Dietmar Hopp
German billionaire businessman
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Key Takeaways
- Dietmar Hopp ( German pronunciation: [ˈdiːtmaʁ ˈhɔp] ; born 26 April 1940) is a German software engineer and billionaire businessman.
- In September 2021, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$8.
- His father, Emil Hopp, was a Truppführer of the Nazi Party paramilitary organization Sturmabteilung, and led as a commanding officer the destruction of a synagogue in Hoffenheim during the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938.
- After graduating from university, he worked as a software developer and consultant at IBM.
- He remained CEO of SAP SE (then SAP AG) from 1988 until 1998, chairman of its supervisory board from 1998 until 2003 and member of the board from 2003 until 2005.
Dietmar Hopp (German pronunciation: [ˈdiːtmaʁ ˈhɔp]; born 26 April 1940) is a German software engineer and billionaire businessman. He was one of the founders of SAP SE in 1972 with other former IBM employees Hans Werner Hector, Klaus Tschira, Claus Wellenreuther and Hasso Plattner and owner of Bundesliga football club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
In September 2021, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$8.3 billion.
Early life and business career
Hopp grew up in Hoffenheim, a small village in Baden-Württemberg, Southern Germany. His father, Emil Hopp, was a Truppführer of the Nazi Party paramilitary organization Sturmabteilung, and led as a commanding officer the destruction of a synagogue in Hoffenheim during the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938.
After graduating from high school with an Abitur, he studied telecommunications engineering in Karlsruhe until 1966. After graduating from university, he worked as a software developer and consultant at IBM.
In 1972, he founded SAP SE with four other former IBM colleagues Hans Werner Hector, Klaus Tschira, Claus Wellenreuther and Hasso Plattner. He remained CEO of SAP SE (then SAP AG) from 1988 until 1998, chairman of its supervisory board from 1998 until 2003 and member of the board from 2003 until 2005. He kept about 10% of the company's shares after leaving the board.
He continues investing into various minor companies and his Dietmar-Hopp-Stiftung, a philanthropic foundation, has spent hundreds of millions of Euros for medicine, education and other charity in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region.
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