"Still had a lot planned"

Ex-Signa boss speaks out after the bankruptcy

Stadlhuber last year at the Lamarr construction site in Vienna, which is now a bankrupt ruin

(Bild: APA/ROBERT JAEGER)

Following the bankruptcy of the Signa Group, CEO Christoph Stadlhuber has broken his silence. He wrote a "personal word" to his followers. He does not mention René Benko and only mentions the insolvency indirectly.

Stadlhuber from Burgenland managed the Signa holding company together with Marcus Mühlberger for more than a decade. In the course of the bankruptcy maelstrom of real estate juggler Benko's network, he repeatedly came into focus, most recently when Stadlhuber resigned from the Supervisory Board.

Since the insolvency, however, the 56-year-old has never spoken out himself. He has now broken his silence with a long post on the LinkedIn platform (see below). "With everything that has happened and is also being discussed publicly, here is a personal word," wrote Stadlhuber, only indirectly addressing the bankruptcy.

"Helped shape the Viennese cityscape"
The last 13 years were "probably the most exciting" of his professional career, said the manager, who went on to praise Signa's projects in high terms. For example, they had "played a significant and positive role in shaping Vienna's cityscape" and had been able to bring the "peripheral location" Goldenes Quartier "out of its shadowy existence".

He regrets that the collaboration with the team at Signa's Vienna office "had to end so abruptly". Stadlhuber does not write anything about the reasons for this, nor does he mention René Benko at all. "We still had a lot planned in Vienna," explained the manager - the deserted Lamarr building site on Mariahilfer Strasse is evidence of this.

Becomes an independent consultant
Christoph Stadlhuber, who received a princely salary at Signa, now wants to set up his own business as a real estate consultant and project developer. He is looking forward to "exciting new projects and collaborations", he concludes his post.

Below, many of his followers wish him all the best and congratulate him on his projects. However, there are also critical comments that accuse Stadlhuber of being partly responsible for the Signa bankruptcy and of now being unreasonable.

The biggest bankruptcy in Austrian business history is now the subject of a criminal investigation into serious fraud - according to information from "Krone" against at least one managing director. The presumption of innocence applies.