Austrian entrepreneur and billionaire Richard Lugner has died. He was 91.
Lugner — who was known, among other things, for entertaining many celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Jane Fonda, Pamela Anderson, and Goldie Hawn, at the famous Vienna Opera Ball through the years — died on Monday, Aug. 12, at his villa in Vienna, per Agence France-Presse.
Lugner, who most recently attended the Opera Ball in February with Priscilla Presley, had reportedly been dealing with multiple health problems and undergone surgery in recent months, per the news agency.
The country’s chancellor, Karl Nehammer, led the tributes on X (formerly known as Twitter), sharing a photo of the pair posing with Presley.
In his post, he remembered Lunger as a “successful entrepreneur and a dazzling personality.”
“An Austrian original who never lost his way,” he wrote. “May he rest in peace!”
Lugner famously built his Lugner City shopping center in Vienna in 1990, and the complex also shared a tribute to the late businessman.
“Our Engineer Richard Lugner, our mortar and above all our beloved boss has unfortunately left us today,” a caption translated from German read on the center’s Facebook page.
“We can hardly put into words the pain we feel,” the message read. “The grief is indescribably great, but we want to reflect on all the beautiful and great times together. With a laughing and a crying eye we say goodbye to the great Richard Lugner, in our hearts he will stay forever!”
Lugner ran twice in the Austrian presidential elections as an independent candidate; once in 1998 and again in 2016, Euro News reported.
His death came shortly after he married Simone Reiländer, 42, which marked his sixth marriage. The pair tied the knot at Vienna City Hall on Saturday, June 1. “It will be the last marriage,” he said of their union, according to local reports.
He was previously married to Christine Gmeiner (1961-1978), Cornelia Laufersweiler (1979-1983), Susanne Dietrich (1984-1989), Christina Lugner (1990-2007), as well as Playboy model and actress Cathy Schmitz (2014-2016).
The entrepreneur, who got his start in the construction industry, leaves behind four children: Jacqueline, Nadine, Alexander, and Andreas.
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