“Artful self-diminishment, which of course hides delusions of grandeur” – that is the maxim of the average Austrian, wrote the linguistically powerful German scholar Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler.
In plain language: first be more than seem, and then show it to everyone in the end.
Austria's headlines are currently dominated by two men who came from modest backgrounds to fame and fortune: the former Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek and the real estate crony René Benko.
As more becomes known about him, Marsalek, who was born in Vienna, turns out to be largely responsible for the bankruptcy of the billion-dollar, DAX-listed Wirecard group.
As SPIEGEL and research partners from ZDF, Standard and "The Insider" revealed, the internationally wanted manager, who apparently fled to Russia, enjoyed and is still enjoying his life as a strizzi and spy to the fullest.
Meanwhile, Wirecard shareholders who were harmed by air bookings are in danger of leaving empty-handed.
And the Tyrolean charmer René Benko, a school dropout, later real estate mogul, society darling, multi-billionaire?
Last Wednesday filed personal bankruptcy for himself as a sole proprietor at the Innsbruck regional court.
His empire, which was based primarily on speculation and encompassed more than a thousand company parts, has collapsed.
For the time being, it remains unclear to what extent Benko can be held personally liable for the total loss for which he is responsible.
After a previous conviction for corruption, he had not held an official position within his Signa empire for years, but apparently controlled the company's business from the background.
As is now known, the Innsbruck native received a consulting fee of 26 million euros from Signa Holding alone for a single year.
What is controversial, however, is whether the creditors - including none other than the Republic of Austria - really have access to the failed tycoon's assets, which are nested in private foundations.
What will become of the palazzi in the heart of Vienna that are now for sale, of the hunts and yachts, of the department stores of the Galeria-Karstadt-Kaufhof chain, which have been subsidized by the German state alone with 680 million euros of taxpayer money?
Benko knew how to manage large-scale political landscapes.
He mastered the art of making decision-makers compliant across party and ideological boundaries.
Former Vice Chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer from the FPÖ, for example, who is now married to the ÖVP-born EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn, sat on the Signa advisory board.
Former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz still has outstanding accounts from consulting work with his long-time buddy Benko.
And ex-Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, SPÖ, converted from the Marxism of earlier years to a supporter of lucrative lobbying, was chairman of the supervisory board at Benko.
Gusenbauer collected twelve million euros within three years for “advice” alone in connection with the impending insolvency of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof.
Wolfgang Peschorn, among others, is trying to clarify the matter to what extent taxpayers also have to foot the bill for René Benko's bankruptcy.
The highly respectable head of the Finanzprokurator, in a sense the highest asset manager of the Republic of Austria, wants to convict Benko of insolvency with his insolvency application - and thus ensure that something from the entrepreneur's hidden assets also goes to the state treasury.
Norbert Wess is positioned on the opposite side.
The renowned lawyer represents Benko as a lawyer.
Wess also has ex-Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser, who was sentenced in the first instance to eight years in prison for breach of trust, falsification of evidence and illegally accepting gifts, in his client list.
He will most likely leave no stone unturned to keep the massively failed major investor Benko (and his discreetly parked remaining assets) out of the worst of the situation.
Stories we recommend to you today:
Why a German nationalist 84-year-old Viennese was imprisoned by the Taliban in Afghanistan for more than nine months:
https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/afghanistan-rechtsextremist-herbert-fritz-ueber-seine-reise-zu-den-taliban-und-neun-monate-haft-a-a728a8e1-8799-471f-b6c6- b83a31938758
The case of a twelve-year-old who was abused multiple times shocked Vienna:
https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/wien-zwoelfjaehrige-mutmasslich-ueber-monate-fraust-da-darf-nichts-unter-den- carpet-gekehrt- Werden-a-93a2fdf0-2ec0-4ca2- a5aa-a9a8025d21bc
The incredible story of former Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek, who went into hiding in Russia:
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/wirecard-skandal-wie-der-manager-jan-marsalek-zum-spion-wurde-a-5cb415ed-0029-4754-8bd5-f4120f4baf83
https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/wie-jan-marsalek-oesterreichs-verfassungsschutz-anzapfte-podcast-a-c83450fb-c8b2-4941-b0e3-2b08792bc615
Best regards,
Walter Mayr, SPIEGEL correspondent for Austria and Southeastern Europe
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