Lőrinc Mészáros’s wealth grows in a year by as much as the annual budget of several Hungarian cities
Once again, Lőrinc Mészáros tops Forbes’ 2025 ranking of the richest Hungarians. His fortune increased by hundreds of billions of forints in just a single year—a pace almost impossible to grasp by everyday standards.
Where does such wealth come from?
The growth of Mészáros’s fortune is mainly driven by his investments in energy, real estate, and industry. Several of his publicly listed companies remain steadily profitable, and in recent years he has increasingly shifted towards renewable energy. Much of this expansion has occurred alongside state contracts and a favourable market environment, which has led many to question the background of his success.
Mészáros’s empire rests on several pillars, some of which particularly boosted his wealth last year:
- Opus Global – the main driving force of the group, whose shares performed well, with the energy portfolio significantly increasing overall wealth.
- Energy sector – his energy companies proved especially profitable last year, and their expansion brought substantial gains.
- Construction – highway concessions and major projects undertaken by V-Híd Zrt. ensured stable revenues, making this sector another key pillar of his wealth.
- Banking – the expansion and strengthening of MBH Bank, also tied to his interests, contributed considerable value to the group.
The equivalent of 16 cities’ budgets in a single year
The HUF 507 billion increase is staggering at first glance, but even more striking when compared with everyday measures. Medium-sized Hungarian cities typically operate on annual budgets of just a few tens of billions of forints. For example, Békéscsaba’s 2025 budget is around HUF 30 billion, Szombathely’s nearly HUF 18 billion, and Eger’s finances are in a similar range. In other words, Mészáros’s one-year wealth increase could fund the entire annual operation of more than 16 such cities.
Broken down weekly, this amounts to nearly HUF 10 billion; daily, more than HUF 1.3 billion. That is enough to build dozens of family homes every single day or to cover the monthly salaries of tens of thousands of Hungarian workers. While Forbes rankings are always based on estimates, such comparisons illustrate the staggering scale of his wealth growth.
International standing
Converted into dollars, Mészáros’s fortune is roughly USD 3.6 billion. This would place him somewhere between 1,000th and 1,100th on the Forbes global list. While he has not yet broken into the world’s top 1,000, he is very close.
He remains far from the very top: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bernard Arnault all have fortunes exceeding USD 200 billion. Nevertheless, Mészáros already plays in the league of international businesspeople with fortunes of USD 2–4 billion, many of them Asian industrial magnates or Eastern European investors.
Record-breaking wealth among Hungary’s elite
Although Lőrinc Mészáros maintains a commanding lead, notable shifts have occurred among the top ranks as well. Tibor Veres (HUF 756 billion) and Sándor Csányi (HUF 752.9 billion) are in a close race for second place, both recording significant increases over the past year.
According to Forbes, István Tiborcz’s wealth nearly doubled compared with previous years, pushing him strongly up from the middle tier. Also on a rising trajectory are Graphisoft founder Gábor Bojár and Zsolt Nyerges, both of whom reported major gains.
The figures are striking not only at the individual level. Altogether, the 100 richest Hungarians now hold more than HUF 11,000 billion, up nearly HUF 2,000 billion in a single year. This shows that the domestic business elite as a whole became richer between 2024 and 2025 at an unprecedented pace.
Forbes estimate: Hungary’s 10 richest people
- Lőrinc Mészáros – HUF 1,749.1 billion
- Tibor Veres – HUF 756.4 billion
- Sándor Csányi – HUF 752.9 billion
- Zsolt Felcsuti – HUF 524.4 billion
- László Szíjj – HUF 416.1 billion
- György Gattyán – HUF 352.4 billion
- Dániel Jellinek – HUF 312.7 billion
- Tibor Pavelka – HUF 310.4 billion
- Gellért Jászai – HUF 309.0 billion
- Gábor Széles – HUF 300.0 billion
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There are 6 months left for the fall of the current government. This gentleman will leave Hungary so as not to be imprisoned. He is corrupted and pretty cunning.