2023-11-28 17:58:49
Opinion Berger, Kühne and Co.
Blinded by appearances – the astonishing naivety of the influential Benko investors
As of: 4:58 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
By Jan Dams
Head of Department for Economics, Finance, Real Estate
It was like a time-honored gentlemen’s club, writes WELT author Jan Dams about the business between investors and René Benko
Source: picture alliance/ATP photo agency/NOGER Manfred; Verena Brüning
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Roland Berger, Torsten Toeller, Klaus-Michael Kühne: René Benko’s list of business partners is prominent. Now that his real estate empire is faltering, there is a lot of complaining and therefore concern about his own money. It reveals the sheer carelessness of investors.
If it weren’t so sad, it would almost be laughable. René Benko’s Signa real estate empire is teetering. And those who fear most for their money are not small investors – who once again didn’t look properly when the section about the risks appeared in the prospectus.
No: They are large private investors who generally think they are particularly clever. And they now seem even more inexperienced than the stupid small investors, who they usually just shake their heads at when they have gambled away.
Anyone who looks at the team of investors in René Benko’s empire of luxury real estate cannot help but be amazed at who is getting the worst of it: Roland Berger. Yes, Roland Berger, founder and long-time head of the management consultancy of the same name, was obviously fooled by big promises.
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A man who advised German companies on their business processes. Likewise Fressnapf founder Torsten Toeller. And the Hamburg entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kühne is also there. There are only three from the illustrious list of names.
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According to reports, some people have had their claims secured better, some others less well. The complaining of those affected is now great. Benko, it is said, did not provide sufficient information about his business. Benko built an empire of companies and sub-societies – without any transparency.
Benko promised more than he delivered; he was a colorful figure who enriched himself at the expense of others. Luxury real estate, works of art, an expensive yacht. Within months, René Benko, the go-getter with whom people loved doing business, apparently became a crook who is said to have ripped off the others.
Apparently nobody asked Benko about it
The complaints of those affected say almost more about themselves than about the stumbling real estate mogul. Some of the most influential men at Deutschland AG are complaining because – possibly driven by greed – they invested in a business structure that could only function as long as the interest rates on the luxury properties they purchased from the Signa Group were low.
In the rounds with Benko, none of the major investors apparently probed into what could happen if interest rates rose again. And obviously no one wanted to know exactly whether and how often their dear friend from Austria could have lent multiple loans to companies, subsidiary companies and individual properties.
Men of honor, a matter of honor. It was like a time-honored gentlemen’s club, where no one questioned the creditworthiness of the other person. Until the money is gone. What remains in the end are, above all, questions: How could men, and especially men who are so successful professionally and who always know what others are doing wrong, invest their money so carelessly?
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Would you like to receive advice from them on financial and business issues? When it comes to personal investment issues, do some of them simply have as little insight as private investors who have put all their money into dubious stocks?
There are no answers to this because those affected hardly comment officially. As I said, it would be laughable if it weren’t so sad.
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