René Benko (born 20 May 1977) is an Austrian real estate, media and retail investor and founder of the Signa Holding. The company is considered Austria's largest privately held real estate conglomerate. Benko is one of the richest Austrians. Numerous controversies have surrounded Benko’s professional career. Life Benko was born in Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria as the son of a local government employee and nursery schoolteacher and studied at a business school. At the age of 17 he gained his first experience of the real estate sector in a building company owned by an acquaintance. He subsequently dropped out of school because his overriding interest in the real estate business had led to him missing too many lessons. Benko lives mainly in Innsbruck, Tyrol. He is married for a second time and has four children. Apart from that, little is known about Benko's private life. Business activities Foundation and first investments At the end of 1999 Benko founded the two-person company Immofina Holding, which was renamed Signa Holding in 2006. The first projects included the extension of attics into luxury apartments and the profitable purchase and sale of the health hotel Lanserhof in Lans. After these successes, the Viennese entrepreneur Karl Kovarik, who inherited several gas stations, contributed to the first financial jump-start with 25 million euros. The next steps included the purchase of 16 inner-city properties from the portfolio of BAWAG P.S.K. bank in 2007, as well as the opening of medical centers in Vienna, and the acquisition of the Kaufhaus Tyrol, which was completely renovated between 2007 and 2010. The planning of the latter was carried out by the renowned architect David Chipperfield. In 2008, the former headquarters of Länderbank and Bank Austria became the property of Signa Holding and was converted into the Park Hyatt Vienna hotel. In 2011, the company bought the Oberpollinger department store in Munich. Furthermore, a portfolio of buildings consisting of KaDeWe and Karstadt properties was acquired in 2012. Following these investments, Signa bought the commercial businesses of KaDeWe in 2013, and Karstadt in 2014. In November 2012, Benko and the tax advisor Michael Passer were found guilty of "attempted prohibited intervention" (bribery) and convicted to a suspended sentence of one year by the Vienna Regional Court. The judge saw the case as a "model of corruption", in which Benko commissioned Passer to contact the former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and offered him