Johann Graf
Johann Graf | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 January 1946 |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Title | Founder and owner, Novomatic |
| Children | 3 |
Johann Graf (born 3 January 1946) is an Austrian billionaire businessman, the founder and owner of Novomatic, an Austrian gambling company.
Early life
[edit]Graf was born in Austria on January 3, 1946. He grew up with his grandparents in Vienna-Döbling. He completed an apprenticeship as a butcher[1][2] and was Austria's youngest master butcher at the age of 23. However, Graf did not want to continue his parents' business, a butcher's shop with a pub and a few guest rooms in Perchtoldsdorf.[3][4]
Career
[edit]In 1974, Graf founded Brodnik & Graf GmbH with the electrical retailer Gerhard Brodnik and started importing Belgian pinball machines, which were installed in pubs and cafes. In 1980, he started manufacturing gaming machines and founded Novomatic Automatenhandels GmbH with a starting capital of 50,000 schillings.[3][4]
His first success came in 1982, when he founded a sales company in Switzerland and soon dominated 70% of the Swiss market.[3] By 1990, Novomatic had branches in more than 50 countries. As a result, the company grew to become one of the largest integrated gaming groups in the world with around 30,000 employees in 2021.[5]
On January 28, 2021, it was announced that Graf had given away 20% of the shares in Novomatic's holding company, Novo Invest GmbH (which itself holds 90% of Novomatic), 10% to his son Thomas Graf, who is Chief Technology Officer of Novomatic AG,[6] and 5% each to managing directors of Novo Invest, Birgit Wimmer and Ryszard Presch (CEO of Novomatic AG). Graf himself spoke of a generational change.[5][3]
Wealth
[edit]Alongside Dietrich Mateschitz, René Benko and Karl Wlaschek, Graf is considered one of Austria's most successful self-made billionaires.[4] In 2012, he was the richest man in Austria together with Dietrich Mateschitz, with a net worth of US$ 5.3 billion. In 2015, he was the second richest Austrian with a fortune of $6.6 billion and ranked 208th on the Forbes list.[7] In the 2024 Forbes ranking he was the third richest Austrian,[8] with an estimated net worth of $7.1 billion.[9]
Personal life
[edit]Graf is divorced with three children and lives in Vienna. He collects vintage cars and owns some 120, most of which are Jaguars.[10] He is known to avoid the public eye.[1][2]
Awards
[edit]- Appointment as Kommerzialrat[2]
- Senator of the UNESCO[11]
- 2003: Awarded the title of Professor by the President of the Republic of Austria[11]
- 2008: Trend "Man of the Year"[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Matthias Wabl (24 August 2020). "Butcher-Turned-Gambling Billionaire Fights for His Casino Empire". bnnbloomberg.ca. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ a b c Andreas Schnauder (18 August 2019). "Vom Fleischhauer zum Milliardär: Novomatic-Gründer Johann Graf". derstandard.at. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d Peter Sempelmann. "Novomatic-Gründer Johann Graf, der Glücksspielkaiser". trend.at. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d Karl Riffert (11 December 2008). "Johann F. Graf ist der Mann des Jahres: Vom Fleischermeister zum Milliardär". trend.at. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ a b "Novomatic-Gründer Graf verschenkt 20 Prozent des Konzerns". kurier.at. 28 January 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
- ^ "Johann Graf: Der Fleischhauer als Milliardär". nachrichten.at. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ "Mateschitz reichster Österreicher". derstandard.at. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ^ "Österreichs Milliardäre 2024". forbes.at. 6 April 2024. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
- ^ Rob LaFranco, Grace Chung, Chase Peterson-Withorn. "World's Billionaires List". forbes.com. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Forbes profile: Johann Graf". Forbes. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Österreichs Präsident ehrt Novomatic-Gründer Johann F. Graf". automatenmarkt.de. 4 April 2003. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
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