Forbes list of Czech billionaires has grown, with Kellner still listed as richest

The richest Czech of the past year was Petr Kellner, the owner of investment group PPF, who died in a helicopter accident on March 27. The annual international ranking by Forbes magazine listed 10 billionaires in the Czech Republic, but an additional two names that had been previously listed as Czech were now listed as Swiss. Last year’s ranking had eight Czech billionaires.

Globally, the richest person for the fourth year in a row was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with assets of $177 billion, followed by Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk at $151 billion.

According to Forbes’ estimates, Kellner had assets is $17.5 billion, making him the 110th richest person in the world. His assets increased by $2.6 billion compared to the last year. Details about what will happen to his estate have not been made public.

The second richest man from the Czech Republic is Karel Komárek, the owner of the KKCG group, though Forbes now lists him as Swiss. His assets were estimated at $5.5 billion, placing him at 502nd place worldwide. CPI Property Group’s Radovan Vítek, also now listed as Swiss by Forbes, moved to third place with $4.8 billion, good enough for the 589th spot worldwide.

Daniel Křetínský, owner of Energeticky a prumyslovy holding (EPH), was next with $4.1 billion. He also has interests in real estate and sports.

New on the list are Sergey Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov, co-founders of software firm Jetbrains, at fifth and seventh place with $3.8 billion and $2.7 billion. They founded Jetbrains in 2000. The company makes software used by over 10 million software developers and project managers worldwide.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš was listed in sixth place, though due to his involvement in politics his assets are held in a trust. He made his money in Agrofert, a conglomerate of over 210 companies ranging from agriculture to renewable energy to media.

Software was also the source of the fortunes of Avast co-founder Pavel Baudiš, in eighth place, and for the first time Avast co-founder Eduard Kučera made the list with $1.1 billion, tying for 11th place. The pair launched the antivirus software company in 1989. It went public in May 2018. Kučera still sits on the board.

Pavel Tykač is in ninth place with $1.7 billion. His main holding is Lichtenstein-based Sev.en Energy Group, which controls the assets of former Mostecká uhelná. Tykač got his start in computer sales in the 1990s.

Penta Investments co-founder Marek Dospiva was 10th with $1.2 billion. Penta Investments has holdings in real estate, banking, healthcare, aviation, and gambling.

Tying for 11th place was Jan Van Geet, founder and CEO of VGP, a Belgian real estate company that develops industrial office parks and properties in 12 European countries. Van Geet is a Belgian citizen living in Prague.

Everyone on the list, including the two listed as Swiss, saw their assets rise in the past year, despite the global pandemic.

Source: Forbes