Wednesday's edition of BUSINESS Magazin presented the story of the richest Romanian in the United States. George Haber left Romania in the 1970s and, after later settling in Silicon Valley, began amassing a small fortune put at one hundred million dollars.
Haber's first business was a discotheque in Oradea, which he set up during his high school days. It was also his first business lesson. "I understood it was not money that brings happiness, but happiness that makes money," Haber recalls. In 1975 he immigrated to Israel and attended a technical university, choosing to study electronics, something he had always felt drawn to. In the late 1990s, when he was offered a position in the United Stated, he did not hesitate to go. And that's where the story begins.
His first important company was CompCore Multimedia, which produced software and hardware for playing video files. The technology developed by the company was later to become the DVD standard. CompCore was bought by Zoran for 80 million dollars and at the time of the deal Haber held 40% of the shares. His second biggest business was GigaPixel, which produced graphics processors for computer and game consoles makers.
He also negotiated a contract with Microsoft whereby GigaPixel would provide the graphics processors for the X-Box game console. Due to its connection with Microsoft, the company was to be listed on the stock exchange with a value put at two billion dollars. In the end the deal with Bill Gates fell though, though later Haber managed to sell his company to 3dfx for 180 million dollars. Haber is currently chairman of Mobyligen, his new business that produces multimedia technology for portable accessories. He is yet to invest in Romania.
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