNOVATION: Created Germanyโs first real-time software application with a user interface. Later, Plattner was instrumental in SAP opening offices along Newport Harbor in 2021. The initial office is also the home of HanaHaus, a cafรฉ and community workspace founded and operated by SAP to help spark creativity. It is the second HanaHaus in the U.S., alongside a spot in Palo Alto.
BUSINESS ADVICE: In an interview to mark SAPโs 50th anniversary, Plattner said: โI recommend a return to the approach we used in the early days of SAP โ of sending SAP teams out to the customer. Instead of implementing our standard systems, they should find out how people actually use the tools they get from SAP and other vendors.โ
THE HOMES: Has multiple homes in Emerald Bay. Paid close to $45M for a two-house blufftop compound there in 2014. Also has owned a home in the exclusive Irvine Cove community nearby. None are his primary residence, sources tell the Business Journal.
PHILANTHROPY: His nonprofit Hasso Plattner Institute focuses on research and teaching in IT systems engineering; heโs also a member of the Giving Pledge.
