Martin Schlaff
Martin Schlaff (born 6 August 1953) is an Austrian businessman, networker and philanthropist. Since 2006, he is a major shareholder of RHI Magnesita. His net worth is estimated over €8 billion. Career
Schlaff was born in Vienna, Austria, to Jewish refugees from World War II. He and his brother James took over the commercial firm Robert Placzek AG. He was occupied in trade with East Germany before the German reunification. According to the German parliament, Schlaff was an unofficial informant of the Stasi. His codename was "Landgraf" and registration number "3886-86". The Stasi archives have files about him as early as 1982. Schlaff had several meetings with East German officials in 1982. Stasi documents describe how senior Stasi officers were impressed with Schlaff's "extensive holdings, his various companies, and his access to the needed American technology". According to German accusations, Schlaff supplied East Germany with goods that were embargoed by the West. When the parliament of Germany investigated public funds that disappeared after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, it found out that East Germany (GDR) had transferred large amounts of money to Schlaff through accounts in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, in return for goods "under Western embargo". Supposedly, high-ranking Stasi officers continued their post-GDR careers in management positions in Schlaff's group of companies. For example, in 1990 Herbert Kohler, Stasi commander in Dresden, transferred 170 million marks to Schlaff for "harddisks" and months later went to work for him. The investigations concluded that "Schlaff's empire of companies played a crucial role" in the Stasi attempts to secure the financial future of Stasi agents and keep the intelligence network alive. Activities in Israel
In 1998 Schlaff opened a casino in Jericho in partnership with a company partly owned by Yasir Arafat. Named "The Oasis", it was aimed at Israelis, who could not gamble in Israel where gaming is not legal. The casino was closed during the Second Intifada. According to later investigations, Schlaff had many meetings with Ariel Sharon. In 2002 Schlaff used his contacts with Sharon to help normalize the Austrian Federal Government's relations with Israel. The Israeli Government had recalled its ambassador from Vienna, after government participation of the FPÖ in 2000. A new Israeli ambassador was sent to Austria in 2004. Journalist Gidi Weitz published several stories in Ha'aretz accusing Schlaff of corrupt and illegal activities, both financial and political, in several countries including Austria and Israel. Non of these accusations led to criminal indictments or verdicts, neither in Israel nor in Austria. Mobile phone companies 
In the first years of the century, he has purchased Bulgarian Mobiltel, and resold it after several years for big profit. Simular deals were thereafter executed in two other emerging markets, but with less profit. After restructuring the companies, the Serbian Mobiltel was sold to Telenor, a Norwegian company, and the Belarussian Velcom was bought by Telekom Austria. RHI Magnesita 
In 2006, a foundation attributed to Schlaff bought about 6% of the shares of RHI AG, the world's largest supplier of refractory products. By September of the following year the MS Privatstiftung already owned 26,47% of the shares. In 2016, Schlaff intended to install Christian Kern as CEO of the company, but Kern recused himself when his party nominated him to become chancellor of Austria. Also in 2016, Schlaff managed the merger of RHI with a major competitor, the Brazilian Magnesita. While the headquarters of the company remained in Vienna, RHI Magnesita left the Vienna Stock Exchange. The company is now listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. In 2010 he established a bank in Liechtenstein called Sigma Bank. Philanthropy 
Not all of his donations are known publicly. Martin Schlaff has been supporting sick children and the  needy since the 1980s. He is also a well-known patron of the arts, mainly in the fields of classical music and opera. In 1993, he donated his ample collection of Antisemitica to the Jewish Museum Vienna. According to the Museum, Schlaff's intention is easy to explain: ″The collector wanted to take the objects off the market and,so to speak, remove them from their originally intended use - to forment and further inflame antisemitism.″ In return, the City of Vienna awarded him a medal of honour. In 2013, a film project of Israeli director Vanessa Lapa lost the support of German TV channels. The project was a documentation on mass murderer Heinrich Himmler based on his diaries and letters, unpublished up to this point. Himmler was one of the main perpetrators of the Holocaust, the Porajmo, the murderer of millions of civilians and prisoners of war as part of the Generalplan Ost, and numerous other crimes against humanity. The project was on the brink, Martin Schlaff decided to step in and to provide the necessary funds. The film was completed in 2014, it was called The Decent One. It was presented at the Berlinale and received the Van Leer Award for Best Israeli Documentary Film at the Jerusalem Film Festival. Personal life 

In March 2008, The Sunday Times reported that Schlaff's 2007 divorce from his wife Andrea involved a €200 million settlement, the largest ever reported up to that time. He was married at least three times. He has at least five children. Accolades 
 1993 Gold Medal of Honour for Services to the Province of Vienna

References

1953 births
Living people
Austrian billionaires
Austrian chief executives
Austrian expatriates in Israel
Austrian Jews
Businesspeople from Vienna
People of the Stasi