Rudolf Scholten
| Rudolf Scholten link Powerbase (Politician) | |
|---|---|
| File:Rudolf Scholten.jpg | |
| Born | 3 November 1955 Vienna, Austria |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Alma mater | Schottengymnasium,University of Vienna |
| Interests | Club 45? |
| Party | Social Democratic Party of Austria |
Austrian politician on the Bilderberg Steering committee. He has attended a lot of Bilderberg meetings. Thanks to his political influence (and despite a suicide in protest) he was appointed General Director of the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG. From 1990 to 1997 he was Minister for Arts. | |
Dr. Rudolf Gerhard Hubertus Maria Scholten was a member of the Bilderberg Steering committee. He has attended a lot of Bilderberg meetings. Thanks to his political influence (and despite a suicide in protest) he was appointed member of the Board of the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG (OeKB) from 1997 to 2016, and from January 2014 until his retirement General Director.From 1990 to 1997 he was Minister for Arts.
Education
Rudolf Scholten grew up until he entered school on the forestry estate of his parents Sophie (nee Countess van der Straten-Ponthoz and Gerhard Scholten in Eggern in Lower Austria. In 1973 he graduated from the Schottengymnasium in Vienna, then he studied law and economics at the University of Vienna.In 1978 he received his doctorate in law.
Career
He joined the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank (OeKB) from 1976 to 1983, worked in the secretariat of the Board on international financing until 1983, and then a year at Morgan Stanley, before goung back to the OeKB.
Scholten was economic policy secretary to the then Federal Minister of Finance, Franz Vranitzky, from 1984 to 1986, and after Franz Vranitzky was appointed Chancellor, he was economic and cultural policy advisor in the Chancellery from 1986 to 1988. From 1988 to 1990 he was General Secretary of the Austrian Federal Theatre Association, from 1990 to 1997 Minister of Education and the Arts (1990 to 1994), and Minister of Science, Research and the Arts (1994 to 1996). He eventually became Federal Minister of Science, Transport and the Arts (1996 to 1997). After Vranitzky's resignation, Rudolf Scholten also left the federal government.
In 1997, Rudolf Scholten became a member of the Board of the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Acredia Insurance, Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG and Österreichische Exportfonds GmbH.
Murky suicide
Rudolf Scholten's entry into the OeKB was overshadowed by the suicide of one of the two board members, Gerhard Praschak, who "put a Smith & Wesson in his mouth and pulled the trigger".[1] In a letter sent to many print media, Praschak raised accusations of political intervention in favor of Scholten, for example the enlargement of the board to three people. Praschak was one of the highest paid bank managers with an annual salary of five million schilling, his contract was still safe for years, and he was not threatened with termination. On April 24, 1998, the apartment of Gerhard Praschak's widow, Nicole, was broken into. The perpetrator stole only private records of the dead banker, including those originals that Praschak had sent in copy to the media and parties before his death. After the suicide of Praschak, his post was not filled again.[more to this story?] Since January 1, 2014, Scholten has held the title of General Director.
Other positions
Rudolf Scholten has been President of the Bruno Kreisky Forum since 2004 and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Wiener Festwochen since 2005. In 2006, together with the writer Robert Schindel, he founded the literature festival Literatur im Nebel in Heidenreichstein.
In October 2007, the acting Minister of Education, Arts and Culture, Claudia Schmied, announced the appointment of Scholten as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Austrian Film Institute, which has the task of financially promoting Austrian film. Scholten took over this function on 1 January 2008.
In January 2010, Scholten was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the not-nationalized bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria.[2] He resigned from this function at the Annual General Meeting on May 23, 2014.[3]