The three Lenz brothers Gyula, János and Ferenc founded the southern fruits and spices (Südfrüchte Händler) trading company in 1864.

In the following decade they acquired several buildings in Budapest, which were used as tenement houses that engrossed the capital of the family along the fruit trading company.

According to the tax levies of the winter of 1935, Anna Gömöry the widow of Gyula Lenz, was the 6th higher taxpayer in Budapest, and one of the wealthiest person in the city.

On January 8, 1920, József Lenz married the Roman Catholic Klara Topits (1901–1993) in Budapest; she was the daughter of a wealthy family of the Bourgeoisie of the city of Pest.

József Lenz was famous in Hungary between the two World Wars, not only for his wealth, but also for his persistent struggle and activities to protect Hungarian products during the Great Depression.

For example, in Nyékládháza, they built 25 modern flats in high-rise, reinforced concrete houses that they eventually got after long years of service at the company.

Gyula Czapik the Archbishop of Eger himself, who, after the ceremony, handed over the "Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Order of Honor" to Jozsef Lenz.

On the other hand, he gave scholarships to several students of the Budapest Piarist High School (This initiative was known as the "Lenz József Foundation").

In 1941, the Lenz Company generated more than one million Swiss francs in net currency for the National Bank by selling Turkish citrus fruits in Switzerland, such as delivering raisins to chocolate factories.