30 Aspiring Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Hasso Plattner

Hasso Plattner, currently the chairman of the supervisory board of SAP SE Software Company, which he co-founded, is known world-wide for his contribution to various philanthropic causes, especially in the field of education and research. Here are some really interesting facts about the German businessman:

1.  He was ranked at #1 by the Time Magazine Europe on its list of the most important and influential personalities in the field of Information Technology in the year 2001.
2.  He was honored with the Leadership Award for Global Integration, by Germany's manager magazin, inaugurating him into their Hall of Fame, calling him the "technology guru."
3.  He has reportedly contributed more than €20 million, for the reconstruction of the historic exterior of the Stadtschloss, in Potsdam, which was damaged during the World War II, but later demolished in 1959.
4.  He is one among the hundreds of billionaires who have signed The Giving Pledge, a campaign that allows wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.
5.  Hasso Plattner was born in Berlin, Germany on January 21, 1955. There is very little to no information available regarding his childhood.
6.  He attended the University of Karlsruhe, from where he graduated with a Master of Science degree.
7.  He first started his career in the field of Information Technology with the largest conglomerate IBM, where he served for several years.
8.  He was a very powerful resource in the Scientific Data Systems (SDS)/SAPE software, given by Xerox to IBM, for a contract credit of $80,000.
9.  Later, when IBM closed the project, but without giving up on it, he and four of his colleagues - Dietmar Hopp, Klaus Tschira, Hans-Werner Hector, and Claus Wellenreuther, decided to start another company.
10.  The group founded the SAP Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung ("System Analysis and Program Development" - "SAPD") company in June 1972, with their first client being German branch of Imperial Chemical Industries in Östringen.
11.  He was awarded with an honorary doctorate and an honorary professorship in Information Systems in the year 1990 and 1994 respectively from the Saarland University, Saarbrücken. He was also named as an honorary senator of the university in 1998.
12.  He is known to have been the recipient of a number of awards and honors for his commitment to the fields of economics and science.
13.  He was named as one of the five Germans by the Munich-based management consultant Roland Berger, to have made the greatest impression on him, in an interview in August 2004.
14.  As of 2019, the company, considered to be one of the largest software companies, is said to have over 740000 employees around the world, with overall revenue exceeding $21 million.
15.  He founded the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, commonly known as the d.school, with a donation of $35 million in October 2005.
16.  He pledged €10 million in an effort to promote science and redevelop the library at the University of Mannheim, Germany, in the year 2003.
17.  He is the founder of the Hasso Plattner Institute (Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Digital Engineering gGmbH), abbreviated HPI, for software systems engineering based at the University of Potsdam, in the year 1998.
18.  The Hasso Plattner Institute was a public-private partnership, with the private partner being the "Hasso Plattner Foundation for Software Systems Engineering."
19.  The Hasso Plattner Institute is the first and only privately funded faculty in Germany, financed entirely through private funds donated by Plattner himself.
20.  He initially pledged €50 million of his personal fortune to the HPI, over a period of 20 years, but his commitment has quadrupled to over €200 million, since its foundation.
21.  He is also actively involved with the Hasso Plattner Institute, as a director and lecturer in Enterprise Platforms and Integration Concepts, for the past 30 years.
22.  He is said to have strong connections with South Africa, and is known to spend some of his time there, while contributing to some of his charitable work. He reportedly supports the universities of KwaZulu Natal and Cape Town in the fight against AIDS.
23.  He has donated over €6 million for the Isombululo programme for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, which was reported to have helped 360,000 people.
24.  He helped in the establishment of the Museum Barberini, which exhibits Plattner’s collection of artworks from the former German Democratic Republic and as well as special exhibitions.
25.  He was the recipient of an honorary doctorate and his honorary professorship in the year 2002 and 2004 respectively from the University of Potsdam.
26.  He setup the HassoPlattnerVentures, a venture capital fund, with more than €25 million as the initial fund, in July 2005. The venture focuses on supporting young entrepreneurs in transforming their ideas into marketable products.
27.  In the year 2008, he founded HassoPlattnerVenture Africa, an affiliate fund with €29 million, which has already invested in around five companies.
28.  He, being a keen golfer, owns the Fancourt Golf Estate that has three Gary Player-designed championship courses, along with the CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, California.
29.  He is an investor in San Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises, which owns the San Jose Sharks. He bought out two partners of SJS&E in the year 2013, and has since been serving as the Sharks' representative on the National Hockey League's board of governors.
30.  He married Sabine Plattner in the year 1978, and has two children. He owns three private jets through his company SAP. He is also the owner of his Yacht Visione, which was built at Baltic Yachts. His house is known as Churchill Villa as Winston Churchill lived there.
31.  Hasso Plattner Net Worth: $14 Billion