Millionaire Makeover

He's a brash young millionaire among aging ex-communists, but Hungary's ruling Socialists are hoping Ferenc Gyurcsany, their new Prime Minister-designate, can rebuild the party's tattered image in time for elections in 2006. Gyurcsany, 43, who's moving up from Youth and Sports Minister, made his fortune by buying state enterprises at fire-sale prices in the early 1990s.

In a party vote, he beat an old-guard politician named Peter Kiss by a margin of 40% after Peter Medgyessy, the former PM, officially quit. Although lacking in experience, Gyurcsany is not lacking in confidence. "He believes in himself and he believes...