Michael Gauselmann at 70: Entrepreneur, Innovator and Chairman of Merkur Group’s Supervisory Board

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“Everything I do, I do with great passion.” A glance at the life of Michael Gauselmann quickly reveals why the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Merkur Group and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Gauselmann Family Foundation chose these words. He can look back on 70 years dedicated to businesses, products and people – shaped by his passion for gaming, entrepreneurial courage and clear, forward-looking decisions.

Born on 28 November 1955 as the second son of company founder Paul Gauselmann, Michael Gauselmann became familiar with the world of vending machines early on. From the age of 13, he spent every school holiday working in his father’s company – always in different departments. This early mix of hands-on experience and an understanding of processes and figures laid the foundation for his later career.

After completing his A-levels, he studied Business Administration at the University of Hamburg, specialising in IT, statistics and marketing. As a graduate, he combined numerical expertise, technical affinity and market awareness – a combination that would later fuel numerous innovations within the Group. In 1982, he joined Nova-Apparate in Hamburg as Executive Assistant, before becoming Commercial Manager of Franken-Automaten Südvertrieb a year later. With the company’s integration into what was then the Gauselmann Group, his true journey within the family business began.

The years that followed were characterised by rapid advancement and significant responsibility. From 1984 to 1986, Michael Gauselmann served as Commercial Manager of today’s adp Merkur as well as CFO of the Group. He then took over management of the former Merkur Spielothek, now Merkur Operations, until 1992 – during a period of strong expansion with around 250 arcades in Germany.

A year later, his focus increasingly shifted to international markets. The “game designer at heart”, as he describes himself, played a pivotal role in developing the Group’s global activities. He acquired Atronic and turned it into a key business unit for the development, production and distribution of casino machines, drove the acquisition of Bell-Fruit Games in the UK and established Stella Electronic for the European market. His passion for games and keen sense for innovation significantly accelerated the Group’s internationalisation.

From 1994 to 2004, Michael Gauselmann was Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Gauselmann AG. From 2004 until the establishment of the Gauselmann Family Foundation, he and his father Paul acted as co-spokespersons of the Management Board. While he was mainly responsible for the international business and his father concentrated on domestic operations, their shared responsibility for the Group continued to grow.

At the same time, Michael Gauselmann consciously sought new perspectives. He earned a pilot’s licence and enjoyed the vastness of the skies. He became a hunter and now takes care of wildlife conservation in his adopted home of Austria. Today, he lives in Graz in the province of Styria.

Since 2016, he has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Gauselmann Family Foundation. And when his father stepped down from the top of the Group last year, it was clear who would take the helm: since October 2024, Michael Gauselmann has been Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Group and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Gauselmann Family Foundation. He sees his role as that of motivator, overseer and adviser. He knows the industry “inside out” – it is in his blood. At the same time, he does not want to “bring back the Gauselmann face” to the company. The focus today, he says, should be on the Merkur brand, the Management Board and the teams.

Above all, he wants a Management Board made up of strong personalities “who don’t just say ‘Yes, Mr Gauselmann’”. “We are a fantastic corporate group with countless opportunities,” he says. “We create entertainment – and that is something to be proud of.” Restoring this sense of pride among employees is one of his key aspirations. Looking ahead, Michael Gauselmann has set himself a clear personal goal: he plans to step back from his roles no later than the age of 75. Until then, he intends to actively support the continued development of the Merkur Group as a modern, internationally positioned entertainment provider.

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