Johann Graf

Johann Graf (born 3 January 1946) is an Austrian billionaire businessman, the founder and owner of Novomatic, an Austrian gambling company.

Early life 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 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.

Career 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.

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, 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.

Wealth Alongside Dietrich Mateschitz and Karl Wlaschek, Graf is considered one of Austria's most successful self-made billionaires. In the 2024 Forbes ranking he was the third richest Austrian, with an estimated net worth of $7.1 billion.

Personal life Graf is divorced with three children and lives in Vienna. He collects vintage cars and owns some 120, most of which are Jaguars. He is known to avoid the public eye. 2003: Awarded the title of Professor by the President of the Republic of Austria 2008: Trend "Man of the Year"