Saudi Arabia made a name for itself with the transfers of Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo. Former Hofer and Müller boss Günther Helm has been leading the Cenomi Retail company here since April 2023. The 44-year-old talks about his new life in Riyadh, a metropolis that is expected to grow enormously in the coming years.
Cristiano Ronaldo would earn around 200 million euros per year at Al-Nasser; Neymar, currently out due to a knee injury, apparently receives 80 to 100 million euros annually for his efforts at Al-Hilal.
These two mega signings in the Saudi Professional Football League alone underline Saudi Arabia’s ambitions in the sport, where it has received increasing attention in recent years. Formula 1 has been running in the kingdom since 2021. A merger with the PGA golf tour is also being worked on. The sources of money to finance all this don’t seem to be drying up – thanks to oil reserves.
“The increasing enthusiasm for sports in the country is reflected in the growing turnover of our Decathlon Sport branches,” says Günther Helm. The 44-year-old has lived in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, since the end of March 2023.
More than 10,000 employees
From here, the former boss of Hofer KG and the drugstore chain Müller now runs the company Cenomi Retail. The group has more than 10,000 employees in a total of 13 countries, is the largest franchise retailer in Saudi Arabia and operates stores of brands such as Zara, Mango, New Yorker and Co., as well as 100 shopping centers.
By 2030, 15 million people are expected to live in Riyadh
Linz instead of Riyadh – the difference is huge. “The distances are enormous here; From the northern to the southern city limits it takes an hour on the highway,” says Helm. The plans of the metropolis are also gigantic: from eight million people living here, the city is expected to grow to fifteen million by 2030.
Working until 4am
Retreat areas? The desert. “What the Traunstein is to the Upper Austrians, here is ‘The Edge of the World’, a striking rock formation,” says the manager, who has already become accustomed to the country’s peculiarities. In the extremely hot summer months and in the fasting month of Ramadan, the working day starts late.
“We work until 4 a.m. to achieve this,” says Helm, speaking of the spirit of optimism in his adopted home, which has been repeatedly criticized for its handling of human rights. “Saudi Arabia is changing, you hear that in every conversation here. We experience unique hospitality.”
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.
