Hasso Plattner serves as the sole owner of Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE). A charter member of the local ownership group that purchased the San Jose Sharks from original owner George Gund III in 2002, Plattner became the organization's majority owner in 2010.

A lifelong hockey fan, Plattner intently followed the game at the international level while growing up in his native Germany. An avid spectator of hockey's World Championships each year, he marveled at the exploits of the Soviet Union's powerhouse hockey teams in the late 1970's and early 1980's.  

On a trip to the Bay Area as co-founder of SAP SE, the world's largest business software company, he distinctly recalls the moment his past and future collided while watching the Sharks play on television in 1993.

"The announcer says (Sergei) Makarov...(Igor) Larionov...(Johan) Garpenlov," Plattner recalled. "Not possible - I see two of the top players I watched for more than 10 years. And here they are."

And so began Plattner's affinity for the San Jose Sharks and hockey in the Bay Area.