BEGINNING OF AN ERA: Hasso Plattner co-founded SAP (NYSE: SAP) in 1972, rising to the post of CEO before stepping down in 2003. Served as chairman of the company’s supervisory board from 2003 to 2024.
END OF AN ERA: Served as supervisory board chairman for 21 years. Fellow co-founder Dietmar Hopp once said about Plattner: “It’s hard to quantify his legacy. All I can say is that without him, SAP would never have been so successful.”
THE MONEY: Plattner and a handful of other former IBM employees started Germany’s SAP, an enterprise software company that went public in 1988 and is now one of the world’s largest. Shares up 50%+ in past year; now has a $340B market cap. 2024 filing shows 3% stake, now worth $10.7B. His foundation has similar stake. Owner of San Jose Sharks NHL franchise, valued at $1.1B, according to Forbes. The Business Journal estimates his wealth rose 30% in the past year.
THE HOMES: Paid close to $45M for a two-house blufftop compound in Emerald Bay in 2014. Also has owned a home in the exclusive Irvine Cove community nearby. None are his primary residence, sources have told the Business Journal.
PHILANTHROPY: Hasso Plattner Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence, named after SAP’s co-founder, has been established at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the UCI, with $2M from the German software company announced in March. Also has established the Hasso Plattner Institute for digital technology and computer science research.
BUSINESS ADVICE: On SAP’s 50th anniversary: “I recommend a return to the approach we used in the early days of SAP – 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.”
