Celebrity-friendly Austrian billionaire Richard Lugner died on Aug. 12 at the age of 91 at his Vienna villa, according to Agence France-Presse. Lugner, who’s A-list friends at the Vienna Opera Ball over the years included Kim Kardashian, Jane Fonda, Pamela Anderson, and Goldie Hawn, had reportedly had multiple health issues and undergone surgery in recent months, said the news agency.
His death came shortly after he married his sixth wife, Simone Reilander, 42, at Vienna City Hall on June 1. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer remembered Lugner in an X posting as a “successful entrepreneur and a dazzling personality” alongside a photo of the pair posing with Priscilla Presley, according to PEOPLE. “An Austrian original who never lost his way,” he wrote.
“May he rest in peace!” The businessman built Lugner City shopping centre in Vienna in 1990 which shared a tribute to him on its Facebook page, said PEOPLE. “Our Engineer Richard Lugner, our mortar and above all our beloved boss, has unfortunately left us today,” a translated caption read. “We can hardly put into words the pain we feel.
The grief is indescribably great, but we want to reflect on all the beautiful and great times together.” Euro News also reported that Lugner ran twice as an independent in the Austrian presidential elections — in 1998 and 2016. The entrepreneur, who got his start in the construction industry, leaves behind four children.
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