“91-Year-Old Billionaire Dies Two Months After Marrying 42-Year-Old Sixth Wife”

The full-color Austrian businessman and billionaire Richard Lugner—who once spelled flashy with a capital F, courtesy of his Life-is-a-Cabaret persona—has died at the age of 91. Lugner died on August 12 in his residence in Vienna, just two months after he had married his sixth wife, 42-year-old Simone Reiländer.

Lugner was born in Vienna in 1932 and made his fortune in the construction business. Having attended the Federal Technical and Commercial College in Building Construction, he quickly built up a reputation that soon led him into self-employment and running a successful construction firm. His company is famous for such projects as building Vienna’s first mosque and renovating the main synagogue of the city, the Stadttempel.

But Lugner’s most lasting legacy might well be the eponymous shopping center he built in 1990. Lugner City became not only an economic success story but also a platform for the businessman’s penchant for celebrity and spectacle. Every year, Lugner invited a celebrity figure to tour the mall and join him for a night at the Vienna Opera Ball, which launched with American crooner Harry Belafonte and continued to host celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Jane Fonda, and Priscilla Presley.

Lugner had remained active in business and private life even at an advanced age. Months before his death, he had undergone surgery and reportedly suffered from various ailments. On June 1, he celebrated his sixth marriage at Vienna City Hall.

News of Lugner’s death triggered an outpouring of tributes. The Lugner City shopping center paid tribute on social media: “He was our mortar and above all our beloved boss.” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer stated that Lugner had been “a successful entrepreneur and a dazzling personality.”

Lugner leaves behind four children: Jacqueline, Nadine, Alexander, and Andreas. Certainly, the memory of this businessman and public figure will not be easily forgotten in Austria or anywhere else in the world.

Article Source: unilad