VIENNA. At the age of 80, construction tycoon Hans Peter Haselsteiner is resigning from his role as a business angel on the PULS 4 start-up show “2 Minutes 2 Million” after ten years. Media manager Michael Grabner now completes the top-class group of investors.
Hans Peter Haselsteiner (left) and Michael Grabner (right) (Photo: PULS 4)
“It was ten years that I really enjoyed,” says grand seigneur Hans Peter Haselsteiner, summarizing the past eleven seasons of “2 Minutes 2 Million”. On the occasion of his 80th birthday, the construction tycoon is now leaving his position as a business angel and leaving the investor chair. “When I look back, I am still impressed by the many surprises that were given to me,” says Haselsteiner. After one final deal, he ended an era. In total, Haselsteiner has invested more than 11 million euros in local entrepreneurial spirit over the years. To his surprise, some of his investments paid him a visit in the studio.
Media manager Michael Grabner is following in the footsteps of Hans Peter Haselsteiner
“Michael Grabner is an extremely clever and humorous person and I think both are important,” says Hans Peter Haselsteiner, announcing his successor. From now on, business angel and media manager Michael Grabner will be taking his place next to Katharina Schneider, Eveline Steinberger, Heinrich Prokop, Christian Jäger and Bernd Hinteregger for the TV evening every Tuesday.
“Being able to follow in the footsteps of Hans Peter Haselsteiner is almost a ‘super start-up’ in itself. I’m going to try my best! “I’m interested in new ideas from young and young-at-heart entrepreneurs who want to conquer the market with creativity and commitment,” says Grabner.
In his professional career, Grabner has already been a member of the board of several media giants and on the supervisory board of ÖIAG. After studying economics, he worked, among other things, as a product manager for a well-known consumer goods company until he finally became the founding managing director of the newspaper and magazine publisher MediaPrint (Kronen Zeitung, Kurier). As a publishing manager, he continued his success beyond Austria’s borders to Germany. In 2005 he was named Media Person of the Year in Germany and has been in the management and as a supervisory board member of the Holtzbrinck Group (“Die Zeit”, “Handelsblatt”, “WirtschaftsWoche”, “Der Tagesspiegel” – Berlin) for 30 years.
Today he is self-employed and invested in numerous innovative, young companies. As a new investor in “2 Minutes 2 Million”, he would now like to help start-ups with know-how, financial resources and curiosity on the PULS 4 show.