Thomas Bata
 Thomas Bata    (businessman) | |
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| Born | September 17, 1914 Prague, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire |
| Died | September 1, 2008 (Age 93) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Czech |
| Parents | • Tomáš Baťa • Marie Menšíková |
| Spouse | Sonja Bata |
Tomáš Jan Baťa, anglicised to Thomas J. Bata, ran the Bata Shoe Company from the 1940s until the 1980s. He attended 3 Bilderbergs from 1985 to 1990.
Background
Baťa was born in the city of Prague, in what is now the Czech Republic, the son of Czech industrialist Tomáš Baťa. Baťa's father, however, was killed in a plane crash in 1932, when young Baťa was only 17.
Between the 1920s and 1940s, Bata built factories in Asia, South America and Africa (which he foresaw as a virgin market), thus becoming the largest shoemaker in the world. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Bata white canvas sneaker/running shoe was iconic in the third world, representing between 60% and 80% of the shoe production in the countries where it operated.
Baťa attended school in Czechoslovakia, England and Switzerland. Anticipating the Second World War, he, together with over 100 families from Czechoslovakia, moved to Canada in 1939 to develop the Bata Shoe Company of Canada. Baťa successfully established and ran the new Canadian operations and during the war years, he sought to maintain the necessary coordination with as many of the overseas Bata operations as was possible. In 1948, however, Czechoslovakia was fully controlled by a communist government, and Bata enterprises in Poland, East Germany, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria were lost.
Events Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1985 | 10 May 1985 | 12 May 1985 | New York US Arrowwood of Westchester Rye Brook | The 33rd Bilderberg, held in Canada |
| Bilderberg/1987 | 24 April 1987 | 26 April 1987 | Italy Cernobbio | 35th Bilderberg, in Italy, 106 participants |
| Bilderberg/1990 | 10 May 1990 | 13 May 1990 | New York US Glen Cove | 38th Bilderberg meeting, 119 guests |
| WEF/Annual Meeting/2004 | 21 January 2004 | 25 January 2004 | Switzerland WEF | 2068 billionaires, CEOs and their politicians and "civil society" leaders met under the slogan Partnering for Prosperity and Security. "We have the people who matter," said World Economic Forum Co-Chief Executive Officer José María Figueres. |
