Dinu Patriciu

Life & Legacy

Dan Costache (Dinu) Patriciu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈdinu paˈtrit͡ʃu]; 3 August 1950 – 19 August 2014) was a Romanian billionaire businessman and politician. At the time of his death, Patriciu was the richest man in Romania. His wealth was based on the Rompetrol company (the second largest oil company in Romania), which he took over from the Romanian state and later sold to Kazakhstan's state-owned KazMunayGas.
Patriciu's business activity was marred by legal troubles, being charged with defrauding the state, money laundering and illegally manipulating markets, but he successfully withstood the investigations into allegedly corrupt privatization deals.
A supporter of right-libertarian politics, Patriciu was a long-time member of the National Liberal Party (PNL). During the 2009 Romanian presidential election, Patriciu released a video in which President Băsescu appeared to hit a boy; Traian Băsescu sued for libel and won.