91-Year-Old Billionaire Dies Weeks After Marrying His New Wife (Pictures)
Richard Lugner’s widow Simone, 42, breaks her silence as she pens heartfelt tribute to ‘the dream of her life’ as Austrian billionaire dies aged 91 – after pair got married only weeks before his death
The widow of billionaire Richard Lugner – who has today passed away aged 91 just weeks after marrying his sixth wife – has broken her silence as she penned a heartfelt tribute to her husband.
Forty-two-year-old Simone ‘Biene’ Reilaender, who was 49 years his junior, called the late entrepreneur ‘the dream of her life’.
‘And when I saw you shining, from the way I saw you shine, I knew was yours too,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘In love.’
She also shared a painting of Richard to go with the sweet message – having only a few posts earlier shared details of her wedding dress at their nuptials.
Richard was known for his extravagant lifestyle, many wives and glamourous dates with A-listers – and died after suffering several health issues.
The construction tycoon and socialite, who made headlines for paying the world’s VIPs to attend Vienna’s annual Opera Ball, passed away in his Viennese villa on Monday, Austrian media reported.
Lugner – nicknamed Mr Concrete – was notorious for the celebrity friends he was often seen partying with, with the billionaire reportedly paying six-figure sums to stars like Kim Kardashian, Geri Halliwell and Paris Hilton to be on his arm at the Opera Ball.
Speaking to Kurier in April – just a few months before their June wedding – Simone said that ‘everything she wanted in a man was like Richard’.
‘A successful man who represents something, who you can cling to, look up to and learn from,’ she gushed.
‘Men like that are very rare at a younger age these days.’
And after they tied the knot, Richard had told the outlet: ‘It was a fantastically beautiful wedding, the speech by the registrar was beautiful, the celebration was beautiful and the bride is beautiful.’
Since 1992, Lugner invited acting icons like Goldie Hawn, Joan Collins and Jane Fonda as a special guest for the event, with Fonda saying he paid her ‘quite a bit of money’ to attend.
Born in Vienna on October 11, 1932, Lugner quickly made a name for himself in the construction business by focusing on small-scale projects amid the 1960s building boom, according to APA news agency.