H ans-Werner Hector is a German self-made billionaire and one of the five co-founders of SAP, the world's leading provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. In 1972, he and four other former IBM engineers, including Hasso Plattner and Dietmar Hopp, left the company to start their own venture with the vision of creating standardized software that could process data in real-time for businesses. This was a revolutionary concept at the time.

SAP's software became the global standard for managing business operations, from accounting and logistics to human resources, making it one of the largest and most successful technology companies in Europe. Hector retired from his executive roles at SAP but retained a significant stake that formed the basis of his massive fortune. He is now a major philanthropist, having established the H.W. & J. Hector Foundation with his wife, Josephine. The foundation is a major supporter of scientific research, medicine, and the arts, particularly in his home region.