Beginning and end of an unprecedented pyramid scheme. The book about this has just reached its sixth edition. Now comes Benko, the movie! The ‘Krone’ already had the first details before the extraordinary deal was announced.
A young Tyrolean who loves fast cars and is endlessly bored with homework. He drops out of school shortly before graduation, interns at the financial sales company AWD, borrows a Ferrari and talks to anyone he thinks has money. This is how René Benko’s story begins. And an unprecedented pyramid scheme.
“Inside Signa – The Rise and Fall of René Benko” followed the flow of money; Written by investigative journalist Rainer Fleckl of “Krone” together with Sebastian Reinhart (“News”), it immediately became the best-selling book in Austria. year. “It is one of the rare bestsellers that has also reached Germany and Switzerland,” says Bernhard Salomon, publisher of edition.a, which has now printed the sixth edition of the book. Another unique selling point: it will be the publisher’s first non-fiction book that will also be made into a film.
“There has never been as much interest in the film rights as this time,” says Salomon, and within four weeks there were already four concrete offers on his desk. The contract was awarded to a major manufacturing company and details of the deal will be announced shortly.
Screenwriters will soon tackle the material that sheds light on the inner workings of an international company. It looks deep into the soul of René Benko, who felt magically drawn to the real estate world from the start, worked on construction sites and is afraid of heights in the true sense of the word. He quickly learns the jargon of money. And he works non-stop.
First networking and performance “Gusi”
A certain Karl Kovarik, heir to the Stroh gas stations, financed his first roof extensions. Through him, Benko comes into contact with bankers, politicians and industrialists. One of them is a very wealthy Greek ship owner who brings the Tyrolean department store into the possession of Benko. For the first time he received political support from Alfred Gusenbauer.
Adventurous investments followed – Kika Leiner, KaDeWe, the Chrysler Building in Manhattan. Benko also reaches for the “crown”. In between the many deals on his 64 meter long yacht RoMa, he flies to Romania with illustrious industrialists to hunt bears. With its increasingly confident Signa, Benko is attracting more and more major investors. Among them are Benny Steinmetz (diamond dealer), Hans Peter Haselsteiner, ex-Porsche boss Wendelin Wiedeking, sheikhs from Abu Dhabi’s ruling family and German industrialist Klaus Michael Kühne.
The latter meant that Benko was suddenly having lunch like a schoolboy in the luxurious restaurant The Fontenay in Hamburg. Benko asked. Only an hour later. Then at ten minutes. Kühne stood his ground.
A few weeks before the start of a bankruptcy domino, Benko had a horse purchased through a foundation for 2.38 million. Material for a special kind of financial crime.
Who plays with it?
Who will play René Benko in the planned film (see slideshow above)? Who is the mysterious woman at his side? Who is the millionaire consultant Gusenbauer, who is the ‘door opener’ Sebastian Kurz? And who is the key figure, Klaus M. Kühne? The multi-billionaire dealt Signa the death blow in Hamburg and ultimately brought down Benko’s house of cards.
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.
