Kramer is the son a Frankfurt stockbroker Willi Kramer. He attended the Salem Boarding School. Then he took a brokerage apprenticeship in London and became a licensed broker. He joined his father's firm, before moving on to Shearson Lehman Brothers. He founded his own company in 1986, TK Kapitalverwaltung GmbH. In the early 1990s, Kramer purchased for $45 million large portions of South Pointe, the southern tip of South Beach, a high-crime and poverty-stricken area. The deal allowed him to consolidate his holdings in a land swap. It also cleared zoning to allow the erection of the tallest buildings south of Manhattan. The whole area was turned into a premier residential area. In 2000, Verena von Mitschke-Collande and Claudia Miller-Otto, daughters of Siegfried Otto whose step-daughter was briefly married to Thomas Kramer, won a $90 million settlement against Kramer in a Swiss court. The plaintiffs had financed Thomas Kramer's real estate purchases in Miami, but when they intended to collect their money in 1995, Thomas Kramer tried to overturn the request, and lost. When The Otto daughters launched the collect request in Florida, which included his 1.84 acres of Miami properties, Thomas Kramer transferred the majority of his assets to the Isle of Man. In 2013, Kramer signed an agreement with the Pakistan real estate tycoonMalik Riaz to build the first ever Island City in Karachi, Pakistan, the Bundal & Buddo Islands, a deal worth US$20 billion. The deal fell through since Kramer failed to provide the necessary funds. Kramer was subjected to a record fine for an individual from the Federal Elections Commission. He donated to political candidates as a foreign citizen. This is illegal under United Statescampaign finance laws. He claimed he had been unaware of the prohibition, pointing out that he is a prominent, public figure and known to be a German citizen. He turned himself in to the FEC and immediately requested the refund of all political donations. The imposed fine was agreed upon as part of a voluntary conciliation agreement with the FEC. Howard Glicken pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from the circumstance. He admitted soliciting donations from Kramer when he knew that Kramer was not a U.S. citizen. In a hearing report made public in 2014, Thomas Kramer explained that he had lost all financial liability since that event. In August 2017, his house on Star Island was auctioned and sold for $40 million.
Thomas Kramer created the Thomas Kramer Foundation, his main charitable vehicle. He regularly rents out his Star Island mansion for charity events. In 1992, Thomas Kramer purchased the Woman in an Armchair, painted in 1932 by Pablo Picasso, for $2.86 million, well below the expected price of $3.5 million to $4.5 million.
Personal life
He was married to Catherine Burda, daughter of Franz Burda II, the son of Franz Burda I, founder of a well-known German publishing house.
