Departures of note

Paul Gauselmann was a German entrepreneur who built the Merkur Group (formerly the Gauselmann Group) into Germany's largest gambling company. Starting in 1957 with a single jukebox operation, he grew the business into an international corporation employing around 15,000 people with annual revenue of roughly 2.1 billion euros, operating amusement arcades, casinos, sports betting, and manufacturing gaming machines under the Merkur brand.

Gauselmann developed his own gaming machines after a supplier boycott in 1972, launching the Merkur B in 1977, which captured more than half the German market. He expanded internationally from 1986 and became the first European manufacturer licensed to supply slot machines to Nevada casinos in 1998. He held over 300 patents and was known as the "German slot-machine king."

He served as chairman of the German Automatenindustrie association for 28 years and received the Federal Cross of Merit First Class in 2003, along with honorary citizenship of Espelkamp and Lübbecke. He retired from the company leadership in 2024 but continued to follow daily operations until his death at age 91.