Josef Kleindienst

Josef Kleindienst (born 2 September 1963) is an Austrian property developer, former police officer, and whistleblower. As of 2016, it was the largest European real estate and property developer in Dubai. In 2020, he was ranked No. 78 in the Construction Week Power 100.

Early life and education Kleindienst was born in 1963 in Mistelbach into a farming family. He had a brother who worked for the police.

Police career For nearly 20 years, Kleindienst worked as a policeman in Vienna.

Whistleblowing In October 2000, Kleindienst triggered a major political scandal when he published his book I Confess (Ich gestehe), which exposed large-scale bribery of police officers who were paid $4,000 or more per month to illegally extract intelligence on real and perceived opponents from police computers for party leader Jörg Haider and his associates.

By November 2000, eleven police officers were suspended in what became known as the "spy affair" or "informer affair" (Spitzel-Affäre) based on Kleindienst's allegations, which were largely substantiated by the Austrian media. Kleindienst and several Austrian publications later became the target of lawsuits alleging defamation, but were acquitted in 2004.

Career as property developer In 2002, Kleindienst published Der Polizist als Millionär, a book in which he claimed to have become a millionaire in Austrian schillings by investing in the Wiener Börse. In 2003, he began investing in the Dubai property market, where he made his fortune. In 2006, he became self-employed and started Kleindienst & Partners. Kleindienst purchased his first island, Austria, in 2007. The other five islands he owns are called Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Monaco, and St. Petersburg.

The complex includes the Floating Seahorse Villas, which Kleindienst conceived as "130 luxury houseboatlike structures" connecting to St. Petersburg island. In July 2024, the Financial Times reported that the Heart of Europe islands were "still spiked with cranes despite construction starting a decade ago".

In early 2025, Kleindienst began a legal challenge to the use of the James Bond trademark in the UK and EU, on the basis that the owners had not used the trademark for more than five years. At the time, experts predicted that the challenge would fail.