René Benko: Austrian property billionaire thrust into the limelight
René Benko was talking to investors in Saudi Arabia when he found out the headquarters of his sprawling property empire, deep in the Alps, had been raided by a squad of Austrian police.
Benko, 45, may not be a global household name, but many of his buildings are.
The property conglomerate he controls is the co-owner of London’s upmarket department store Selfridges. It owns half of New York’s Chrysler Building. In Germany, it has the department store KaDeWe, as well as the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof chain, the country’s largest, which employs more than 24,000 people.
The conviction forced Benko to formally step back from the day-to-day running of Signa. Behind the scenes, however, he has remained in charge.
As Signa’s portfolio grew — turning its founder into a multi-billionaire — so did Benko’s contact book.
“Benko became known for keeping close connections to politicians of the major parties,” said Stephanie Krisper, an Austrian parliamentarian with the country’s liberal Neos. “He put the former chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer of the [social democrats] on the board ,” she noted, “[and] he built a relationship with Sebastian Kurz.”
Kurz, a young iconoclast like Benko, would become chancellor of Austria at 31 in 2017. “He was soon a regular at Benko’s lavish parties,” Krisper said.
Benko even accompanied Kurz on foreign trips, including to Moscow and the Middle East, where he forged new business relationships.
In recent years, money has flown into Signa from such sources, in some cases even through Benko’s own private foundation in Liechtenstein. This has made it hard, if not impossible, to keep track of.
Signa has pointed out that it is a private company, and fulfils all of its reporting obligations. Its lenders and its investors, it has said, conduct their own extensive due diligence.
Selfridges the UK-based department store chain was acquired in a £4bn deal by Signa and Thai conglomerate Central Group © AFP via Getty Images
Benko’s last big deal — his acquisition of Selfridges for £4bn — is a case in point. Signa partnered with Thailand’s Central Group, a property mega-investor known for its careful selection of partners.
How the WKStA’s move against him will play out, remains to be seen.
“He used to get called an ‘Austrogarch’. He was seen as being untouchable,” said Marcus How, head of analysis at the Viennese risk consultancy VE Insight. “But particularly after the fall of Kurz, his reputation in the Austrian financial world has sunk. There’s a sense that he might be running out of road.”
Benko’s annual Törggelen, a traditional Tyrolean autumn party, used to be a highlight of the social season, How added. Chancellors and politicians would come to be photographed with him at the Signa-owned ultra-luxurious Park Hyatt in Vienna.
But it hasn’t been held since 2019. And even with the Covid-19 crisis over, it seems there are no plans for another one soon.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Sam Jones
