According to this story, Danko now only owns an old Mercedes. Everything has been transferred to the children.
However, Danko Končar entered the Croatian business scene much later than the two previous families, only after 2000. His biography has always been accompanied by controversies stemming from his imprisonment during the socialist era at the Jugoturbina company, where he continued to work even after his release. He acquired his first capital, as he revealed to us in an interview, in the late 1980s while working in Zagreb for Gold Star, now LG.
His business path, he said at the time, was full of ups and downs, and he rose financially through jobs in the mining industry and the purchase of two Russian chrome ore processing plants. Later, he transferred his investments to South Africa, and because of the mines located there, he was called the “Chrome King.” Only after that did he start doing business in Croatia. He first started in the real estate market, mainly in Istria, then in shipbuilding, metal industry, tourism, energy, and finally in wine production and even agriculture. It is true that he recently gave up the latter, the renovation of the Buzet gene center and pig farming, and sold the neglected complex, but it is hardly known that he does not actually own his “business empire.”
Distribution by kinship
“In my case, it’s already a settled matter. My wife and I transferred ownership to our children 15 years ago. Except for Nenad, all the others were in London, and since inheritance taxes there are enormous, 40%, and Brexit was already looming, we didn’t want anything more complicated and decided it was better to carry out the transfer as soon as possible,” says Končar, now 83.
The distribution, he continues, was resolved so that everyone received something, according to their family ties. Nenad, who is most visible in the Croatian media, mainly due to Brodotrogir and Adriadiesel, took over the sector, namely the company Jadranska ulaganja. Daughters Simona and Lena were interested in the tourism part of the portfolio, so the former took over LMS and the latter LNS Investments. Končar’s other son, Ljubomir, lives in London.
“I am actually only the owner of one old car, a Mercedes, in fact,” laughs Končar, whose elderly four-wheeled pet is 30 years old. He also got rid of his private jet, where, as he once said, he spent most of his days. He had his own Learjet, but eventually decided to sell it.
“Pleasure is expensive. For a while, it means something to you, but when you indulge yourself, you realize it’s a million-euro expense and you could use it better,” says Končar.
He says he has never understood the title “Chrome King,” with which he has been crowned in the media since his arrival in Croatia, because he does not consider himself a king. Business in Croatia and real estate investments have also not gone smoothly, especially privatization projects, which were bought as losers and required large investments.
“But things are progressing slowly. Nenad is doing better; it took him time to get all the strings in order; all the companies he bought were ‘sick,’ and he didn’t have an easy task.” Now it’s stable, the Trogir shipyard has work to do, Karlovac’s Adriadiesel is still tying up loose ends, but all in all, it has gotten back on its feet, and I am satisfied,” says Danko Končar.
He is also satisfied with the progress of the work in his daughters’ portfolio, and some of these are the reason why he has been difficult to reach for a longer conversation in recent days, as he has been rushing from one meeting to another. From the “Capo” winery near Brtonigla, which, according to him, produces excellent wines, to the Heritage&Resort Hotel Monument in Pula, which received a five-star rating last week and is preparing to welcome its first guests.