Discreet Swiss billionaire This is the secret AfD donor - he dined with federal councillors
Henning Conle, a real estate billionaire, is known for his support of right-wing parties and his investments in the Balgrist University Hospital in Zurich. Now he turns out to be an AfD donor.
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- Henning Conle, who lives in Zurich and London, owns over 2,500 rental properties in Switzerland, many of which are in poor condition.
- He anonymously financed the AfD in Germany and maintains contacts with the SVP in Switzerland.
- Conle invested 15 million Swiss francs in the Zurich start-up Moving Spine, which develops orthopaedic solutions.
Henning Conle is considered a phantom of the rich world - one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in Switzerland, yet hardly anyone knows him. No public photo, hardly any documented traces, and yet he pulls economic and political strings in the background. His name keeps cropping up in opaque real estate deals, party donations and financial networks. Who is this man really? The "Aargauer Zeitung" reported.
According to research by ZDF and "Correctiv", Conle is a financial supporter of the AfD. In 2017, he is said to have donated 150,000 francs to the party via a Zurich druggist. This year, "Spiegel" and "Standard" uncovered another 2.4 million euro donation - this time via an Austrian Strohm. The beneficiary: Alice Weidel, the AfD's leading candidate, who lives in Switzerland. "The AfD is finally a party that you can give your money to," Conle is reported to have said. Officially, he denies this - but the evidence speaks a different language.
Real estate empire in Switzerland
Conle inherited his father's housing business, which mainly consisted of social housing, and continued to expand it. He owns around 2,500 rental properties in Switzerland, managed by his company Miwo. The entrepreneur presents himself as a simple managing owner, but land register entries prove that he owns the properties personally. Many of his rental properties are in need of renovation, Google reviews report rats in the cellar and broken stoves to which the management does not respond.
His main residence is not in England, as is often claimed, but in Zurich. In the 1990s, he bought into the Gold Coast, later adding two neighboring villas on the Zürichberg - one for him, one for his son Henning Conle junior.
Swiss passport for money?
Officially, Conle is a German citizen, but he was naturalized long ago - a detail that has disappeared from the media archives. Ten years ago, "Bilanz" reported that he had paid a naturalization fee of CHF 49,000.
His assets were estimated at CHF 1.25 billion at the time. But suddenly he disappeared from the lists of the richest Swiss and archived articles about him were deleted - presumably following his intervention.
Private jet and mysterious flight routes
Despite his desire to remain in the shadows, Conle's private jet leaves traces. The Dassault Falcon 900LX, stationed at a small airfield in Bremgarten (Germany), regularly commutes between Zurich and Klagenfurt. In Austria, the family owns real estate, a hunting ground and a gunsmith's shop. However, the jet rarely flies to England.
According to "Watson", the Conles are said to have invested 15 million francs in the company Moving Spine in May 2024. This is a spin-off of Zurich University Hospital and surgeon Farshad's field of experimentation. The Conles are to hold half of the shares following a capital increase. Henning Conle sits on the board of directors of the medtech company. His wife Dorit runs the company that invested the money, according to "Watson". The founding capital is said to have come from an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands.
Secret SVP dinners - and a Federal Councillor in the middle of it all
Conle is not only active in the AfD, but is also networked with the Swiss SVP. Top politicians from the Zurich SVP were invited to private dinners in a boathouse on Lake Zurich on several occasions, including the current Federal Councillor Albert Rösti. He confirms: "According to my recollection, around twenty people were present. It was a social get-together among party friends."
Conle also sponsored the 100th anniversary celebration of the SVP Zurich, but was apparently misunderstood by the party: He is not seeking public recognition. In fact, he would probably have preferred his name never to appear on the list of donors.
In contrast to the spectacularly failed real estate tycoon René Benko, who juggled with billions, Conle relies on maximum control and banking skepticism. While Benko bought sophisticated commercial buildings, Conle sticks to solid tenements. While Benko sought the limelight, Conle refuses to give any interviews. Anyone who tries to contact him is met with silent lawyers and abandoned phone calls.
The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.
