Dinu Patriciu Net Worth, Biography and Assets

Dinu Patriciu Net Worth  $2.9 billion

Dinu Patriciu was the 597th richest person in the world according to the Hurun Global List in 2014. According to the ranking, he had amassed a fortune of $2.9 billion before his passing. Most of his wealth can be attributed to his activities in the oil industry.

A dedicated Romanian businessman, Dinu passed away in August 2014 aged 64. He suffered from liver disease and was living in London, UK since January 2014 where he was receiving treatment for cancer. His family revealed that he died from a lung infection.

Earlier on in his life, Dan Costache Patriciu led an investor buyout of the formerly state-owned Romanian oil company, Rompetrol in 1998.

In 2007, he had grown the company into an $8.6 billion turnover international midstream and downstream oil and gas company before selling it to Kazakhstan’s state-owned energy firm, KazMunaiGaz, in 2008.

He was sent to court in 2006 being accused among others of money laundering, embezzlement, insider trading, manipulating the stock market, and offering inside information. However, he was cleared of charges in 2012.

Since the sale of Rompetrol, the businessman made investments in an array of business sectors including media, supermarkets, alternative energy, and real estate through Dinu Patriciu Global Properties.

In addition to his oil-related dealings, Dinu was the owner of a media company called Adevarul Holding media trust, which issues Forbes Romania under authorization from Forbes Media LLC. He also lived as a prominent member of the International Advisory Board of the Atlantic Council and a member of the National Liberal Party of Romania.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

Dan Costache (“Dinu”) Patriciu was born in Bucharest, Romania, in 1950. His father was Valeriu Patriciu, a mining engineer who worked for Astra Română Oil Company as a chief geologist during the interwar period.

For his education, Dinu attended the Bucharest Institute of Architecture and completed his graduation in 1975.

Professional Life: Businesses, Establishments

After his graduation, Dinu Patriciu started his career as an architect before joining the Institute of Architecture to work as a teacher. He won several architecture awards for his performances and he was involved in a number of building projects in Romania and also in the United Arab Emirates, including a palace in Abu Dhabi.

In 1990, he founded Alpha the first private company in Romania, focused on architecture and construction activities. In 1991, his company began buying land in Bucharest to build a housing estate. In 2007, he acquired the Fabian Romania Property Fund.

As of 2012, his company, Dinu Patriciu Global Properties, owned real estate (office and commercial buildings) valued at an estimated 1 billion dollars in Germany and Romania, as well as 25 projects in the United Arab Emirates.

He previously, liquidated his €110 million worth portfolio of Swedish property, in addition to some properties in Paris and Hague.

In 1998, Dinu acquired the oil firm Rompetrol from the Romanian government. The following year, the company took control of the Vega Ploiești oil refinery. The headquarters of the company was also moved to the Netherlands.

In 2000, the company took over Petros, the only oil well services company in Romania at the time. In 2001, Rompetrol acquired the biggest refinery in Romania called Petromidia Năvodari for $50 million.

Dinu became the wealthiest businessman in Romania in the year 2007 when he sold 75 percent of the shares in Rompetrol to Kazakhstan company KazMunayGas for $2.7 billion.

In 2006, the industrious businessman paid an undisclosed sum to acquire the Adevărul newspaper and subsequently increased the holding’s portfolio to include science popularization magazine, Știință și Tehnică, women’s magazine Tango, cultural magazine Dilema Veche, Foreign Policy, the Click! tabloid, and OK!. Six years afterward he sold Adevărul Holding to Cristian Burci.

Dinu teamed up with former Georgian prime minister Lado Gurgenidze to acquire the Liberty Bank. He attempted to establish a convenience store called mic.ro, however, it ended in bankruptcy quickly, with over 45 million euros in debts to banks in addition to huge debts to suppliers.

A founding member of the National Liberal Party, Dinu Patriciu was voted a member of the Chamber of Deputies in the Romanian general election in 1990 on the lists for Timiș County. The following year, he was appointed the Minister for Public Works and Territorial Planning.

In the 1996 Romanian local election, he ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Bucharest. In 2000, he was voted on the list of PNL for Prahova County. He resigned in June 2003 due to incompatibility between his private business interests and public seat.

Personal Life: Family, Illness, and Death

Dinu Patriciu lived in Romania where he was happily married with children. After he was diagnosed with cirrhosis, the businessman underwent a liver transplant in Milan in 2012. He was later diagnosed with lymphoma.

Aged 64, he died on 19 August 2014, in London due to a lung infection. He was laid to rest in the Bucharest Bellu Cemetery.

Dinu Patriciu Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

Mr. Dinu Patriciu had a net worth of more than 2.9 billion dollars as of 2014 when he died. He lived as a dedicated Romanian businessman who was majorly interested in the oil and media sectors.

A very successful architect who won a number of design awards domestically and internationally, Mr. Patriciu used his wealth earned from Rompetrol and other earlier ventures to invest in a wide range of enterprises, including real estate development through his real estate firm, Dinu Patriciu Global Services, which oversees 117 real estate ventures in Romania, Germany, Poland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.