Petr Kellner
"Businessman" Petr Kellner    (Billionaire) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 20 May 1964 Czech Republic |
| Died | 27 March 2021 (Age 56) Alaska |
Cause of death | Helicopter crash |
| Nationality | Czech |
| Alma mater | University of Economics Prague |
| Victim of | premature death |
Czech businessman who made large fortune on privatization. Died in helicopter accident. | |
Petr Kellner was the wealthiest person in the Czech Republic until his death in 2021, when he died in a helicopter crash in Alaska.[1] At the time of his death, he had an estimated net worth of $17.5 billion.[2]
He made his vast fortune from nothing, exploiting the voucher privatization in 1991 after the Czechoslovak velvet revolution to take over public assets.
Contents
Investment fund PPF
He founded the investment fund PPF (První privatizační fond) with Milan Vinkler. In 1992, PPF investiční společnost a.s. was established and the funds' names were changed from privatization to investment. The funds were very successful and purchased stock of more than 200 corporations with nominal value 5 billion CZK.[3]
In 1995 and 1996, PPF bought a 20% stake in the largest Czech insurance company, Česká pojišťovna and started to manage it. Later PPF acquired more shares and became the dominant (93%) owner in 2001, when PPF bought large stakes of shares from Komerční banka and the Czech state.[4] With help of these profitable transactions, the last investors from voucher privatization were bought out and Kellner became the dominant owner of PPF Group.[3]
Assicurazioni Generali
In 2007, PPF Group signed a contract with Assicurazioni Generali to create a joint venture between PPF Group's insurance arm and Assicurazioni Generali's corporations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. According to sources PPF Group will own 49% of that company from the start, and Generali will pay €1.1 billion (around $1.29 billion at the time) to the PPF Group for its stake. From 2007 till 2013 Kellner was member of the board of directors of Generali.[5] Kellner himself later bought 2.02% stake in Assicurazioni Generali.[6]
In 2013 Kellner's PPF sold their remaining shares in the Generali PPF Holding (GPH) to Generali for €2.5 billion (around $3.32 billion at the time), who became sole owner effective in early 2015.[7]
Central European Media Enterprises
In early September 2007, Ronald Lauder announced that Kellner held a 3% stake and was on the board of directors of Central European Media Enterprises,[8] a media and entertainment company that operates television channels in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
References
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/29/czech-republics-richest-man-dies-in-alaska-helicopter-crash-during-ski-trip
- ↑ https://www.forbes.com/profile/petr-kellner
- ↑ a b http://ekonomika.idnes.cz/eko_profily.asp?r=eko_profily&c=A020317_224048_eko_profily_klu
- ↑ http://www.ppf.cz/en/index.php?sec=220
- ↑ http://www.ppf.cz/en/index.php?sec=605&id=24
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110415201206/http://www.generali.com/Generali-Group/Investor-Relations/shareholder-structure/
- ↑ https://www.ppf.eu/en/case-studies/ceska-pojistovna-and-generali-ppf-holding
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20141129063610/http://www.newsru.ua/finance/03sep2007/media.html
