Next bankruptcy

Benko family private foundation files for insolvency

The wave of bankruptcies surrounding the Signa Group is once again affecting René Benko's personal sphere. After the insolvency proceedings as an entrepreneur, his family's private foundation is now also filing for insolvency - this was once probably worth hundreds of millions of euros.

The Benko family private foundation based in Innsbruck is bankrupt. The foundation around the founder of the Signa real estate group, René Benko, filed an application for the opening of insolvency proceedings at the Innsbruck Regional Court on Thursday, as the private foundation announced.

Together with the insolvency administrator to be appointed, the aim of the foundation's board members is to implement the further measures and necessary steps. According to the information provided, the private foundation's assets essentially include various investments, such as in the insolvent Signa Holding GmbH.

Benko's former Signa empire is finally degenerating into a building site - according to his own statements, he himself is now being financed by his mother.(Bild: APA/AFP/Joe Klamar)

Probably a lot of money parked away
Alongside the Ingbe Foundation (named after his mother Ingeborg Benko) and the Laura Private Foundation (the name of his daughter), the Benko family foundation is probably one of the three most important foundations in the Benko family. Exactly how much money is parked there is unclear.

As reported by "Krone", the foundation is said to have had assets of 250 million euros apart from the stake in Signa Holding. According to the news magazine "News", the family foundation recently granted Signa Holding a loan of 100 million euros.

Foundations are regulated by law in such a way that hardly any information has to be disclosed to the outside world - transparency is therefore hardly necessary. The articles of association, voting rights, what exactly is included, who can receive money and much more is not visible to outsiders.

Explosive money transfers
It was only on Thursday that the "Krone" reported that Benko had a considerable 35 million euros withdrawn from his financially ailing Signa Group in the summer of 2023 in order to then send it in a circle, so to speak, and bring it back into the holding company via his foundation as supposedly "fresh capital".

There is a suspicion of investor deception - he allegedly wanted to persuade the owners to make an urgently needed capital injection.