Zakenprins . The hunt for success of Bernhard van
Oranje
Book Prince Bernhard junior
A reckless business prince with a poorly developed
ethical compass
Prins Bernhard
jr., son of Princess Margriet and mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven, is repeatedly
'reckless' in the pursuit of his business ambitions. This is the conclusion of
journalists Michiel Couzy and Maarten
van Dun in their book Zakenprins.
Eric Brassem31 March 2021, 01:00
According
to the authors, 'the prince seeks out borders and does business at home and
abroad with partners whose reputation has demonstrably been contaminated'. For
their book Business Prince, they investigated well-known and lesser-known
business enterprises of the prince, in the Netherlands and Serbia. The authors
give striking examples of Bernhard's business instinct and good ideas, but his
'ethical compass' is 'insufficiently strong', they believe on the basis of
deepened pieces and conversations with people who know him. Bernhard himself
did not want to cooperate.
The authors explain his ambitions from his
efforts to put an end to the idea that he owes everything to his royal origins
– which, according to the authors, he does throw into the fray when it suits
him. Asked about the relevance of a book about a prince who has not been a
potential heir to the throne since 2013, author Michiel Couzysays: "He is
still a member of the royal family. His actions could harm the royal family and
fuel discussions about the role of the royal family. This became clear during
the publicity that erupted in 2017 about Bernhard's house ownership in
Amsterdam."
‘Pandjesprins’
Couzy and
Van Dun wrote for Het Parool about Bernhard's real estate company, and about
the effect of large homeowners on the Amsterdam housing market. It also turned
out that Bernhard violated the rental rules. Other media called him 'pawnshop
prince'; the PvdA proposed a 'prince Bernhard tax'.
Less well known is the business adventure that
the investment company of Bernhard and his business partners Menno de Jong and
Paul Mol entered into with the media company of Hans Pérukel. In the
mid-nineties he gained the reputation of Dutch 'founder of internet
pornography' by putting shows of sex club Casa
Rosso online.
In 2012, Bernhard and his companions bought 30
percent of the shares of a media company of Pérukel,which mainly revolved
around radio station Wild FM. Shortly before the bankruptcy of that
company, Pérukel transferred the most
valuable part to a new company. Bernhard and his partners have also become
shareholders of this, according to the book. 'Paulianeus', punishable, the
receiver assesses the shifting of business units.
Fiasco
The authors
also found Bernhard's 'infected' business partners in Serbia. In Novi Sad,
known at the beginning of this century as a money laundering centre for drug
criminals, the prince and his partners and their real estate company got into a
construction project, which turned into a fiasco. According to the authors,
they fell victim to a shady Serbian bank manager and project developer with
whom they teamed up.
A real estate project in Belgrade ended better
for Bernhard and his partner De Jong. But there too, according to Couzy and Van
Dun, they did business with the 'infected' then mayor and city planner.
At the end of 2018 Bernhard will leave the
publicity around the circuit of Zandvoort he purchased. After all the commotion
about his real estate, he understands that this is more convenient, but he does
not understand the commotion himself, the authors write, because 'he has done
nothing but so many other businessmen, hasn't he?'.
The career of 'business prince' Bernhard is full
of moral minefields
The housing
affair haunts Bernhard van Oranje to this day. He violated the rules for rental
in Amsterdam. This fits into a pattern, as can be seen from the book Business
Prince by journalists Michiel Couzy (Het Parool) and Maarten van Dun.
Michiel
Couzy and Maarten van Dun30 March 2021,
12:00
In 2021, more than three years later, the
storm still hasn't subsided. If, just before this month's parliamentary
elections, the PvdA releases the plan for a 'Prince Bernhard tax', in which
investors have to pay more tax, that will immediately grow into national news.
The combination of the prince and real estate still guarantees a stir to this
day.
The book Business Prince, which will be
published on Thursday, highlights the business career of Prince Bernhard of
Orange, son of Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven. For the book,
about a hundred sources were spoken at home and abroad about Bernhard, from
business partners to former employees, politicians and acquaintances. Research
was done in all kinds of archives, at the Chamber of Commerce and the Land
Registry and in thousands of pages of government documents that were obtained
thanks to appeal to the Freedom of Information Act. The book contains, among
other things, a reconstruction of the house affair that got out of hand and how
it fits into a career full of moral minefields.
No permit
At the end
of 2017, the fuss erupted about his home ownership when Het Parool publishes a
list of private home investors with more than a hundred addresses in Amsterdam.
The reason is the growing influence that investors exert on the housing market.
One of the names on the list is that of His Highness Bernhard Lucas Emmanuel
Prince of Orange-Nassau, Van Vollenhoven, as he is mentioned in the Land
Registry as the 'rightful owner' of 102 addresses in the city (there are now
96). He owns them with three partners: Coen Groeneveld, Paul Mol and Menno de
Jong. In addition, through real estate company Pinnacle, in which he is
involved, he has even more addresses: at that time 590 in the Netherlands, of
which 349 in Amsterdam.
The initial surprise at this extensive real
estate property turns into outrage when it turns out that the rental of his
properties does not go according to the rules. Het Parool describes how
sometimes five or six tenants live together in the houses of Bernhard and his
business partners, who do not have a permit for this. Municipal enforcers
confirm this. Some tenants have to live with their parents on paper and
therefore have hardly any rights. How can someone from royal blood break the
rules so badly and treat his tenants so badly?
After several reminders, the municipality
sends an order subject to penalty payments. If the property owners continue to
break the rules, they will have to pay 50,000 euros. Only after this ultimate
pressure do the four property owners arrange a permit.
Ugly rules
This affair
contains various elements that ensure that Bernhard grows into, as he calls it,
'mascot in the housing market discussion.' The first statement is a political
one. In 2017, various parties in the Amsterdam city council are worried about
the role that investors play in the overheated housing market, but the subject
does not come to life. Because of the publications, the problem suddenly gets a
face. And what a one: a prince helps ensure that less fortunate Amsterdammers
have to pay the main price for housing. Progressive Amsterdam jumps on top of
it. 'Protect Amsterdam from wealthy fathers who buy up the city,' writes
Marjolein Moorman, at the time still chairman of the PvdA party, in Het Parool.
The city council even organizes a hearing on the role of investors in the city,
for which they invite the prince.
Bernhard is no longer in the line of
succession to the throne, but still belongs to the royal family. His origins
matter in this affair. 'Prince Bernhard junior will undoubtedly work hard, but
you would expect more solidarity from someone in such a privileged position,'
moorman writes. The Dutch can appreciate that Bernhard earns his own living and
leads a fairly normal family life in Amsterdam, as long as he colours within
the lines. And there's the rub.
From his first company, founded during his
student days in Groningen, it appears that he considers rules to be flexible.
His courier company Ritzen Koeriers,
which uses students with a public transport annual card to transport parcels by
train, pays too little tax on wages that have been paid out. He narrowly avoids a criminal case for fraud
with a settlement. That settlement makes it to the NOS Journaal, so that the
press conference, a few days later about the engagement of Bernhard and Annette
Sekrève, is mainly about this case. This kind of publicity damages the
reputation of the royal family and therefore leads to dissperformment among his
aunt, then Queen Beatrix.
Dubious
business partner
In 2012
things go wrong when Bernhard invests in a company that owns radio station Wild
FM. That goes bankrupt. The trustee later finds that the business stinks,
according to various bankruptcy reports. Valuable business units have been
diverted in a prohibited way, from which Bernhard and his companions benefit.
The receiver submits a claim, also with Bernhard's investment company. It
eventually comes to a settlement.
The stakes outside the Netherlands are also
high. Shortly before the financial crisis, Bernhard entered into extremely
risky project development in the Balkans. Serbia is still focusing on it after
the devastating civil war and numerous experts warn of the widespread
corruption, which makes doing business difficult. Bernhard enters into projects
with controversial business partners there, according to research in numerous
Serbian documents, such as bankruptcy reports, judgments, real estate deeds and
the register of the Chamber of Commerce.
A key Serbian business partner of the prince
is later the subject of police investigations into tax evasion and corruption.
He is arrested after a chase, but later they get into a new project together:
the construction of a residential area in Belgrade. Bernhard and his regular
business partners finance the whole thing, benefiting from the excellent
contacts that their local partners maintain with the mayor and the city
architect of Belgrade, who have been linked to corruption in the Serbian press
for years.
Another factor in the relentless fuss about
the housing affair is bernhard's own actions. He doesn't understand the fuss.
The management of his real estate is outsourced to a professional party, with
the assignment to rent it out according to the rules, so what does he have to
do with this? Bernhard's media advisers take the fuss very seriously and
suggest that he should do something to boost his image. Is it an idea that he
says goodbye to his real estate and instead sets up a social or green fund?
This would shed a very different light on the prince. That is not an option,
says Bernhard resolutely. The houses form his pension, because he does not
receive a state allowance. He has just as decidedly rejects the suggestion to
renounc his princely title and thus take away the attention for his origins.
His loyalty to the family is too great for that, although King Willem-Alexander
is 'not amused' about all the publicity.
When Bernhard receives the invitation to the
hearing of the Amsterdam city council, his spokesman Charles Huijskens insists on writing a neat letter of thanks: a
prince cannot afford an arrogant attitude towards elected representatives.
Because Bernhard does not give a mess, Huijskens decides to write the letter
himself. He is even willing to buy stamp and envelope.
Pr-blunder
But when
Huijskens submits the letter to
Bernhard, he informs him that he has already sent a short e-mail to the council
clerk: he does not consider himself to be an expert and thanks. Huijskens realizes that this is a huge pr blunder.
Bernhard's rejection feeds the interest of the press. That evening, PvdA group
chairman Moorman is allowed to tell on national television what she thinks of
bernhard' s knowledgeable, despite his 102 addresses in the city. When he is
asked by Het Parool about the order for incremental penalty payments from the
municipality, he says he does not know it, because he does not open his post
himself.
As is often
the case, Bernhard is especially outraged by the fuss. He sees himself as a
businessman, who is separate from his origins. The fact that the Van Oranjes
have an exemplary role does not play a major role for him. He deliberately
chooses the precarious position of business prince.
Read the
book: Business Prince: The Hunt for Success of Bernard of Orange.
Bernhard and his business partners, despite
repeated requests, did not cooperate with the book, which serves as the basis
for this article. They also did not respond to questions and did not use
adversarial response. Also the request for a response to this article, Bernhard
has ignored
Prince
Bernhard Jr. became an entrepreneur at a young age and
develops
into a business centipede. When he got the
violates
rules, he grows into the national symbol of the
overstretched
real estate market. With bringing in
of formula
1, Bernhard jr. delivers his ultimate performance,
which
confirms its unique position in the global business world:
a prince in
business.
Michiel
Couzy and Maarten van Dun take the
reader along
Bernhard's
companies – from the internet to real estate, from the Netherlands
to Serbia,
from luxury boats to fast cars. They show
how his
business talent regularly turns out to be incompatible with the
public
morality and legal authority.
Business
prince is the story of a prince who feels that his origins
doesn't
matter, but it's still constantly confronted
with its
royal background. When does the hunt collide
to the
success of the ambitious prince with his origins and his
social
responsibility?
Bernhard of Orange
- Born: 25
December 1969, son of Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven, nephew of King
Willem-Alexander.
- Bernhard studies in Groningen and starts his
first company there, Ritzen Koeriers.
- In 1996 he set up internet company
Clockwork, which he sold to Achmea in
1999, buys back in 2001 and sells again in 2003, this time to Ordina
- After the sale, he invests in real estate,
both privately and through real estate company Pinnacle. He also sets up Levi
9, which develops software in the Balkans. He also does real estate development
in Serbia.
- In 2016 he takes over the race circuit in
Zandvoort with business partners. In 2019 he will experience his greatest
business success, when he brings Formula 1 to Zandvoort. The first race, in May
2020, was cancelled due to corona.
- Bernhard has with business partners and via
bv's also the real estate in the hands of a luxury beach bar in Zandvoort and
he is the owner of boat brand Waterdream. He is founder and director of Lymph&Co,a fund that raises money for
research into the fight against lymph node cancer.
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