It has been clear since last week: Austrian entrepreneur and billionaire René Benko’s Signa Holding is bankrupt.
Signa is a real estate and trading company under whose umbrella Benko has brought together several hundred sub-companies. He owns, among others, the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department stores, the KaDeWe in Berlin, a luxury hotel in Austria and the Chrysler Building in New York. He has continually invested in large construction projects, such as the Elbtower in Hamburg, the completion of which is now on hold. The Signa Group also holds shares in media, for example in the Kronen-Zeitung in Austria. The group recently reported a gross asset value of 27 billion euros and Benko was ranked 425th on Forbes’ list of the richest people in the world.
But today Signa has billions in debt. There is a list of 273 creditors to whom Benko owes money, including celebrities such as former Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer (SPÖ). Why did Signa fall into bankruptcy? And how did Benko actually make the holding company so big? Cathrin Kahlweit, the SZ’s Austria correspondent, explains this in this episode of “On the Point”.
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Moderation, editorial team: Nadja Schlüter
Editor: Christina Lopinski, Vinzent-Vitus Leitgeb
Production: Benjamin Markthaler
Additional audio material via YouTube (WDR).
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