The strategies of Austria’s super-rich
Austria’s levels of wealth inequality are among the highest in the entire EU. According to statistics from the European Central Bank (ECB), the top five percent own 53.5 percent of net wealth. Estimates adjusted for statistical distortions suggest an even higher level of wealth inequality. These findings were arrived at by combining survey data with other sources, including wealth rankings by glossy magazines. The fact that the researchers use that type of source illustrates the difficulty of data collection in this domain. One does not find many billionaires willing to fill out surveys about their net worth.
“Whereas we really know very little about the wealth structures of Austria’s wealthiest individuals, recipients of social assistance are required to transparently disclose their financial situation,” notes socioeconomist Stephan Pühringer of Johannes Kepler University Linz. In 2023, he received the FWF’s START Prize for his project “Socio-Ecological Transformation and Economic Reasoning.” In a study published in the journal Socio-Economic Review, Pühringer and his colleagues set out to shed some light on the hidden wealth structures of Austria’s super-rich.
In this recently published study entitled “The oligarchic wealth elite in Austria: corporate networks and patterns of wealth accumulation”, Pühringer analyzes the economic networks surrounding 62 of the country’s wealthiest households. “For our analysis of the concentration of wealth in Austria, we mapped out a web of interrelations with approximately 70,000 nodes – including subsidiaries, law firms, private foundations, CPAs, owners, and managing directors,” Pühringer summarizes. “This map reveals a strong concentration of power, because nearly all 62 networks of the wealthy are interwoven through personal or business connections.”
The oligarchic wealth elite
Austria ranks among the EU countries with the highest levels of wealth inequality. According to the European Central Bank, the wealthiest 5 percent of the population own 53.5 percent of the country's total wealth. Researchers have criticized the lack of transparency surrounding the fortunes of the ultra-wealthy. A new study has now examined the networks and strategies of the super-rich.
Rethinking the Economy
In the context of Pühringer’s START project, the study is an excursus that captures the local status quo in Austria. “Given that we are overshooting the limits of our planet, we have to wonder how we intend to structure the economy and its relationship to society in the future. I reflect on the factors that promote or hinder a transformation of our economies and wonder why we cling so strongly to an outdated concept of the economy,” says Pühringer, explaining his field of research. “This also involves understanding the structures of wealth and the completely out-of-balance distribution of wealth that is also a threat to democracy.”
For their research, Pühringer and his colleagues have to rely on publicly available data. In their study, however, the researchers did not draw on tax data or published asset values – as is often the case in studies on inequality. Their primary data sources for their investigations into the “organizational architectures” of capital accumulation were the Company Register and the Register of Beneficial Owners. “Entries there are official data owned by the Republic of Austria. It is one of Austria’s hard-to-understand peculiarities that the complete dataset is not readily accessible. Private companies process the data and charge for each individual query,” says Pühringer. “We were able to use a limited research access – which was also payable.”
With the help of these data, the researchers conducted a social network analysis that examined the relationships between nodes, distinguishing between institutions and individuals – and according to the study, the latter are predominantly male. The team used a technique known as cluster analysis, which enabled them to identify characteristic structures within the network. They found three clearly distinguishable “modes of wealth accumulation”: first; a finance-driven type – characterized by smaller networks, numerous private foundations, and a low public profile. Second, a real estate-focused sector, which is characterized by an overwhelmingly large number of limited liability companies (GmbHs) that are centrally controlled by a small number of managers; René Benko’s corporate network – collapsed by now – was the most extreme case in this context. And the third and largest group consists of industrial networks – mostly centered around joint stock corporations – marked by their extensive reach and connections to politics.
Private foundations as a billionaire tool
Apart from the above, the corporate networks exhibit several overarching systemic characteristics. These include, for example, the phenomenon of Austrian private foundations, which enable the long-term, tax-efficient management of large fortunes while providing protection from liability. This is a form of foundation that exists only in Austria: in many other European countries, foundations must serve charitable purposes. Private-law structures, such as the family foundation in Germany, are subject to significantly higher taxes – thanks to inheritance tax. “There are about 3,000 private foundations in Austria. More than a third of them are part of the networks surrounding the 62 households examined,” Pühringer explains. “This illustrates just to what extent private foundations serve as a tool specifically for asset preservation among the very wealthiest.”
Another point concerns the significance of real estate holdings. “In all the networks we examined – even those without a focus on real estate – real estate ownership plays a disproportionately large role. This finding aligns with previous studies, which told us real estate ownership in Austria is extremely concentrated and unevenly distributed,” notes Pühringer. “Wealth taxes would hit these real estate holdings hard – which also explains why the suggested introduction of such taxes meets with strong opposition.”
Superconnectors and their networks
Finally, the study illustrates not only how intricate and complex the corporate networks are, but also how closely the individual networks of the wealthy are interconnected. “In the Benko network, for example, there was one managing director who headed 250 companies. In total, we identified 14 individuals who each held over 100 positions,” Pühringer explains. At the same time, nearly all 62 networks are interconnected through individuals in key positions. “These ‘superconnectors’ include individuals from supervisory boards, asset management firms, the investment sector, and law firms. We found one manager, for instance, who served on the boards of 60 private foundations,” Pühringer explains. “The complexity and high level of specialization of these superconnectors also mean that they offer a significant resource advantage over the tax authorities to the high net-worth individuals.”
Strategies to combat inequality
So what steps could Austria’s lawmakers take to ensure a more balanced distribution of wealth in the long term? According to Pühringer, tax law and corporate law suggest themselves for action. “It’s obvious that a reintroduction of wealth and inheritance taxes is necessary. Their absence is also partly to blame for the lack of systematic data on wealth and the fact that we know so little about inequality,” emphasizes the socioeconomist. “At the same time, the situation in Austria is already so severely out of kilter that even new wealth taxes would have little effect in the short term – inequality has already become much too entrenched. Ultimately, one would have to consider introducing caps on capital accumulation and wealth.”
According to Pühringer, there is also a strong need for regulation regarding private foundations – a phenomenon unique to Austria that concerns an extremely small portion of the population and massively fuels inequality. “Tax authorities are up against a small circle of highly specialized and well-connected experts who manage these financial structures,” notes Pühringer. Another lever for change can be found in company law: “As a rule, company names should be indicative of the company’s purpose and not be misleading. But there are many examples of GmbH names that contain only a sequential number for identification purposes,” Pühringer criticizes. One should also consider setting a maximum number of companies that a managing director may head. “The absence of these measures ultimately cements an unequal balance of power between an ‘oligarchic wealth elite’ and tax and regulatory authorities,” the researcher concludes.
About the researcher
Stephan Pühringer is the director of the Socio-Ecological Transformation Lab at the Linz Institute for Transformative Change and deputy director of the Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy (ICAE) at Johannes Kepler University Linz. The socio-economist’s research focuses on critical competition research, studies of neoliberalism, the history of economic thought, and the political economy of socio-ecological transformation. In 2023, the FWF awarded him a START grant endowned with EUR 1.2 million for his project “Sustainable Socio-Ecological Transformation and Economic Reasoning,” which is set to run from 2024 to 2029.
Publication
The oligarchic wealth elite in Austria: corporate networks and patterns of wealth accumulation, in: Socio-Economic Review 2026
