József Vida is a Hungarian

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and economist who is chairman of the board of Opus Global, former CEO of

Takarékbank TakarékBank () was a banking and financial services corporation in Hungary and the central institution for more than 60 co-operative banks and their 1,100 branch offices. In 2023, it merged with MKB Bank to form MBH Bank. Overview Since its ...

, and, as of 2023, with 15 billion HUF the 98th richest person in Hungary.

Early life and education

Vida was born on 7 October 1973 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. He graduated from the Budapest School of Economics, the

University of Pécs The University of Pécs ( , PTE; ) is one of the largest higher education institutions in Hungary. The history of the university began in the Middle Ages, when in 1367, at the request of Louis I of Hungary, King Louis I the Great, Pope Urban V gr ...

Szent István University The Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences is a university of technology in Hungary. Its headquarters and main campus are located about 30 kilometres from the capital, Budapest, in the Central Hungarian town of Gödöllő. Ot ...

and Université Paris-Nanterre in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Career

Vida started his career at

SODEXO Sodexo (formerly Sodexho Alliance) is a French food services and facilities management company headquartered in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. It has 522,000 employees as of 2023, operates in 55 countries and serves 100 million custome ...

Hungary where he later joined the banking sector. He started working for

Citibank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

in 1999 and in 2001 he took on the role of Head of Department at Takarékbank. In 2006, he became the director of the Active Business Unit at

Szentgál Szentgál is a village in Veszprém county, Hungary. It is best known for the series of caves in the surrounding area. Notable residents * József Bánóczi József Bánóczi (July 4, 1849 – 1926) was a Hungarians, Hungarian Jewish scholar ...

és Vidéke Takarékszövetkezet (Szentgál and Countryside Savings Bank), where he subsequently was appointed managing director. From 2007 to 2014, he served as a member of the board of the Országos Takarékszövetkezeti Szövetség (National Savings Cooperative Association). In 2015, Vida became the CEO of B3 Takarék Szövetkezet, which was formed from a merger of ten saving cooperatives. In July 2016, he joined the board of the Integration Organization of Cooperative Credit Institutions (SZHISZ), the central governing body of the Takarék Group. From 2017 until 2021, Vida was the CEO of Takarékbank. In 2019 he was elected as a member of the board of the Hungarian Banking Association. Since 1 December 2021, Vida has held the position of Chairman of Takarék Jelzálogbank (Savings Mortgage Bank). He is also a member of the board of Opus Global and has been its chairman since at least 2022. In 2019, the Goldmann Bizalmi Vagyonkezelö trust, which is owned by Vida, acquired the broadcast company TV2.

Work in the film industry and as an author

Vida co-produced the documentary "Wildlife - In the Footsteps of Count Zsigmond Széchenyi" (2019) as well as "Kittenberger - The Last Hunt" (2021). He also was involved as a producer in "The Man from Berek" (2021), "The Forgotten Széchényi Heritage: In the Footsteps of the Greatest Hungarian Horseman" (2021) and starred in the feature-length film "The Deleló Obsitos and the Black Sheep". In 2021, Vida wrote a book about four-in-hands. Collaborating with Viktor Segal, he co-published "The Forest Crushing", a book about the Hungarian wilderness, in 2019. His cookbook "Buzzing in the Kitchen... and take a spoonful of honey!" won the silver award at the 2022 Apimondia World Beekeeping Congress.

Animal breeding

Vida is also involved in animal breeding, serving as the chairman of the supervisory board of the Association of National Associations of Hungarian Ebony Breeders (MEOESZ). He also held the position of president in both the National Association of

Leonberger The Leonberger is a giant dog breed, whose name derives from the city of Leonberg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Description Appearance This breed has a thick and dense double Coat (dog), coat; the Leonberger is a large, muscular, and elegant ...

Ebony Breeders and the National Association of Hungarian Hovawart Ebony Breeders. He bred a world-champion Leonberger named Huszár v. Sissy-Haus and his dog Aladin became the model for a statue in

Leonberg Leonberg (; ) is a town in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg about to the west of Stuttgart, the state capital. About 45,000 people live in Leonberg, making it the third-largest borough in the rural district () of Böblingen (afte ...

. Vida also breds other animals, especially horses.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vida, Jozsef Living people 1973 births Hungarian economists University of Pécs alumni