Billionaire Richard Lugner Dead at 91 – Just 2 Months After Tying the Knot with Sixth Wife, 42

Mar. 15, 2025

Richard Lugner and Simone Reiländer.Photo:APA-PictureDesk GmbH/Shutterstock

APA-PictureDesk GmbH/Shutterstock

Austrian entrepreneur and billionaire Richard Lugner has died. He was 91.

Lugner — who was known, among other things, for entertaining many celebrities, includingKim Kardashian,Jane Fonda,Pamela Anderson, andGoldie Hawn, at the famous Vienna Opera Ball through the years — died on Monday, Aug. 12, at his villa in Vienna, perAgence France-Presse.

Lugner, who most recently attended the Opera Ball in February withPriscilla Presley, had reportedly been dealing with multiple health problems and undergone surgery in recent months, per the news agency.

Kim Kardashian and Richard Lugner attend the Vienna Opera Ball in 2014.Gisela Schober/Getty

Gisela Schober/Getty

The country’s chancellor, Karl Nehammer, led the tributeson 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!”

Priscilla Presley and Richard Lugner attend 2024’s Vienna Opera Ball.Gisela Schober/Getty

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’sFacebookpage.

Jane Fonda poses with Richard Lugner on the eve of 2023’s Vienna Opera Ball.GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/AFP via Getty

GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/AFP via Getty

PEOPLE has reached out to Lugner City for comment.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Lugner ran twice in the Austrian presidential elections as an independent candidate; once in 1998 and again in 2016,Euro Newsreported.

Goldie Hawn and Richard Lugner attend 2017’s Vienna Opera Ball.Dominik Bindl/Getty

Dominik Bindl/Getty

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 tolocal reports.

He was previously married to Christine Gmeiner (​1961-1978), Cornelia Laufersweiler​​ (​1979-1983), Susanne Dietrich (1984-1989), Christina Lugner (1990-2007), as well asPlayboymodel 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.

source: people.com