Signa Files Insolvency as Cash Crunch Fells Luxury Empire (2)

Austrian tycoon Rene Benko’s Signa filed for insolvency after a last-ditch attempt to raise emergency funding failed, making the co-owner of New York’s Chrysler building one of the most prominent casualties of Europe’s property crisis.

The filing is a bitter blow for the self-made mogul, who was known to boast that only the British royal family and the Catholic church could rival his array of exclusive properties. With assets valued at €23 billion ($25 billion) at the end of last year, the collapse may become the largest real estate meltdown in Europe since the global financial crisis.

Rene Benko

Photographer: Georg Hochmuth/AFP/Getty Images

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