"Krone" commentary

Encounters with René Benko

Taking stock for the "Krone": Chief Economist Georg Wailand(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

When I met René Benko, the school dropout was in the process of building a medical center after his first loft conversions. Right from the start, he was always looking for investors to give him the money: First it was an Austrian petrol station owner, later a Greek millionaire, whom he impressed so much with his presentation that he immediately financed the "Kaufhaus Tirol" project.

René Benko became increasingly bold: he wanted to achieve what others had failed to do. Many department stores in Europe were in a serious crisis, Benko came, saw and bought. The more prominent, the better. And the easier it was for him to get loans.

I became suspicious when he acquired the legendary Chrysler Building in the USA: everyone in the scene knew that this was a highly problematic skyscraper. Benko struck and his financiers were delighted: he must be a hell of a guy, he can do anything.

So they thought, and today everyone is suffering from the multiple bankruptcies he has caused with his thousand-plus companies. Tens of thousands lost their livelihoods or their savings.

For himself, he wanted to park his private treasure in a foundation dedicated to his mother. From there, he received over 200,000 euros in monthly rent for his luxury villa.

In every conversation, Benko seemed to have an ingenious solution for everything. Today it is clear that he acted like a shell game ...