Hasso Plattner

Hasso Plattner
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Name	Hasso Plattner
Birth date	21 January 1944
Birth place	Berlin, Germany
Nationality	German
Occupation	Businessman, Philanthropist, Art Collector
Known for	Co-founder of SAP SE; founder of Hasso Plattner Institute

Hasso Plattner Hasso Plattner is a German entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist widely recognized as a co-founder of SAP SE. A software engineer by training, he has played a central role in the European software industry, venture funding, and cultural patronage, engaging with institutions across Germany, United States, and Israel. His activities intersect with corporate governance at firms such as Microsoft and collaborations with universities like the Stanford University and the University of Potsdam.

Early life and education

Plattner was born in Berlin during the final year of World War II and grew up in the postwar Federal Republic amid the rebuilding of West Germany and the economic developments of the Wirtschaftswunder. He studied electrical engineering and electronics at the University of Karlsruhe (now Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), where contemporaries included engineers and entrepreneurs linked to firms like Siemens and Bosch. During his formative years he encountered technical and managerial currents associated with institutions such as the Max Planck Society and research labs influenced by founders of the modern computer industry in Europe.

Career

Plattner began his career as an engineer and consultant, engaging with projects tied to IBM mainframe technologies and German industrial clients including BASF and Bayer. He co-founded SAP with former colleagues and partners; his early responsibilities encompassed product strategy and research initiatives aligned with contemporary developments at Bell Labs and influenced by software architectures explored at MIT and Carnegie Mellon University. As SAP expanded into international markets, Plattner worked with boards and executives from multinational corporations such as Unilever, General Electric, and Siemens AG while interacting with regulatory and financial centers in Frankfurt and New York City.

SAP and entrepreneurial ventures

At SAP SE Plattner served in executive roles overseeing product development, research, and innovation strategy, contributing to flagship offerings that competed with solutions from Oracle Corporation, IBM, Microsoft Dynamics, and Salesforce. He championed in-memory computing initiatives comparable to research at TIBCO and academic projects at ETH Zurich, leading to the creation of technologies that aligned SAP against rivals like Infor and Workday. After stepping down from day-to-day management, Plattner remained on SAP’s supervisory structures and invested in startups in the Silicon Valley ecosystem, supporting ventures alongside firms such as Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins. His venture activities included funding for enterprise platforms, cloud services, and analytics firms competing in markets served by Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform.

Philanthropy and Hasso Plattner Institute

Plattner established the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) in Potsdam in partnership with the University of Potsdam and modeled elements of HPI after research centers at Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The institute supports programs in software engineering, cyber security, and design thinking linked to collaborators such as IDEO and scholarship schemes encouraging exchanges with Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science. His philanthropy extends to educational initiatives and endowed chairs at institutions including Harvard University, Princeton University, and museums affiliated with the German Historical Museum and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Plattner has also contributed to health research and biotechnology programs collaborating with centers like Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine.

Art collection and cultural activities

An active collector and patron, Plattner’s acquisitions and donations have connected him to cultural institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Gemäldegalerie, and the Städel Museum. His collection emphasizes Impressionism and modern art movements resonant with holdings at the Tate Modern and the Louvre, and he has commissioned exhibitions that involved curators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and directors associated with the Bundeskunsthalle. Plattner has financed architectural projects and museum expansions that engaged architects and planners with affiliations to the Bauhaus legacy and projects in cities like Potsdam, Berlin, New York City, and Cape Town.

Awards, honors and controversies

Plattner has received honors from national and international bodies including awards akin to decorations conferred by the Federal Republic of Germany and honorary degrees from universities such as Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Tel Aviv University. He has been listed among influential European business figures alongside executives from Volkswagen, BMW, Siemens, and Allianz, and his philanthropic rankings have placed him among notable donors compared with peers like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Michael Bloomberg. Controversies associated with Plattner have involved debates over tax arrangements, museum financing, and corporate governance disputes that attracted scrutiny from regulatory authorities in Germany and shareholder groups similar to those that engaged with companies like Deutsche Bank and ThyssenKrupp. Discussions around cultural donations prompted commentary from critics and advocates connected to institutions such as the German Museums Association and international press outlets in Frankfurt and London.

Category:German businesspeople Category:Philanthropists