I will freely and happily admit that I love this time of year, and it’s got nothing to do with the joys of spring. Spring is fine, don’t get me wrong, what with nature sloughing off its winter hibernation and all.
That rebirth may be a natural miracle to wonder at, but since I am allergic to tree pollen, it also triggers my hayfever. No, what I much more specifically love about this time of year is that moment when I am standing on the stage in the Grand Ballroom of the Corinthia Hotel Budapest at the CEO Gala, as I will be tonight (assuming you are reading this on Friday, March 27), just before the dining attendants open the doors.
It is a moment of quiet calm before we let in our guests (“crowd” seems too unsophisticated a word for a black-tie invitation-only gala, especially when those guests are CEOs and diplomats, their partners, and members of the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency). From the moment the doors open, we are into the action and entertainment, the laughter and applause of what is surely one of the social highlights of the business calendar.
The question I get asked most often about the CEO Gala is whether it is right that the final decision is not made until minutes before the gala begins. And the truthful answer is that really is the case. I am not a member of the jury, and I am not in the room when the decision is taken. We will present the award for the 12th time this year, and there have been only a couple of occasions when I have welcomed guests from the stage knowing who the winner is, having been pulled aside by an excited jurist and told the news. Generally speaking, though, the jury very wisely takes the view that a secret kept close is a secret best protected. That means I find out when the rest of the ballroom does, as the name is read out. And I prefer it that way, if I am honest.
So, if you are reading this on Friday, March 27, before the gala has begun, spare a thought for Orsolya Erdődy, of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Péter Noszek, of Nestlé Hungária, and Rezső Rózsai, of KPMG Hungary, who are in the running for the CEO Community Award, and also for Xaviera Sancho, of BT Hungary, Pawel Tokarzewski, of Eli Lilly and Company, and Nikos Zois, of Heineken Hungária, the candidates for the Expat CEO of the Year Award. All six of them will sit through the dinner, enduring the exquisite torture of not knowing who has won until the names are called out. Whomever it is will be a worthy winner.
Robin Marshall
Editor-in-chief
This editorial was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of March 27, 2026.