Billionaire Hungarian writer in Monaco

Zoltán Böszörményi arrived in Toronto with no profession and no language skills, and only $25 in his pocket. After a few years of university, he was running his own company, but his first million dollars were not earned overseas. He came home and, as he says, he just had to bend down, the opportunity was at his feet. Today he lives the luxury life of the chosen few. A panoramic apartment in Monte Carlo, expensive cars and glitz. Yet it is not luxury that drives him, but rather his love of Hungarian literature, and he is extremely proud of his poetry books and his recently published novel.

Monaco is the second smallest country in the world. It is barely 2 square kilometres, much smaller than Buda Castle, and has 29,000 inhabitants, the same number as Jászberény. Yet it is said to be the world's most famous cliff. It has perhaps the highest number of rich people per square metre, and anyone who matters in show business is sure to visit it once in their lifetime. If nothing else, at least to see Formula 1.

Zoltán Böszörményi has lived in Monaco for 8 years. He drives a beautiful luxury car, has access to the most expensive restaurants and usually escapes the - not very cool - winters to the Bahamas. The only reason he doesn't have a luxury yacht rocking in the harbour in Montevideo is because his wife doesn't like cruising. And the terrace of his apartment offers the kind of panorama you only see in the movies. The previous tenant was a real world star, Claudia Schiffer, who lived there for a year.

She went out into the world in a single shirt

At first glance, you might think that Mr Böszörményi is a mysterious lottery billionaire or a lucky winner of the jackpot at the local casino. But that is not the case. His fictional adventurous journey to riches began with starvation and destitution in Transylvania. A philosopher by training, he was once a factory owner who fed 2,500 workers, but now his life is no longer about making money.

"I am not a businessman. I'm a converted industrialist who went through a catharsis and returned to his first love, literature," the writer said. Monaco is a tiny duchy of the Grimaldi family, perhaps different from other big cities on the French Riviera in that it seems to have been invented exclusively for the rich. And yet 100 years ago, its city centre had no name, now known as Monte Carlo. It's home to an adventurous Hungarian who gives us a glimpse of life in Europe's jewel box.

Zoltán Böszörményi is a poet and writer of many volumes, who, if he had lived in ancient Greece, would probably have been statue-bound long ago, as is the custom with great patrons of the arts.

"They asked me, 'Have I ever seen a fatal accident? I realised they were trying to kill me, I had to run away," said Mr Böszörmény.

He fled Romania in 1983. For six months he lived in a refugee camp where he cleaned toilets. Then fate brought him to Toronto, Canada, where he arrived with no language skills and only one pair of clothes. He got into university, where he graduated with a degree in philosophy. Seven years later, he set up his first business, inventing company and product names to order. Then, after the Romanian Revolution, he returned home to Transylvania and said he had the feeling that there were $100 bills lying everywhere. He - figuratively speaking - bent down for them and makes no secret of how he earned that first $1 million. He imported light bulbs and light bulbs from Budapest.

"I bought it for $1 and sold it for $9, so in a short time I made two and a half million dollars," says the billionaire businessman.

He then bought a Romanian light bulb factory that was in bankruptcy and owned it for 10 years. Then he sold it and now lives quite well on the annual returns from his financial investments, but he hasn't forgotten where he started from. "People have asked me if I've ever seen a fatal accident? I realised they were trying to kill me, I had to run away," said Mr Böszörmény.

Zoltán feels most at home in Arad, in the brand new Hungarian House, built entirely with his money, or rather donations, and home to the Hungarian theatre. He also bought the bankrupt Hungarian-language newspaper in Arad years ago. He was aware that culture is not a sector that is profitable. Today, with his support, a daily newspaper and a literary monthly are being produced, in which anyone can write, and they do, even György Faludy.

Zoltán could have chosen to self-publish his latest novel, but instead he joined the queue and knocked on the door of a publisher in Budapest. On the beach in Barbados and on a terrace in Monaco, Zoltán Böszörményi, an ex-businessman poet, wrote his latest book, which he admits is the best Hungarian novel of the last decade.

Although many might think that writing a book in such circumstances would be easy, the author said he was completely at ease during the writing process, working as if his life depended on it. Although Zoltán has everything, he is now nervous about its reception.

Even though the novel is about alienation, it's hard to feel bad in Monaco. According to a guidebook, ordinary people, even the poor, might feel at home there. No one would think of envying or hating why others have more. Exactly a week ago, Prince Albert, perhaps the best party in Europe, was admitted. For two days, the already colourful duchy showed an even more glamorous face. Zoltán has lived here for 8 years. "I just came here for the business, Monaco has a bad reputation, everyone thinks it's a tax haven, but it's not," said Zoltán.

You have to pay tax in Monaco, but not on all your income, and that's why it's not easy to get citizenship. There is virtually no crime in Europe's paradise, the streets are washed daily. And the 700-year-old world-famous dukedom of the Grimaldi family has this year, through Zoltán Böszörményi, entered Hungarian literary history. Zoltán could have chosen to self-publish his latest novel, but instead he joined the queue and knocked on the door of a Budapest publisher. On the beach in Barbados and on a terrace in Monaco, Zoltán Böszörményi, an ex-businessman poet, has written his latest book, which he admits is the best Hungarian novel of the last decade.

The report can be viewed on RTL Klub's website or downloaded below (47,3 MB - 9:01)

RTL Klub Fókusz - Ádám Jakab 2005-11-26 20:14:05

Translated by DeepL.