Gaston Glock, the engineer and tycoon who developed one of the world’s best-selling pistols; his rise began in the 1980s, when the Austrian army was looking for a new and innovative weapon
the weapon of choice for police, some armies, even criminals, as well as hobbyists, died at the age of 94.
The Glock company announced the billionaire’s death on its website, with no details provided.
Gaston Glock, the Austrian engineer who invented the boxy Glock handgun, which has become a weapon of choice for national security forces, law enforcement officials, violent criminals and gun enthusiasts in America and around the world, died on Wednesday. He was 94. 👀 pic.twitter.com/iGqnyOknWD
— No Jumper (@nojumper) December 28, 2023
Satanized by many for starring in massacres and shootings, the Glock has also been embellished in Hollywood movies, featured in television dramas, strapped to the belts of assassins and thugs, used by two-thirds of U.S. police officers and security forces in at least 48 countries. Its silhouette is displayed at airports and is the focus of gun control debates.
“Make it simple, make it perfect. Following this guiding principle, our founder, Gaston Glock, not only revolutionized the small arms world in the 1980s, but also succeeded in establishing the Glock brand as a world leader in the handgun industry,” the company wrote on its website.
“His internationally recognized Glock Perfection is synonymous with uncompromising quality and ultimate customer satisfaction,” it continued.
According to reports in The New York Times, in 2017, Forbes estimated Glock’s worldwide sales at more than $500 million, with a 65 percent market share of handguns sold in the United States. In 2021, Forbes estimated Glock’s personal fortune at $1.1 billion.
Among the stories surrounding the billionaire is a recurring one, that in 1999, a business partner tried to kill him, but Glock knocked out his assailant. In 2011 he divorced his wife at the age of 82 and married a 31-year-old woman, and in 2012 he returned to fame when Paul M. Barrett published “Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun. “
Glock was born in Vienna on July 19, 1929, the son of an Austrian railroad worker, according to the Times. He had not handled a gun since World War II, and his company specialized in military knives until the 1980s.
Despite this, Glock catapulted to fame by patenting a lightweight 9-millimeter semiautomatic weapon that could rapidly fire 18 rounds. According to the newspaper, Glock’s invention could be easily reloaded.
In 1982, the Austrian army ordered 20,000 Glock 17s. The gun was Glock’s 17th invention.
Since then, Glock has been praised by gun control advocates and acclaimed by gun lovers.
Glock itself rarely responded to activist criticism, shied away from public debate and, in 2000, refused to join other gun manufacturers in signing a voluntary gun control agreement with the U.S. government.
As Glock’s success grew, Gaston Glock became “a reclusive billionaire who owned his company and lived on a lakefront estate in Austria, protected by guards, lawyers, financiers and servants,” The New York Times reported.