Gusenbauer Has a "Clear Conscience" in the Signa Case
"I have never seen a balance sheet of Signa Holding in my life," Gusenbauer said in the current "Falter". He only became aware that Signa was coming to an end when the mass credit did not come together in autumn 2023.
Even when former Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking left Signa in 2017, he did not suspect that something was wrong. "He (Wiedeking, note) criticized, which is also correct. The problem was that Wiedeking's credibility with us was quite low," said Gusenbauer. The long-time advisor to Benko was also unaware of put options or intercompany loans. That he also had to wait months for his advisory fee did not surprise Gusenbauer either. "Signa's payment morale was always poor," said the long-time advisor to Benko.
Lawsuit "adventurous" according to Gusenbauer
Shortly before the turn of the year 2025, liability letters from the insolvency administrator Norbert Abel were sent to four former board members and twelve former supervisory board members of Signa Prime, including Gusenbauer. Grosso modo, he accuses them of serious misconduct, breaches of duty, and delaying insolvency. Abel holds them responsible for damages amounting to at least 1 billion euros. Gusenbauer described this lawsuit in the interview as "adventurous".
As late as October 2023, "renowned advisors like White & Case and Rothschild had told me directly in the supervisory board that there was a good chance of raising a mass credit of 500 million euros," Gusenbauer explained. "Should I have sent the company into bankruptcy anyway? That would have been absurd," he added. According to "Falter", the special administrator of the Vienna Commercial Court said that Signa Holding had already been "insolvent, over-indebted under insolvency law, and at risk of existence" since 2021.
Regular contact with Benko
Gusenbauer also emphasized the role of Benko, who officially had no operational function in the Signa Group since 2013: "He was the main owner. No one who dealt with Signa had any doubt that he was in charge." He saw himself as "René's sparring partner," and he did not know with whom Benko was in direct contact. "I was not his 'nanny'. But we spoke and met regularly," said Gusenbauer. However, according to Gusenbauer, they hardly spent any leisure time together. "And: While he went on the yacht, I sat in the opera."
The business companion of Benko claims to have "invested a large part of the money I earned at Signa in Signa shares - and exited with zero. So everything I did there had a material impact on me".
(APA/Red)
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