Johann Graf Net Worth

Johann Graf has an estimated net worth of $10.4 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Johann Graf profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $8.1 billion in 2019.

Johann Graf is an Austrian businessman best known for founding and owning Novomatic, a gambling company. He built his fortune in casinos and gaming machines rather than staying in the family butcher trade. After training as a butcher, he moved into amusement machines and learned the business step by step. Forbes put his net worth at $10.4 billion on its real-time billionaires tracker as of October 20, 2026.

His path started with importing pinball machines to Austria through Belgium and later working as an agent for a British slot machine company. In 1974, he cofounded Brodnik & Graf GmbH and placed Belgian pinball machines in pubs and cafes. In 1980, he launched Novomatic Automatenhandels GmbH with 50,000 schillings and began making gaming machines. A sales company in Switzerland followed in 1982, and the business expanded fast after that.

How Johann Graf makes money

Graf's wealth comes from Novomatic Group, which runs casinos around the world and also sells gaming equipment. Its products include slot machines, video poker games, and electronic table games. That mix gives the company income from both operating venues and supplying machines to other operators. Forbes places him in the Gambling & Casinos industry, and it describes him as self-made.

Before Novomatic, Graf took a very different route. He was raised by his grandparents in a small flat without running water and trained as a butcher, becoming Austria's youngest master butcher at 23. Instead of taking over the family shop, he switched to gaming and amusement machines. After importing American pinball machines and representing a British slot machine company, he used that experience to build Novomatic into a large international group.

How Forbes' estimate changed

Forbes' estimates moved up and down over time. It listed Graf at $8.1 billion in 2019, then $6.5 billion in 2020. The estimate rose to $7.1 billion in 2021, fell to $5 billion in 2022, and returned to $7.1 billion in 2023 and again in 2024. In 2025, Forbes raised the figure to $9.9 billion, and in 2026 it reached $11 billion on the World's Billionaires List.

The broad picture matches Novomatic's long reach. Graf expanded into Switzerland early, then moved into the East Bloc after the fall of the Iron Curtain. By 1990, the company had branches in more than 50 countries, and in 2021 it had around 30,000 employees. That scale helps explain why Forbes still valued him at $10.4 billion on its real-time tracker in October 2026, even after earlier swings in its annual estimates.