‘Tango’ project: The CEO of the listed Hugo Boss AG wanted to secretly establish a ‘fashion investment group’ with the Tyrolean financial juggler in the first half of 2023.
Daniel Grieder, CEO of Hugo Boss AG, and Signa founder René Benko not only have a business partnership, but also a long-term private relationship. Both share a preference for exclusive retreats – be it in the mountains or on Lake Garda.
We met again and again at Chalet N, which is still owned by a Benko Foundation. Close ties were also deepened on Lake Garda: when Grieder celebrates his dream wedding there in 2022, Benko will be more than just a guest.
The real estate speculator is intensively concerned with organizational details. Guests are accommodated in Villa Eden Gardone. There are even copies of the “SIGNA Times”, a corporate publication of the now financially ailing Signa Holding, available in the villas. In bilingual form. Even the bills for the wedding go through Benko’s agency.
Bold 3-step plan
This personal closeness forms the basis for an ambitious secret project that Grieder and Benko pursued together in 2023, according to research by ‘Krone’ and ‘News’: the development of a ‘Fashion Investment Group’. Codenamed ‘Tango’, the listed billion-dollar company Hugo Boss would be transformed through targeted investments and strategic measures – a bold project that highlighted not only the principles of good corporate governance at Hugo Boss, but also potential conflicts of interest. .
Grieder is considered a star in fashion management; he was the boss of Tommy Hilfiger until 2020 and the boss of Hugo Boss since 2021. Just a month ago, the 63-year-old was named ‘CMO of the Year’, Germany’s highest award for the role of ‘Chief Marketing Officer’.
The courage with which the secret plans with Benko were put forward is evident from a strictly confidential presentation that boss Daniel Grieder sent to the Tyrolean financial juggler from his private email address on March 26, 2023. This includes: images about the company structure and a three-step plan.
Even Adidas was targeted
Phase 1: Grieder’s group must become a so-called anchor investor. The plan was to gradually purchase blocks of Hugo Boss shares. The “Fashion Investment Group” would be organized and led by Grieder confidants Christoph Zeiss and Martin Weckwerth. Headhunter Zeiss had placed Grieder as CEO of Hugo Boss; manager Weckwerth was already a member of the Boss board and, according to Grieder, should be a member of the board of directors again. Grieder’s reasoning in the email to Benko: “So I can implement decisions faster.”
Phase 2 provided for investments outside Hugo Boss. Consider, for example, the global brand Adidas or potential takeover targets such as Bally or Bogner.
In phase 3 the definitive establishment of an independent “Fashion Investment Group” must be achieved. Only then, after his departure from Hugo Boss, should Grieder officially appear as Big Boss.
“Will drive the stock price extremely high”
Grieder’s email to “dear Rene” is explosive for several reasons: on the one hand, the boss-chairman also wanted his two board colleagues to participate in the “Fashion Investment Group”. In the message to Benko he writes that he ‘wants to involve them at least in the deal, as they are also important for the result and the doubling of the share price at HB (Hugo Boss, note) and I would also like to have them on board . Here too we can discuss whether I will take my share of it or whether we will share it.”
On the other hand, Grieder concludes his email to Benko dated March 26, 2023 with the following words:
“As mentioned, we need to implement quickly as I will announce the comprehensive strategy on Investor Day on June 12. That is, instead of 4 billion, 5 billion turnover and 12% EBIT in 2025. This will drive the share price extremely high, I think. Does this fit? Kind regards, Daniel.”
Hugo Boss boss Grieder actually presented parts of this strategy at the investor day.
Why does the CEO of a publicly traded company reveal parts of his strategy to financial juggler Benko months in advance? This is just one of the many questions raised by the secret project “Tango”. Others would be: was Hugo Boss’ supervisory board aware of the detailed plans? Have all corporate law regulations been complied with? And what consequences arise from the close temporal link between the planning and the share purchases by Grieder and his wife, who bought Boss shares worth almost 1.5 million euros in February 2023?
Hugo Boss and CEO Daniel Grieder have left all questions about this matter unanswered since Wednesday. Benko’s lawyer also did not comment.
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.