James Scapa
$1.93B
$25.4M (1.3%)
as of 10/04/24
About James Scapa
James Scapa left his job as a computer engineering consultant for General Motors to start Altair Engineering with two coworkers in 1985.
He has been Altair's CEO since its founding and took the company public in 2017. He owns 24% of Altair's shares.
Based in Troy, Michigan, Altair provides software in engineering simulation, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.
Scapa grew up in New York as the son of Greek immigrant Holocaust survivors and graduated from Columbia before leaving the East Coast.
Personal stats
Citizenship
United States of AmericaSource of wealth
SoftwareResidence
Atherton, CaliforniaMarital status
MarriedBirth date
01/23/57 (age 67)Number of children
4Education
Bachelor of Arts/Science, Columbia University; Master of Business Administration, University of MichiganSelf-made
self-madeJames Scapa’s fortune is worth
32K
troy ounces of gold
30K
median U.S. household
19K
median U.S. income
0.039%
U.S. credit card volume
0.008%
GDP of the United States
0.006%
United States debt
Net worth history
Annual ranking
Related people
Did you know?
GM rejected Altair for its first purchase order to discourage entrepreneurial activity among employees, Scapa says, though it later became his first big customer.
Net worth over time
Real-time ranking
Financial assets
NASDAQ | ALTR-US
Altair Engineering Inc. Class ANASDAQ | ALTR-US
Altair Engineering Inc. Class ANASDAQ | ALTR-US
Altair Engineering Inc. Class AImages © Forbes.com. All rights reserved.