Catalin Iordachescu – “Il rumeno”: The man behind Tezaur and half of central Lugano

Corriere del Ticino dubbed him “the man who bought half of Lugano.” After three decades spent keeping a low profile, Catalin Iordachescu—known to the Swiss as “il rumeno”—is opening up and sharing the story of his financial and property empire, which stretches from Bucharest to Lugano. He avoids mentioning numbers, letting his actions speak for themselves. In general, he buys to hold. That was true of his buildings in Lugano and of Tezaur, the company he kept despite an offer worth a great many zeros.

“I have no intention of selling. We’re building now.”

In Lugano, the Swiss publication reports, his portfolio includes more than 100 apartments and several buildings in the city centre. Among his latest acquisitions is the former Gucci building on Via Nassa. In Romania, his next venture is to expand Tezaur by opening 100 additional branches over the coming years.

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Behind it all is a story of genuine entrepreneurship, driven by an unwavering focus on customer satisfaction—whether serving a tenant in one of his flats, a company renting a building’s ground floor, or someone seeking a loan. His attention to detail reaches every corner, from a flat’s furnishings to how he presents a quote face-to-face.

“People talk about positive experiences. And I’m keen for them to have as many of those as possible.”

Catalin Iordachescu, founder of Tezaur: three decades in business between Bucharest and Lugano

For three decades, Catalin Iordachescu has built his businesses out of the public eye, far from interviews and the spotlight. In a rare conversation with the press, Tezaur’s founder speaks with equal attention to detail about an additional parking floor, a flat’s furnishings, and the welcome clients receive at an agency. In Lugano, Switzerland, he has acquired some of the city centre’s most prestigious buildings to let. In Romania, he is preparing to open another 100 Tezaur branches—expanding a business he once had the opportunity to sell, but chose to keep.

The meeting opens with a promise: to search the archives for the interview we conducted with him in 1994, more than three decades ago. Catalin Iordachescu was then at the beginning of a journey that would take him from currency exchange bureaux to commercial premises, from premises to buildings in Bucharest, and ultimately to buildings in central Lugano, Switzerland.

Meanwhile, currencies and markets have shifted, tenants have come and gone, and generations of customers have passed. The entrepreneur moved his family to Switzerland, where his sons eventually joined him in the business. Some former partners went their separate ways; one has since returned.

Iordachescu, however, has a clear preference, which soon becomes apparent during our conversation.

He says little about the value of everything he has built. But when he turns to how things actually work, the conversation comes alive. A question about flats leads to a cupboard that won’t fit against a wall; one about estate agents leads to a man who still needs a few more days to get his jewellery back.

“I’d rather tell you what I’ve done myself.”

At the Grand Offices in Floreasca, he extended the car park to a third basement level. He had been advised to build only one, which would have cost less. But he went ahead, in a city where, he says, parking spaces are scarce. The work was complex: the site was hemmed in by neighbours, and the surrounding buildings had to be carefully protected. Years later, what still pleases him most is that the basements remain watertight. He credits the quality of the workmanship and the builders who carried it out. It may not be the most spectacular detail to feature in a portfolio, but it matters greatly to the people who use the building every day.

This focus on the client runs through every conversation, whether in Bucharest or Lugano. For him, the business doesn’t end when a space is bought, fitted out or let. That’s when the real work begins: making sure people can live or work there with confidence.

In the early 1990s, Romania’s concerns began to change. The country was discovering private trade and travel, and confronting the need for foreign currency. Iordachescu entered this new landscape through the Romania Exchange, where he helped shape the market’s regulation. He remembers the small details, too—including the satisfaction of carrying a business card that identified him as a manager. He was young and wanted the business to be official, with rules in place and a name on the door.

Secured lending came next. At the Calea Moșilor premises, which he identifies as Tezaur’s first branch, he brought in a jeweller to teach staff how to identify and appraise gold. The team then trained employees to provide the service through currency exchange bureaux.

The network was expanding, but every new location brought a recurring cost: rent. Iordachescu recalls that they sometimes joked they were working for their landlords. That realisation sparked their next venture: What if they became the landlords themselves?

In 1997–98, he says, he sold the financial services business and shifted his capital into property. First came commercial premises, followed by residential developments and office buildings. The portfolio eventually grew to hundreds of commercial properties, spanning tens of thousands of square metres. Some were later sold to finance investments in Switzerland. As trade expanded and purchasing power shifted, his network became increasingly valuable. He estimates that some properties bought at the time have since risen in value more than tenfold.

Had it not been for the 2008 crisis, the story might have remained focused on square metres. But as tenants scaled back their operations, Iordachescu faced a new challenge: how to reduce the space they rented without losing rental income. “They told me business had slowed and they no longer needed as much space.” They agreed to take smaller premises, and he used the space that became available to launch a new phase for Tezaur.

He created a bank-like experience with wood-panelled interiors, armchairs for waiting customers, air conditioning, and, in some branches, coffee machines. He recruited staff with banking experience and set out to transform the way customers were welcomed when they came to pledge an asset in exchange for a loan.

In his own words, customer care has a practical purpose: helping people reclaim their possessions. The company should profit from its financing service while maintaining relationships that extend beyond the contract.

“We felt sorry for them when they couldn’t get their item back,” he says, referring to the jewellery customers had left with Tezaur. In conversation, gold becomes more than a commodity: people grow attached to it, imbuing it with memories that can’t be measured in grams.

Hence, he points to the calls customers receive before their contracts expire, the text messages, the option to extend a contract, and the app that lets them make transactions remotely. Those who have left the country or are on holiday shouldn’t be left in a difficult position simply because they can’t drop by a branch. “Tezaur’s customers are satisfied with our services—the agencies’ ratings prove it,” he says proudly.

The same concern surfaces in his account of the support offered to branch staff. When a customer requests an extension or an exception to standard terms, the manager must be ready to intervene immediately, helping the employee navigate the conversation face-to-face. He does so live from the coordination centre, with the immediacy of a television broadcast. “We’re fortunate to have capable people, but we take every measure to help every customer, provided the request is reasonable.”

As the network expands nationwide, the challenge will be to ensure that every branch offers the same level of customer care, supported by the people the company is now recruiting.

In 2018, his journey brought him to Switzerland. A Zurich banker suggested Lugano—a place of mountains and lake, where he could build a life with his family. German gave him pause; Italian seemed more within reach, though he had to begin from scratch. He still takes lessons whenever time allows.

His investment empire is most striking when viewed from the street. In a profile published in the 26 September print edition, a *Corriere del Ticino* journalist traces the route to Iordachescu’s office through central Lugano, where he owns several buildings along Via Motta, Contrada di Sassello and Via Nassa. The article charts a portfolio concentrated on the Swiss city’s most prestigious streets: more than a hundred flats and numerous commercial premises, by the publication’s estimate. The entrepreneur, however, offered no breakdown of his own.

The funds came from dividends and the sale of properties in Romania. He later began working with Swiss banks, too. Initially, he intended to rely solely on his own capital, but the financing terms prompted him to rethink his approach.

He acquires buildings for the income they can generate, then invests in the spaces within them. The ground-floor shops are pivotal: their rental income can support the property while the flats are renovated. And in conversation, the question of return on investment soon gives way to a more evocative one: what will the home look like?

At first, he furnished the flats as was customary in the local market: fully fitted kitchens, with the remaining rooms left bare. Then he noticed tenants struggling to make their own furniture work in the space—a wardrobe too small for the wall, a chandelier at odds with the décor. Other landlords, he says, considered this the tenants’ problem. But he could not bring himself to leave it to them.

That is why he began collaborating with young Romanian architects and offering fully furnished apartments. Italy’s proximity allowed him to work directly with manufacturers. His interest lies in the pieces themselves, how they come together, and the finished space as experienced by its future resident. Two of the three apartments still undergoing renovation were let on the strength of the renderings alone.

“In a small town, word travels fast—especially when someone does something good.”

In Lugano, reputation travels swiftly. For those who own multiple properties in the same neighbourhood, the relationship they build with a tenant or shopkeeper can shape the next opportunity.

Among the latest acquisitions is the property on Via Nassa once home to Gucci. The boutique had announced its departure before the deal was completed, Iordachescu explains. Though he has received several proposals for the space, he has declined some, intent on finding a prestigious brand that will further elevate the street’s allure. For now, he has not said whether he has signed a lease.

Leasing such a space is also a choice about the neighbourhood. The ground-floor tenant shapes the building’s appearance and function, while its shops help define the life of the street. Iordachescu has carried this concern since his student years in Bucharest, when he first learned the value of a commercial property’s location.

According to statements he made to CDT, most of the flats are intended for long-term rental, while a small proportion are let to holidaymakers—a business in which two of his sons are involved.

Romania remains a fixture in his monthly itinerary. He says he returns for at least a week at a time, sometimes longer, and that the management team has expanded over the years he has spent in Switzerland. His residential projects continue, including developments in Snagov and north of Bucharest. At Tezaur, meanwhile, the focus has shifted to recruitment, new premises and plans for further openings.

The network already boasts more than 53 branches, with plans to add another 100. Iordachescu envisages a one- to three-year timeline, though he hopes to reach the goal in two. Funding is secured, he says, but the budget remains undisclosed. The great unknown is how the business will fare in new markets—and whether it can win over customers.

Meanwhile, the company is piloting Tezaur Expert, a new service that appraises and values watches, jewellery, designer bags and works of art, and offers loans secured against them. Clients can simply ask what an item is worth, with no obligation to sell it or leave it as collateral, the entrepreneur explains.

At this point, a figure from the story’s early days returns: Gabriel Mutu. In the 1990s, the two were business partners, building the network side by side. Their paths parted in 2008, when Mutu turned to politics, Iordachescu recounts.

They resumed their conversations in February this year, at a more unhurried pace, after Mutu stepped down from his leadership role in the party’s Sector 6 organization. Iordachescu asked whether surrendering the business had been worth it. The question opened the way to a series of exchanges and a period of reflection, culminating in Gabriel Mutu’s decision, on 24 August 2026, to leave political life for good and return to business. He is now focused on helping Tezaur grow and expand nationwide.

Another turning point came when an international operator offered to buy Tezaur—an offer with a dazzling number of zeros. Iordachescu declined.

After a conversation in which questions about the business’s value went unanswered, let’s try again: If the same investor returned in a few years, what would they need to offer to persuade him?

“First and foremost, I have no intention of selling. That said, I know that if we continue to approach our work with the same seriousness and commitment, we’ll build the kind of value any buyer would covet.”

For now, there are premises to choose, people to recruit, and 100 branches to open. We, too, have reason to return—and a promise to find the 1994 interview in the archives, where the meeting began.

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