René Benko once dropped out of school in Innsbruck and sought refuge as an AWD hog. In the realm of Carsten Maschmeyer, who started the controversial financial sale in the 1990s. Now, of all people, the founder of AWD is taking care of the department store juggler.
“Benko drove Galeria completely into the wall,” writes Maschmeyer on the social network LinkedIn about the Tyrolean, who came under fire in Germany. Benko collected 680 million euros in state aid from taxpayers. “Yet more than 50 branches are now being razed to the ground – open the backs of the employees. Exactly what the state aid was supposed to prevent!”
“Completely oversleeping digitization”
On Monday it was announced that Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, bankrupt for the second time in less than three years, wants to close 52 of the 129 remaining stores. 5,000 workers are at risk of losing their jobs.
Maschmeyer, now a starting investor, wants to know the reason for the decline: “Under Benko’s responsibility, the department store chain completely missed out on digitization and thus a business model of yesterday. Galeria is not sustainable.” However, Benko’s motto seems to be “Privatize profits, socialize losses!”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
