These are the richest Austrians
Germany and Austria are surprisingly similar when it comes to their super rich. In both neighbors there is a billionaire for every million citizens. They each have a little over $ 4 billion on average. Because of the small number of inhabitants, Austria does not quite get its top 10 in the current “Forbes” list of super rich people. But while many heirs rank at the top in Germany, almost all billionaires in Austria have developed their own wealth.
The richest people in Austria had to drop feathers like billionaires worldwide in 2019. Every second representative on the “Forbes” list for 2020 was “poorer” than in the previous year. Only two of Austria’s top nine were able to increase their wealth. Incidentally, if all of the country’s billionaires tossed their money, they would be number 17 on the global list with $ 41.2 billion, between Michael Bloomberg and Jack Ma.
These are the richest Austrians:
@imago images / ZUMA Press
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# 9 Gaston Glock and family
This industrialist doesn’t want to be a billionaire. Representatives of Gaston Glock protested his inclusion in the ranking and denied the numbers of “Forbes”, as the magazine reports. However, it stands by his estimates, according to which the founder and majority owner of the weapons manufacturer Glock GmbH is currently weighing USD 1.1 billion. This is the same value from the previous year. The company’s revenue in 2017 was more than $ 500 million worldwide. It is estimated that Glock accounts for nearly 65 percent of the U.S. handgun market, Forbes reported. It led the 91-year-old to 1851 worldwide in the 2020 billionaire ranking.
@imago images / Horst Rudel
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# 8 Wolfgang Leitner
Eighth place also goes to a self-made billionaire. Wolfgang Leitner’s father worked as a worker at the plant engineering company Andritz for three decades. In 1994, his son took over the position of CEO and made Andritz one of the largest companies in Austria, as “Forbes” reported. However, Leitner has also suffered losses since March 2019. The 67-year-old’s wealth declined, according to analysts, by $ 1.7 billion to $ 1.2 billion.
@imago images / SKATA
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# 6 Michael Tojner
Michael Tojner (54) is ranked 1135 in the global ranking with assets of $ 1.9 billion. Tojner is new. In 2007 he bought the German battery manufacturer Varta and listed him on the Frankfurt stock exchange ten years later. His 56 percent stake in Varta is worth over $ 1 billion, according to Forbes.
By contrast, Sohmen’s assets declined from $ 2.5 billion to $ 1.9 billion. The 80-year-old at the time the list was published led the fortunes of the shipping group BW Group for 28 years. In 2014 he handed over the management to son Andreas. The Austrian has lived in Honkong for decades and is married to the eldest daughter of the shipping magnate Yue-Kong Pao, who died in 1991. Sohmen currently ranks 30th among the richest people in Hong Kong, according to Forbes.
@imago images / ZUMA Press
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# 6 Helmut Sohmen
80-year-old Helmut Sohmen (left in a photo from 2008) is a former chairman and president of the Bergesen-Worldwide (BW Group) shipping empire, which his father-in-law built in Hong Kong. In the meantime he has handed over the business to his son. His fortune shrank from $ 2.5 billion to $ 1.9 billion last year.
@imago images / SKATA
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# 5 Heidi Horten
Heidi Horten is the first Austrian to crack the top 1000 on the “Forbes” billionaire list. She is the widow of Helmut Horten. He had founded the German department store chain in 1936 and left his wife with $ 1 billion in assets in 1987, according to Forbes. That has grown over the years and has remained largely constant over the past decade. The analysts estimated the wealth of the 79-year-olds at $ 3.0 billion (2019: $ 3.1 billion).
@imago images / SKATA
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# 4 Georg Stumpf
Georg Stumpf is one of two Austrian billionaires who were able to increase their wealth in the past year. The investor even managed an increase of almost 50 percent to $ 4.4 billion. That was enough for place 401 worldwide. In 2017, the counter was still at $ 1.5 billion. Stumpf followed in his father’s footsteps as a building contractor. With his five-figure loan, Stumpf laid the ground for his success in 1994. He is the chairman of the supervisory board of the building technology and plant engineering company Exyte AG. The garage of his villa in Vienna offers space for 40 cars, according to Forbes.
@imago images / SKATA
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# 3 René Benko
René Benko is the third richest person in Austria with assets of $ 4.7 billion (200 million less than in 2019) according to “Forbes”. The 43-year-old founder of Signa Holding ranks 361 worldwide. According to the report, the country’s largest private real estate company has assets of EUR 20 billion. In Germany, Benko became known through the purchase of the Karstadt and Galeria Kaufhof department stores. They were merged into one group in 2019. According to media reports, as part of the Corona crisis, up to 80 of the more than 170 branches will be closed and thousands of employees dismissed. Benko has been co-owner of the two largest Austrian daily newspapers “Kronen Zeitung” and “Kurier” since 2018.
@dpa
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# 2 Johann Graf
Johann Graf (73) is the owner of the gaming company Novomatic Group and currently, according to “Forbes”, weighs around $ 6.5 billion. In 2019, the analysts had estimated his fortune at $ 8.1 billion. According to the report, restrictions on gaming in Germany meant that Novomatic was unable to report a profit in 2018.
@imago images / Eibner Europe
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# 1 Dietrich Mateschitz
Dietrich Mateschitz (76) plays in a league of its own among Austria’s billionaires. According to Forbes, the co-founder and owner of Red Bull GmbH had assets of $ 16.5 billion as of April 7, 2020. That was more than twice as much as the second-placed Johann Graf. Mateschitz’s lead is melting year after year. In 2019, he led the list with $ 18.9 billion, compared to $ 23 billion in 2018.
