The clothing of CoolCat should have made him a wealthy man with an entry in the Quote 500, Roland Kahn not in itself will walk away. ,, I love Italian clothing, Dolce Gabbana and Prada &, '' said the 63-year-old textile tycoon a few years ago. ,, My figure lends itself very well for. ''

For modesty don't Roland Kahn. ,, I have surpassed myself, '' he said last year. And then he had disagreed about his business empire that made him one of the richest men of Netherlands. ,, I'm 62, I have 13% fat and a beautiful woman of 32, which has given me a child. ''

His ambition? ,, I wants to become the multicultural variant of the Brenninkmeijers. '' For clarity: the ability of Dutch richest family is estimated at 20 billion euros. Kahn dares to dream-and often even those dreams come out too. As rich as the Brenninkmeijers he is still a long way to go, but his ability is estimated to more than 250 million by now.

The success story began with CoolCat, the clothing store he 30 years back started with his then wife, and that he did grow into a retail chain with 130 branches. Kahn extends his empire rapidly from 2005, by buying up companies and sleepy to breathe new life into them.

The biggest battle he strikes in 2010 with the M&S 400 shops of fashion, according to Kahn ' a bunch of numb where only older women came '. Soon the chain profitable again. That his judgment sometimes let him, proves its acquisition of lingerie brand Sapph, in 2011.

Cesspool, I bought it from pure geiligheid there a year later, '' he said. ,, We thought it was a much more beautiful and better company than it turned out to be. It was very bad. We found a cesspool. ''

Yet ultimately the doldrums Kahn also attracts Sapph, above all by the image to throw. ,, Sapph was russischehoeren.com. The previous owners were busy with ' get wet'-posters, while 90 percent of the lingerie is purchased by women. Then you should get the women? ''

Mess do you think anyone ever has become successful by on his lazy ass? Roland Kahn Kahn comes from an Amsterdam Catholic-Jewish family. His father takes the matter of his Grandpa about it, but makes it a mess. ,, He was a dreamer. When my grandfather died, my father was bankrupt after 2 years. Still 2 years later was the marriage between him and my mother broke down. ''

He suddenly feel how heavy it is to grow up without money. And there, he says later, begins his first dream: a shop where parents can buy clothes without a lot of money, so that their children there yet fun.

,, My dream consisted of fifteen shops. '' He starts as a 17-year-old at the Beehive, as "Assistant to the Assistant to the Assistant of the purchaser '. At its 24th he opens its first own boutique on the nieuwendijk in Amsterdam, called Private. Parents with a small exhibition know the case immediately. 3 years later he is millionaire.

His faith in the power of stores has remained, even after the rise of internet shopping. ,, The end of the shopping street is constantly being predicted, '' he said recently. ,, I realize that the real heart of Amsterdam or Rotterdam is not everywhere. But all strong brands stay upright. '' A go-getter so, but also a street fighter. As a Minister in 2013 in this newspaper criticizes him Paknejad, because CoolCat would produce clothing in unsafe factories in Bangladesh, he goes a frontal attack.

Paknejad is a ' kutminister ', someone who ' as a Seagull on your head is said to be '. He carries both the Minister and the AD for the judge. But Kahn wants to especially with Paknejad in conversation. If that fails, he invents a list. During the annual fundraiser of 3FM Serious Request he offers on a by Paknejad posted price: an afternoon of shopping with the Minister. ,, And then I wanted her CoolCat-take it to a shop. But when the Ministry that would sometimes receive, wanted the Minister no longer. ''

Does he never give up and sit still either. Kahn launched a new store chain recently. Because of course you go on your 63rd not yet on your laurels, even though you have a power of a quarter of a billion. , Still from the seam, I work me, Yes. Do you think anyone ever has become successful by on his lazy butt to sit? ''

Sources: AD/Roland Kahn Elsevier, Quote, De Telegraaf, De Volkskrant Photo REUTERS 

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