[Beren]

Forbes: Hungarian PM's friend became the wealthiest person in Hungary

Zoltán Kovács

2018.12.28. 16:03

The Hungarian edition of Forbes published their annual list of the richest people of Hungary, and it seems that this year, the throne was inevitably yanked from long-time titleholder Sándor Csányi by Lőrinc Mészáros, the close friend of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former mayor of his hometown. Mészáros tripled his wealth in 2018 and became Hungary's second dollar-billionaire after Csányi.

Forbes estimated his wealth to be over €1.1 billion after last year's mere €326 million. He first showed up on lists of the richest people of Hungary in 2014 with a €24 million wealth.

This year's growth was mainly prompted by his manoeuvre raising the capital of stock market company Opus Global (in which Mészáros is already a majority shareholder) by contributing a large part of his manufacturing and construction firms to the holding and getting shares in return. He is known to be somewhat of a lucky charm of the stock market anyways - Bloomberg declared one of his companies to be the best performing stock in the world with a 6231% increase of share prices in a year. The jury's still out if that is because of his economic genius or his government connections.

Mészáros was born in Felcsút, and was a school classmate of Viktor Orbán, but according to Mészáros, their friendship only dates back to 1999 - their mutual love of football created a strong bond between the two when Europe's then-youngest prime minister started playing in his hometown's local team, sponsored, amongst others, by the future wealthiest man of Hungary. Since then he is the president of the Felcsút football club (known for their stadium that fits all residents of the town twice) and its football academy as well, which has expanded into the largest multi-purpose sports facility in Hungary with the bill footed mostly by Hungarian taxpayers.

He became the mayor of Viktor Orbán's hometown in 2011 after the previous (independent) mayor was removed based on legislation passed soon after the municipal elections of 2010 making it impossible for people with public debts to be mayors. Felcsút's mayor happened to be in that category, and Mészáros easily won the subsequent elections. He resigned from the position this April, saying that controlling his business empire requires all his time and attention.

In a 2014 interview with Heti Válasz, he attributed his riches to hard work, fortune, and the graces of God and Viktor Orbán. Rightly so: at the time of Fidesz's ascent to power, Lőrinc Mészáros had a single company, Mészáros & Mészáros Kft, mainly doing gas-fitting. Their 2006 revenue was €60.000, but in 2015 that very same company was already raking in north of €60.000.000, which is a thousandfold growth in terms of revenue - just to put that into perspective, Amazon matched the multiplier of Mészáros's company, but needed 12 years to do so between 1996 and 2008, and Facebook's revenue in 2016 was only 600 times as much as it was in 2006 ($48 million to $27,6 billion). When faced with that latter comparison, Mészáros said that it could be because he is smarter than Zuckerberg.

The wealthiest person in Hungary Lőrinc Mészáros (left) with Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán (right)
on the opening of a swine farm in 2014

He might as well be right if success at public procurements is any measure of intelligence. In 2016 alone, Mészáros's original gas fitting company landed more than €400,000,000 worth of state contracts with its consortium partners, but it is not the only interest of Mészáros - that same year saw his rapid expansion into tourism, media, agriculture, construction, real estate, with these businesses bringing in an additional €300,000,000 worth of state contracts. Nowadays his influence is estimated to extend over hundreds of companies (despite him gifting his entire media portfolio to a recently created foundation in late November, with the merger exempted from competition law by Orbán) that employ at least 11,000 people, theoretically making Mészáros the 6th largest employer of Hungary.

So who do you think the richest man in Hungary really is?

I'd bet all my chips on that guy wearing a pink shirt with a hat and sunglasses.

► Show Spoiler

[JohnRawls]

So who do you think the richest man in Hungary really is?

I'd bet all my chips on that guy wearing a pink shirt with a hat and sunglasses.

► Show Spoiler

Sounds like poor version of Russia.

[Beren]

Sounds like poor version of Russia.

It's more like Azerbaijan actually, which Orbán called a model state once.

How Family That Runs Azerbaijan Built An Empire Of Hidden Wealth

[One Degree]

American politicians do very well for themselves too. Do you think Obama built an $8.1 million house with his savings from being a community organizer?

[noemon]

American politicians do very well for themselves too. Do you think Obama built an $8.1 million house with his savings from being a community organizer?

Do not confuse work-earned money with Orban's corruption handing out what appears to be the majority of government contracts to his best friend.

It's extremely dishonest.

[Beren]

Obama's estimated net worth is $40 million, which is peanuts compared to Orbán's $1,000+ million, I wonder if it's really so much for a former president. Obama hadn't been just a community organiser before he became president and his wife made more money than he did. They also published books and could have other sources of legal revenue, so I wonder if they can't account for their wealth like Orbán couldn't.

If you want to make me respond to you, then posting stupid shit like that is really the best way for you, @One Degree.

[One Degree]

Politicians get rich from being politicians. Do you really think people pay Obama $400,000 per speech for what he has to say? He is no different than any other politician, but being a politician makes you wealthy in any country.
You can argue the degree of wealth makes a difference, but it doesn’t change the fact it is common.
It certainly is not dishonest to point it out.

[Beren]

You're dishonesty itself in its pure form.

[One Degree]

You're dishonesty itself in its pure form.

Your brilliance overwhelms.

[Beren]

Your brilliance overwhelms.

So you just want to be overwhelmed much, huh?

[One Degree]

So you just want to be overwhelmed much, huh?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of ... _of_crimes

Number of US politicians charged with crimes while in office just since 2010. Corruption goes hand in hand with politics. Pretending there are ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ determined by your personal bias is stupid.
That is exactly what is upsetting you. You want to place limits on who is most guilty based upon your own bias.

[Beren]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_state_and_local_politicians_convicted_of_crimes

Number of US politicians charged with crimes while in office just since 2010. Corruption goes hand in hand with politics. Pretending there are ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ determined by your personal bias is stupid.
That is exactly what is upsetting you. You want to place limits on who is most guilty based upon your own bias.

So you think you actually made a case for your cause with comparing Obama's $40 million net worth with Orbán's $1,000+ million?

Keep up the good work then!

[One Degree]

So you think you actually made a case for your cause with comparing Obama's $40 million net worth with Orbán's $1,000+ million?

Keep up the good work then!

I think I made a case for it being common politicians make money from corruption.

Illinois alone has had
5 governors
1 US senator
6 US representatives

Indicted for corruption.

[noemon]

It is extreme and shameless dishonesty equating getting paid for your political services with stealing money from public coffers.

These people indicted for corruption are not the Obamas.

[Beren]

I think I made a case for it being common politicians make money from corruption.

Illinois alone has had
5 governors
1 US senator
6 US representatives

Indicted for corruption.

So you just meant to be Mr. Obvious. Has it occurred to you, Mr. Obvious, that it might be more than just a difference in quantity? Obviously not. And you compared a fucking former US president with a PM of a chickenshit 2nd world country, Mr. Obvious, which should highlight the differences to anyone with a half of a brain at least.

[One Degree]

It is extreme and shameless dishonesty equating getting paid for your political services with stealing money from public coffers.

These people indicted for corruption are not the Obamas.

No, because those $400,000 fees are legal kickbacks. You notice how you want to make it all about Obama when I only used him as the most recent example. The mere thought some of his money might be the result of favors while in office set off your political bias. Look at the list I linked. They are both Republicans and Democrats. Democrat corrupt political machines have been the most notorious however. Chicago has always been one of the worst. Obama is a Chicago Democrat. I am not saying he is guilty of anything, but he certainly comes from a background that has long been involved in corruption.

[noemon]

No, because those $400,000 fees are legal kickbacks. You notice how you want to make it all about Obama when I only used him as the most recent example. The mere thought some of his money might be the result of favors while in office set off your political bias. Look at the list I linked. They are both Republicans and Democrats. Democrat corrupt political machines have been the most notorious however. Chicago has always been one of the worst. Obama is a Chicago Democrat. I am not saying he is guilty of anything, but he certainly comes from a background that has long been involved in corruption.

Dear God, "I am making it about Obama" because I am responding to you who brought Obama into this thread to compare him to Orban. Are you saying Obama's 400,000 fees are illegal somehow?

This is as shameless as Orban's total disregard not just for his country's coffers but for appearances too. You trying to normalise this kind of thing as "all good" is the sad cherry on the cake.

[One Degree]

Dear God, "I am making it about Obama" because I am responding to you who brought Obama into this thread to compare him to Orban. Are you saying Obama's 400,000 fees are illegal somehow?

This is as shameless as Orban's total disregard not just for his country's coffers but for appearances too. You trying to normalise this kind of thing as "all good" is the sad cherry on the cake.

Has Orban been charged with corruption? If not, then there is no difference between him and Obama except your bias.

[noemon]

Has Orban been charged with corruption? If not, then there is no difference between him and Obama except your bias.

If anyone ever wondered what nihilism and dishonesty combined looks like, one needs to look no further. What bias is that? Really curious here. Telling you that a person working legally is not the same as another person shamelessly stealing money? Sure you can pretend that Orban and his buddy have made their monies "legally" or what they are doing is absolutely fine but I highly doubt anyone will take you seriously but you are sure welcome to try. What you cannot do is shamelessly pretend that Obama is anyhow comparable to Orban like you already did for reasons already explained to you. Aside from being a lie, it's bad morals trying to normalise the OP as "absolute fine business as usual". Is that what you teach your children and grand-children?

[Beren]

Has Orban been charged with corruption? If not, then there is no difference between him and Obama except your bias.

And who'd charge Orbán with corruption when the Chief Prosecutor is one of his clients and the Hungarian prosecutor system is totally hierarchical and centralised? You just don't know what you're talking about.



Meanwhile...

HUNGARY CONTINUES TO SAY NO TO JOINING EUROPEAN PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE

So who's the biased and ignorant here?