Dietmar Hopp (; born 26 April 1940) is a German software engineer and billionaire businessman. He was one of the founders of

SAP SE Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a ...

in 1972 with other former IBM employees Hans Werner Hector,

Klaus Tschira Klaus Tschira (7 December 1940 – 31 March 2015) was a German billionaire entrepreneur and the co-founder of the German software company SAP AG. Life After gaining his Diplom in physics and working at IBM, Tschira co-founded the German softw ...

Claus Wellenreuther Claus Wellenreuther (born 1935) is a German entrepreneur and the co-founder of the software company SAP SE. Career Wellenreuther was born in Mannheim

and

Hasso Plattner Hasso Plattner (born 21 January 1944) is a German businessman. A co-founder of SAP SE software company, he has been chairman of the supervisory board of SAP SE since May 2003. As of August 2020, '' Forbes'' reported that he possessed a net worth ...

and owner of

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...

football club

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 18 ...

. In September 2021, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' 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 Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

, Southern Germany. His father, Emil Hopp, was a Truppführer of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

paramilitary organization

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ralli ...

, and led as a commanding officer destruction of a synagogue in Hoffenheim during the

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...

pogrom in November 1938. After graduating from high school with an

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen ye ...

, he studied telecommunications engineering in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

until 1966. After graduating from university, he worked as a software developer and consultant at IBM. In 1972, he founded

with four other former IBM colleagues Hans Werner Hector,

Claus Wellenreuther Claus Wellenreuther (born 1935) is a German entrepreneur and the co-founder of the software company SAP SE. Career Wellenreuther was born in Mannheim

and

. 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.

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

Hopp is the chief financial backer of the German football club

, a club located close to his childhood home and which he played for as a teenager. After suffering a devastating loss in 1990, Hopp decided to invest money into his former club, which was playing in the lowest tiers of the

German football league system The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 season consisted of 2,235 leagues in up to 13 levels having 31,645 team ...

(

Kreisliga The Kreisliga ( en, District League), along with the ''Kreisoberliga'' ( en, District Premier League) and the ''Kreisklasse'' ( en, District Class), are the lowest set of divisions in the German football league system, set at step 8 and below. S ...

) at that time. Due to his financial aid, the club became a major force in the region by the early 2000s, reaching Germany's third division (

Regionalliga The Regionalliga () is the fourth tier in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was introduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new nationwide 3. Liga in 2008, it became the four ...

). In 2005, Hopp massively intensified his investments and aimed for the promotion to the

, Germany's top division. Hopp spent large amounts of money on new players and coach

Ralf Rangnick Ralf Rangnick (; born 29 June 1958) is a German professional football coach, executive and former player who is currently the manager of the Austria national team. Rangnick began his coaching career in 1983, succeeding his career as a player, a ...

and Hoffenheim managed two consecutive promotions and eventually entered the Bundesliga in 2008, which it has played in since then. Hopp also spent €100 million to build a new 30,000-seat stadium, the

Rhein-Neckar-Arena Rhein-Neckar-Arena (), currently known as PreZero Arena and previously as Wirsol Rhein-Neckar-Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Sinsheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is used mostly for football matches and hosts ...

near

Sinsheim Sinsheim (, South Franconian: ''Sinse'') is a town in south-western Germany, in the Rhine Neckar Area of the state Baden-Württemberg about south-east of Heidelberg and about north-west of Heilbronn in the district Rhein-Neckar. Geography ...

, for the club. Altogether, Hopp has estimatedly invested more than €350 million into the club. Hopp and his influence on the club has been criticised. The club has been labeled as a ''plastic club'', as its success is largely based on Hopp's financial aid. Hopp has been verbally attacked by other fans multiple times, leading to several arrests and fines.

Personal life

Hopp is married to Anneliese Zeuner, they have two sons, and live in

Walldorf Walldorf (South Franconian: ''Walldoaf'') is a town in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. In the eighteenth century, Walldorf was the birthplace of John Jacob Astor, who emigrated and became a promin ...

, Germany.

References

1940 births Living people German billionaires German company founders 20th-century German businesspeople 21st-century German businesspeople SAP SE people German football chairmen and investors Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg {{Germany-business-bio-stub