Gaston Glock, inventor of the famous pistols that bear his name, has died

According to the Glock Perfection company, Austrian engineer Gaston Glock, founder of the pistols bearing his surname, died on Wednesday.

“In memory of Gaston Glock 19/07/1929 – 27/12/2023,” reads the company’s website, which shows a photo of Glock with his arms crossed on a black background.

Gaston Glock’s invention has been used by both police and criminals. According to the New York Times, it is used by two-thirds of police officers in the United States and by police forces in at least 48 countries.

Glock survived an attempted murder in 1999, one of the few times his name made headlines. In another, the subject turned to his controversial divorce from his first wife, Helga.

The story started in 2008, when Gaston had health problems. His recovery was monitored by doctors and nurses, including Kathrin, with whom he developed a “close personal relationship”. Gaston and Helga’s relationship quickly deteriorated to the point where his ex-wife said it took her about a year to get back the clothes and other personal items that were in the family home in southern Austria.

At the same time, the former couple’s three children were fired and removed from the company by their father. In July, Gaston married the 31-year-old nurse and signed a much-discussed prenuptial agreement. The development of events brings other issues to the table: originally the company was split 85-15% between Gaston and Helga respectively. Helga wants to regain that part of the company, which she relinquished in 1999, and allocate the shares allocated to it to her children.

Born in 1929, Glock studied mechanical engineering at a university in Vienna and founded his own consumer goods company in the town of Deutsch-Wagram, 20 kilometers from Vienna.

In the early 1980s, he devoted himself to military supply and decided to respond to a competition launched by the Austrian Army to update his pistols. He then invented the Glock, a revolutionary firearm, made largely of non-metallic components, lighter, easier to disassemble, more reliable and capable of loading more bullets than other brands.

From there, the company took off and entered the US market before expanding globally.

It is estimated that the company’s value increased by almost 50% between 2014 and 2017 alone. In 2021, Forbes estimated the fortune of Gaston Glock and his family at $1.1 billion.