What is Klaus Tschira's Net Worth?
Klaus Tschira is a German entrepreneur who has a net worth of $7.5 billion. Born in 1940 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, Klaus Tschira gained his wealth mainly through his shares in the software giant SAP AG. Once he acquired a diploma in physics at IBM, he became one of the co-founders of the German software firm SAP in 1972 in Mannheim, Germany along with four former college colleagues (Hans-Werner Hector, Dietmar Hopp, Hasso Plattner and Claus Wellenreuther). Over the years, SAP has evolved to become one of the world's largest software firms, with $18.5 billion revenue in 2011. However, Tschira withdrew from the company in 1998 and left its supervisory board in 2007, to dedicate himself more on philanthropic causes.
Actually, what was formed in 1995 as a non-profit organization named Klaus Tschira Foundation (KTF) turns out to be a limited liability company with a charitable purpose today. Figures imply that KTF is one of Germany's largest philanthropic organizations nowadays, with assets of $2.7 billion. In 2010, it has reportedly spent $37 million on scientific research and cultural projects such as a youth software prize given to brilliant students who use software to resolve math or science matters. Along with his wife Gerda Tschira, Klaus established another organization of the same kind called Gerda and Klaus Tschira Foundation in 2008. What's more, he is an avid astronomer in free time, and has an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter named after him.
