‘There will be a huge tussle over the inheritance’: Family friend of flamboyant Austrian billionaire, 91, says his four children WILL go to war with his sixth wife after his death

A family friend of a flamboyant Austrian billionaire, 91, has said his four children will go to war with his sixth wife over his fortune after he amended his will weeks before his death. 

Billionaire Richard Lugner – known for his extravagant lifestyle, many wives and glamourous dates with a-listers – has died aged 91 on Monday after suffering several health issues. 

He leaves behind four children – Alexander Lugner, 61, Andreas Lugner, 59, Nadin Jeannine Cutter, 39, and Jacqueline Lugner, 30, – and his newlywed sixth wife Simone ‘Biene’ Reilaender, 42, who could soon be embroiled in a battle for his fortune with his offspring. 

A few weeks ago, Richard Lugner had told reporters that he had amended his will and that all his children and his new wife Simone were named in it, so that everyone would be taken care of in the event of his death.

But a source close to the family now told tabloid Bild: ‘There will be a huge tussle over the inheritance. Who will have the right to live in the villa? Who will get what from the foundations?’

‘The properties are not bad either. Christina Lugner will fight with all means to ensure that Jacqueline, her daughter with Richard, gets as much as possible,’ the source added.

Christina Lugner, Lugner’s fourth wife and mother of Jacqueline, spoke to Austrian media today as a representative for the family and also appeared to allude to her daughter getting embroiled in a potential fight for the Lugner fortune. 

‘Our daughter Jacqueline will do everything in her power to ensure that Richard’s legacy is preserved and that everything is implemented as Richard wished,’ she said.

Lugner married his sixth wife Simone on June 1 and shortly after, on August 1, made her the head of his shopping centre and cinema Lugner City, telling Austrian Heute newspaper: ‘At some point, when I am no longer here, she will be the sole boss.’

Her new job came with a five-figure monthly salary, on top of that she will now receive a considerable widow’s pension of around thousands of euros a month.

Lucker had only revised his will in July, shortly before he underwent heart surgery. He said he wanted Simone, who had signed a prenup, to be taken care of ‘if something happens to me’.

‘She should be protected when I say goodbye. That’s why I will also revise my will. Because whoever lives with me when I die should also inherit accordingly,’ Lugner said back in April. 

But before he appointed his new wife, Lugner’s youngest daughter Jacqueline had been rumoured to be following into her father’s footsteps at Lugner City – but ‘Jacky is so busy with the cinema’ at Lugner City she is managing, Lugner said at the time.

The tycoon had already handed over his successful construction company to his sons Alexander and Andreas years ago. Despite Lugner reportedly breaking off contact with Andreas recently, the 59-year-old was not disinherited.

His sons are also involved with managing their father’s foundation, which is a complicated construct of companies, real estate, money and investments, Austrian Kronen Zeitung reports. 

His daughter Nadin Jeannine, from Lugner’s relationship with actress Sonja Jeannine Cutter, lives in Nevada, US, and was reportedly visited by her father and his new wife Simone earlier this year. 

The relationship between Lugner’s children is strained and there is said to be a lot of mistrust between them, according to local media reports.

They could soon be fighting over his fortune, which includes not just shopping centre and cinema Lugner City, but also an extensive property portfolio. Most of Lugner’s fortune is reportedly held in a foundation.

An insider told the oe24 newspaper that Lugner has granted Simone the right to live in his massive Doeblinger mansion until the end of her life – and his children reportedly would not have access to the property until she dies. 

What happens with the rest of his fortune is yet to be seen – and it is unclear how much Lugner really owned, with estimates varying by hundreds of millions. 

Lugner has been married six times, with the ups and downs of his turbulent love life being regularly reported on as he was keen to open up about it. 

In 1961, Lugner got married to Christine Gmeiner and their union lasted until 1978. 

He then married Cornelia Laufersweiler in 1979, but got swiftly divorced four years later in 1983.

His wedding to his third wife, Susanne Dietrich, followed a year later, with the couple divorcing in 1989.

Lugner was married to his fourth wife, Christina Lugner, from 1990 to 2007, before tying the knot with his fifth wife, Playboy Bunny Cathy Schmitz, in 2014. 

The couple with a 57-year age difference got divorced just 809 days later in 2016.

The billionaire announced his relationship with Simone Reilaender in 2021 and the couple got married in front of 50 guests June this year – just weeks before his death. 

Lugner had four children: Alexander and Andreas Lugner, from his first marriage, Nadin Jeannine Cutter from his relationship with actress Sonja Jeannine, and Jacqueline Lugner from his fourth marriage. 

Last month Lugner had surgery for a ruptured heart valve at the Vienna General Hospital and was reportedly suffering several health problems recently. 

It followed several cancer diagnoses. In 2016, Lugner announced that he had prostate cancer, which he managed to defeat after several months of radiotherapy.

He was then diagnosed with skin cancer in 2020 and the disease returned in 2021 after he underwent surgery following both diagnoses.

Lugner’s cause of death has not yet been revealed.

The construction tycoon- 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. 

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.

In 1975, Lugner landed his first major coup, when he was commissioned to build the Vienna Islamic Centre, Austria’s first and biggest mosque. More than a decade later, he built his eponymous ‘Lugner City’ shopping centre.

The eccentric 91-year-old was an integral part of Vienna’s high society, with Lugner frequently dominating the headlines, including criticism he faced over his sexist comments.

A fan of the limelight, Lugner had been inviting the world’s celebrities to the famous Vienna Opera Ball since 1992, most recently bringing Priscilla Presley to the event and dancing the night away with the former wife of Elvis Presley.

Sarah Ferguson attended the Opera Ball with Lugner in 1997, after he paid her a fee said to be between $50,000 and $150,000 

More former guests of Lugner include celebrities like Sophia Loren, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, Jane Fonda – who attended last year’s event -, Geri Halliwell and Joan Collins.

American actress Fonda said she accepted the Austrian building tycoon’s invitation to attend the Vienna Opera Ball because he offered to ‘pay me quite a bit of money.’ 

While the amount the tycoon paid his guests of honour has mostly remained a closely guarded secret, he seized on the opportunity to promote his brand and made sure to invite at least one star per year to the ball.

One of the star guests Lugner invited to the Opera Ball was Kim Kardashian, who he famously called ‘annoying’ after she and her mother Kris Jenner attended as his double date to the bash in 2014. 

Kim claimed she fled the event because she was reportedly offended following a reported racial slur from a guest.

After the ball, Lugner – nicknamed Concrete due to his roots in the building trade -claimed the star would not dance with him despite being paid a jaw-dropping $500,000 (nearly £400,000).

But Kim insisted she was approached by a white male who was working at the event in ‘blackface’ and began to mimic her then-fiancé Kanye West, which was why she ran away.

Despite calling the Vienna Ball ‘super glamorous’, Kim admitted she had been already suffering anxiety largely because the event was ‘super claustrophobic’.