Walter Hefner net worth
Walter Haefner Net Worth: Walter Haefner is a Swiss-born businessman and thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder who has a net worth of $2.7 billion. Walter Hefner was born on September 13, 1910 in Zurich, Switzerland. He made his fortune by importing cars to Switzerland and becoming the largest shareholder in US software maker CA Inc. (CA). During World War II, Hefner sold wooden gasoline-powered cars. After shifting his focus to software in the 1970s, he acquired a 24.8% stake in the world’s second largest computer program maker in Island City, New York. Haefner is also a breeder and rider of thoroughbred horses. One of his horses, Go And Go, won the 1990 Belmont Championships in Elmont, New York. He also owns a stake in the 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. Haefner founded Amag in January 1945 on the shores of Lake Zurich, and the company grew to become Switzerland’s largest car dealer and a major importer of Volkswagen, Seat, Skoda and Audi vehicles, according to its website. In the early 1960s, Haefner transferred Amag’s accounting and payroll to the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) system and founded the computer services company Automation Center AG, Forbes reported in 2000. In 1976, Haefner entered the US computer services business by buying a majority stake in Dallas-based Wyly (later renamed Uccel Corp.). CA (then called Computer Associates International Inc.) acquired Uccel in 1987, and Haefner acquired most of the company’s stock. On June 10, 2011, a proxy statement on the company’s website described his holdings of CA assets, valued at $2.4 billion in August 2011. Interestingly, according to Forbes, Hafner never learned basic computer skills. However, he did take part in riding thoroughbreds in the days he owned/bred. Hafner developed a passion for thoroughbreds after his first race horse ride in Paris in 1959, reportedly saying, “I like it, the speed of the horse.” World’s oldest The billionaire died on June 19, 2012, at the age of 101.
