page_title: René Benko
section_title: Until 2018
hierarchical_section_title: René Benko / Business activities / Until 2018
caption_attribution_description: Chrysler Building, New York English: The top floors of the Chrysler Building seen from the east on 42nd Street in morning light. English: New Yorker Chrysler Building, oberer Gebäudeteil, vom östlichen Teil der 42. Straße aus gesehen.
context_page_description: René Benko is an Austrian real estate, media and retail trade investor and founder of SIGNA Holding GmbH. SIGNA is considered Austria's largest privately held real estate conglomerate. With an estimated wealth of US$3.8 billion, he is currently one of the ten richest Austrians. In 2019 Forbes classified René Benko as the third richest Austrian and number 365 in the world.
context_section_description: On June 18, 2013, Benko retired from the operational leadership of Signa Holding GmbH and took over the chairmanship of the Advisory Board of the Signa Group.
  In 2013, the new company division Signa Retail was founded. With the acquisition of the Karstadt department store chain, further online and multi-channel retailers and purchase offers for the Galeria Kaufhof GmbH, Benkos Signa Holding is no longer just active in the area of real estate investment, but also a significant company in the retail sector.
  In 2014, a number of projects were completed in Austria; these included the Golden Quarter and the park apartments on the Belvedere.
  In 2015, the Food and Restaurants division of Signa Retail launched a joint venture with Eataly.
  A milestone in 2016 was the approval of the shopping center Waltherpark (Bolzano) through a public referendum.
  The year 2017 was marked by extensions in the on-line trade, like the assumption of Probikeshop or hood.de.
  On June 21, 2018, the Signa Holding of the Tyrolean real estate investor Rene Benko bought the furniture chain Kika / Leiner with about 6500 employees.
  In addition, in July 2018, the negotiations about the acquisition of the department store chain Kaufhof restarted. On September 11, the long-negotiated merger of Karstadt and Kaufhof was officially confirmed. Benko thus creates a so-called "department store giant." Through this merger Benko was included in the circle of "People of the Year 2018" of the German newspaper Handelsblatt. Roland Berger wrote the contribution to it.
  In November 2018, the first investment in the media sector was announced through the acquisition of shares in the Austrian daily newspapers Kronen Zeitung and Kurier by Signa Holding.
caption: The Chrysler Building's distinctive Art Deco crown and spire
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