Johann Graf (entrepreneur)

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Johann F. Graf (born January 3, 1947 in Vienna ) is an Austrian entrepreneur and multi-billionaire . He is the founder and sole shareholder of Novomatic AG .

Life

Graf grew up with his grandparents in humble circumstances in Vienna- Döbling , completed an apprenticeship as a butcher and at the age of 23 was Austria's youngest butcher. However, Graf did not want to continue his parents' business, a butcher's shop with an inn and a few guest rooms.

In 1974 he founded Brodnik & Graf GmbH with the electrical dealer Gerhard Brodnik and started importing Belgian pinball machines that were installed in taverns and cafés. In 1980 he switched to the manufacture of gaming machines and started Novomatic Automatenhandels GmbH with start-up capital of 50,000 schillings .

The first successes came from 1982 when he founded a sales company in Switzerland and soon dominated 70% of the market there. In 1990 Novomatic already had branches in more than 50 countries. As a result, his company with around 23,000 employees grew into "one of the largest integrated gaming groups in the world" and "undisputed number one in Europe". His company develops, manufactures and sells high-tech gaming equipment in more than 80 countries. The group operates and rents more than 235,000 gaming machines in 50 countries and over 1,600 electronic casinos, gaming houses and sports betting locations.

capital

Along with Dietrich Mateschitz , Rene Benko and Karl Wlaschek, Graf is considered the most successful self-made billionaire in Austria in the post-war period. Graf was named "Man of the Year 2008" by the business magazine Trend .

Graf's wealth rose continuously, so in 2008 he was still the sixth richest Austrian with 3.5 billion euros and climbed to number one in Austria by 2012 with 5.3 billion euros. In 2012 he was with a fortune of 5.3 billion dollars , together with Dietrich Mateschitz the richest man in Austria and number 193 in the world . In 2015 he was the second richest Austrian with a fortune of 6.6 billion dollars and was named 208 on the Forbes list.

Private life

Johann F. Graf currently lives in Baden near Vienna , is divorced, has three sons and is considered particularly shy of publicity. His eldest son, Thomas Graf, is Chief Technology Officer at Novomatic AG.

Awards

  • 1986: The Novomatic Group is awarded the Austrian national coat of arms
  • 1996: Appointment to the Council of Commerce
  • 1999: Senator of UNESCO member IOV
  • 2003: Awarded the title of Professor by the Federal President of the Republic of Austria
  • 2008: Trend - "Man of the Year"

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d F. Johann Graf. Algomedia Presseservice - Club Carriere, accessed on July 13, 2012 .
  2. ↑ Rainer Fleckl : The Novomatic Universe at a Glance , Addendum , October 13, 2017, accessed on November 14, 2017
  3. ↑ Final terms of the Novomatic AG issuance program , page 15 on wienerbörse.at, January 17, 2013, accessed on November 14, 2017
  4. ↑ a b c Karl Riffert: Johann F. Graf is the man of the year: From master butcher to billionaire. Trend , December 11, 2008, accessed July 13, 2012 .
  5. ↑ Karl Riffert: Interview with Professor Johann Graf. In: Trend (edition 7/2007). Wiener Prater , July 2007, accessed on July 13, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Semi-annual report. June 30, 2016, accessed December 29, 2016 .
  7. ^ Johann Graf. Forbes Magazine , March 2012, accessed July 13, 2012 .
  8. ↑ derStandard.at - Mateschitz richest Austrian, Stronach wins . APA notification dated March 3, 2015, accessed March 3, 2015.
  9. ↑ Johann Graf: The butcher as a billionaire. derStandard.at , July 2, 2012, accessed on July 13, 2012 .
  10. ↑ Austria's President honors Novomatic founder Johann F. Graf. (No longer available online.) Automatenmarkt, June 4, 2003, archived from the original on December 4, 2015 ; Retrieved July 13, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / akayrqw.automatmarkt.de

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Count, Johann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Graf, Johann F.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian company founder and majority owner of Novomatic
DATE OF BIRTH January 3, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna , Austria