8 strange events from the career of this false king

King of Bluff Victor Muller is back! The entrepreneur will build cars with Spyker again next year. He has made an agreement for this with the Russian multimillionaire Boris Rotenberg.

Spyker has been in a coma for years, but Muller is known as an optimist and will try to breathe new life into the brand.

With Spyker, Muller took over Sweden’s Saab which was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2010 and eventually went bankrupt. In 2015, Spyker started again, but financial problems remained and cars have not been produced since then.

But last weekend Muller announced that he would be producing three different Spyker models next year at the Rotenberg factory in Trier: The C8 Preliator, the highly anticipated D8 from Beijing to Paris SUV and the B6 Venator. In addition, there should also be a Spyker ‘experience centre’ in Monaco.

Victor Muller therefore casts a spell on us There is nothing difficult sending this all honors in the Spyker logo. That’s what it means For progressives, there is no impassable road.

Who is this born hopeful? the speaker who keeps trying to bounce back against all odds? These are eight amazing moments from the life of Victor Muller.

Muller begins his entrepreneurial career as co-owner of the salvage company Wijsmuller.

Victor Muller started his career in 1984 after studying law as a lawyer, but took his first steps as an entrepreneur in 1992 when he acquired the towing and salvage company Wijsmuller from IJmuiden through a management buyout. He does this with money from millionaire friends.

Muller is familiar with the company according to NRC Handelsblad to reorganize successfully and make it profitable again. He sold Wijsmuller to Denmark’s Maersk in 2001 and got 10 million euros from it.

He breathes new life into the American style brand McGregor.

In 1993, two childhood friends Jeroen Schothorst and Ben Kolff, together with Victor Muller, bought the distribution rights of the American clothing brand McGregor, founded in 1921, from bankruptcy. The trio listed the company on the stock market in 1999 under the name McGregor Fashion Group.

McGregor’s acquisition, growth, IPO and marketing is one of the the greatest success from Muller. The clothing brand will definitely go bankrupt in 2017. Muller has long withdrawn from the company.

Muller was surprised to revive the Spyker, which was inactive in 1926, almost at the turn of the century.

In 1999, Muller, together with technical mastermind Maarten de Bruijn, acquired the rights to the Dutch car brand Spyker, which had died in 1926. He embarks on a journey to sell unique sports cars full of hope, but slowly discovers that it is more difficult than as he thought:

“When I started, I was doing well. I had Ferraris and Aston Martins and a classic car collection of fifty cars. I thought: ‘How hard can it be to start your own car brand?’ Muller said in 2017 against the Sprout. “I didn’t think for a second that building a car and creating a car brand is so difficult. I was full of my own qualities at the time.”

The luxury sports cars that come out of the Zeewolde factory cost around 300,000 euros each. Spyker never had financial success. Muller and De Bruijn split in 2005 after arguments.

Spyker’s early years led to the book ‘Spyker: a journey of madness‘ by journalists Robert van den Oever and Maarten van der Pas.

He has an unsuccessful Formula 1 adventure with Spyker.

Spyker entered Formula 1 in 2006 when entrepreneur Michiel Mol entered into a partnership with Muller and bought the Midland F1 Racing license.

The Mol and Muller team includes Dutchman Christijan Albers and German Adrian Sutil as drivers, but he continues. due to financial problems again after 17 races. The Spyker F1 Team will be able to achieve only one World Cup point.

Mol says in the Telegraaf to regret that he believed Muller’s blue eyes: “Before the deal, the story was that everything was fine at Spyker. “It’s going well and everything is under control,” said Victor Muller. Later, it turned out that there were several creditors who were all. intending to shout more.”

Muller announced in August 2020 that he wanted to form a racing team again with Spyker. This time not in Formula 1, but in endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Muller overestimates himself again by grabbing Saab.

When General Motors wants to close the Swedish car factory of the near-bankrupt Saab brand in 2010, Muller sees an opportunity. He takes Saab and his small Spyker, thanks to a credit facility from the European Investment Bank and several investors, including the Russian investor Vladimir Antonov.

Although Spyker does not make sales more than 7 million euros a year, Muller becomes the chairman of a large Swedish car company. Initially, the Swedes see him as a hero.

Ultimately, he is unable to save Saab and the automaker is still bankrupt at the end of 2011.

After bankruptcy, Muller faces several cases in Sweden, including tax evasion and defrauding investors, but eventually He has not been convicted of any charges.

Muller miraculously manages to reverse Spyker’s bankruptcy.

Spyker never achieved financial success. And the financial problems are only exacerbated by the Saab takeover and bankruptcy.

In December 2014, the Leeuwarden court declared Spyker bankrupt and Victor Muller’s dream seemed to be over.

But more than a month later, the Leeuwarden court annulled the bankruptcy on appeal and Spyker was able to conclude an agreement with creditors later that year. Since then, Muller has not been able to produce any cars, but Spyker still exists.

Muller now carefully avoids the Dutch press.

It was quiet for a long time around Muller and Spyker, until the partnership with the Russian multimillionaire Boris Rotenberg was announced at the end of August.

Muller carefully no longer visits the Dutch media, he said in 2017 against the Sprout:

“We operate under the radar. We have delisted from the stock market and become a British company that no longer operates in the Netherlands. We focus more on the American customer, where 80 percent of our business is done. Again, we search the Dutch media carefully if we find positive articles. or negative here doesn’t matter to the American customer, so why should I invest time in that doesn’t mean something behind the scenes is happening.”

Muller is still very ambitious, despite the bankruptcy of the Spyker subsidiary in March 2020.

At the beginning of this year, a company related to Spyker Services, involved in the maintenance of sports cars, was declared bankrupt.

But Muller is looking ahead. He wants to produce three new models again at the Trier factory, thanks to the tens of millions of euros that Rotenberg is investing in Spyker.

In an interview with the news agency ANP, he also announced Spyker’s ‘experience center’ in Monaco and a new endurance racing team such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the new plans, Muller thinks he will soon be able to pay all the creditors of Spyker Services.

The future will tell if the mindless king will make another victim or if the progressive will win, as indicated in Spyker’s Latin logo.

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