Sándor Demján (14 May 1943 – 26 March 2018) was a Hungarian businessman, entrepreneur, and according to
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
the
second richest person in Hungary with a net worth of 192.0 billion
HUF (615 million
EUR). He was the chairman of
TriGránit.
[Meghalt Demján Sándor](_blank)
Early life
Demján was born in
Börvely in the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
(present-day
Berveni,
Satu Mare County
Satu Mare County (, , ) is a county (Counties of Romania, județ) of Romania, on the border with Hungary and Ukraine. The capital city is Satu Mare.
Name
In Hungarian language, Hungarian, it is known as ''Szatmár megye'', in German language, Ge ...
,
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
). His father of
Székely origin, had moved there in 1940, but was killed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. His mother, a
Danube Swabian from
Etyek, moved to Börvely after being displaced in the war. On scholarship, he graduated in business administration in 1965 from the
College of Commerce, Catering and Tourism.
Business career
Demján became president of the Gorsium ÁFÉSZ from 1968 to 1973, and from 1973 to 1986, was a co-CEO of their joint venture. From 1986 to 1990, he was the president and one of the founders of the Hungarian Credit Bank. Since 1990, he has been part of the Central European Development Corporation, and in 1991, he was CEO of the Central European Investment Company. In 1996, he inaugurated the opening of the Bank Center, the Granite Pole, and the Pólus Center. In 1996, he became the chairman of
TriGránit. In 1999, he also inaugurated the
WestEnd City Center, followed in 2000 by the Polus City Center in
Bratislava
Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
opening, and, in 2005, the Silesia City Center in
Katowice
Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...
.
His wealth has been estimated to HUF 300 billion in assets in 2008; At the time, he was Hungary's richest man. His assets in 2006 has been estimated at HUF 80 billion; In just over two years, his capital almost quadrupled.
In 2003, he founded the Prima Primissima Award, dedicated to the protection of Hungarian intellectual achievements, the development of domestic science, and the strengthening of arts and culture.
In 2012, he offered a significant part of his assets up for charity.
In 2014, Demján announced that, due to age, he would gradually recede in business life, and management of his subordinate companies will be passed on.
The 2014 Influence barometer calculated him the sixth most influential person of Hungary.
Death
Demján died on 26 March 2018 at the age of 74.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demjan, Sandor
1943 births
2018 deaths
People from Satu Mare County
Székely people
Danube-Swabian people
Hungarian businesspeople
Hungarian company founders
Hungarian billionaires