Happy 88th birthday Paul Gauselmann

The global industry is wishing the Gauselmann Group founder Paul Gauselmann happy birthday today.

The CEO of the big German gambling machine development and operating company reaches 88 years old today, chalking up 65 years in the industry.

Gauselmann can look back on a career that has created 15,000 jobs and a major international business with a turnover of €3.5bn annually. He continues to work at his company’s long-time headquarters in Espelkamp, in North Rhine Westphalia.

He was born at Munster in 1934 and began installing juke boxes in 1957, becoming a life-long entrepreneur. He was initially with the Harting juke box and vending machine company, Later he was to open his first Spielothek arcade that was to become an international chain.

Gauselmann went on to have a string of gaming machine hits, beginning with the Merkur B and continuing to the present day. He achieved a 50 per cent market share in Germany in 1985, a position his company has maintained.

The statistics are impressive: He has development laboratories in several international destinations employing over 1,000 engineers; his company holds over 300 patents; he has personally held all of the top offices in German trade associations; and he and his wife, Karin, are keen philanthropists, contributing to many local and national charities and community-based incentives.

He also plays tennis regularly, despite his advancing years, and with other veterans at his local tennis club, Paul Gauselmann has won a number of notable veterans’ competitions.