Dagmar Dolby

Dagmar Dolby is an American billionaire. Dagmar Dolby is the widow of the surround sound pioneer Ray Dolby, who died in 2013. According to Forbes, she has a net worth of $4.1 billion in January 2018. Dagmar graduated from Heidelberg University in her native Germany. 

  • Dagmar Dolby owns about 37% of publicly-traded audio technology firm Dolby Laboratories, which her husband Ray Dolby (d. 2013) founded in 1965.
  • The company pioneered surround sound technologies used in thousands of films and products, and most recently, in video games and mobile devices.
  • Her two sons share voting power over some assets. David is a board member at Dolby Labs; his brother, Tom, is a novelist and filmmaker.
  • Since 2015, she has committed over $160 million to the University of Cambridge, where Ray Dolby earned a Ph.D. in physics.
  • In September 2018, Dolby donated $20 million to UC San Francisco to establish the Dolby Family Center for Mood Disorders.
  • She has also supported the Academy Foundation to fund the construction of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.