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Petr Kellner

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Petr Kellner

Petr Kellner
Born 20 May 1964 (age 54)
Česká Lípa,[1] Czechoslovakia
Nationality Czech
Education University of Economics, Prague
Occupation Head of Strategic Development Operations for PPF Group
Net worth IncreaseUS$13.6 billion (August 2018) [2]
Spouse(s) Iva Kellnerová (divorced)
Renáta Kellnerová
Children 4

Petr Kellner (born 20 May 1964) is a Czech businessman. In 2018, Petr Kellner ranked #88 on the Forbes World’s Billionaires list, with wealth listed at US $15.5 billion.[3]

Studies[edit]

Petr Kellner graduated from the University of Economics, Prague Faculty of Industrial Economics, in 1986.[4]

Career[edit]

After the Velvet Revolution he worked for the Czech company Impromat, an importer and seller of Ricoh photocopiers. While working for that company, he met Milan Maděryč and Milan Vinkler.[5]

Investment fund PPF[edit]

In 1991, after the announcement of Czechoslovak voucher privatization, he founded the investment fund PPF (První privatizační fond) [6] with Milan Vinkler and state-owned glassworks Sklo Union. In 1992, PPF investiční společnost a.s. was established and the funds’ names were changed from privatisation to investment. The funds were very successful and purchased stock of more than 200 corporations with nominal value 5 billion CZK.[5]

Česká pojišťovna[edit]

In 1995 and 1996, PPF bought a 20% stake in the largest Czech insurance company, Česká pojišťovna and started to manage it. In 2000, PPF bought 31.5% stake of Česká pojišťovna from IPB for 2.85 billion CZK .[7][8] The transaction with IPB ended up with IPB paying to PPF 1.6 billion CZK penalty, making the real purchasing cost of the stake 1.25 billion CZK.[9] 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.[10] With help of these profitable transactions, the last investors from voucher privatization were bought out and Petr Kellner became the dominant owner of PPF group.[5]

Assicurazioni Generali[edit]

In 2007, PPF group signed a contract with Assicurazioni Generali to create a joint venture between PPF Group’s insurance branch 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 to the PPF Group for its stake. Petr Kellner became member of the Board of Directors of Generali.[11] Kellner himself later bought 2.02% stake in Assicurazioni Generali.[12]

In 2013 Kellner’s PPF sold their remaining shares in the Generali PPF Holding (GPH) to Generali for €2.5 billion, who became sole owner effective at year end of 2014.[citation needed][13] As of 2015 Kellner is no longer a member of the Generali Board.[14]

Wealth[edit]

As of 2013, Kellner owned 98.94% of the PPF financial group.[15] In 2006, Forbes estimated PPF’s net worth at US $3 billion and listed Kellner as 224th wealthiest man in the world. In 2007, he moved up to 119th with US$6 billion and then in 2008 to 91st with US$9.3 billion. In 2009 he was 76th with US$6 billion[16] and in 2010 89th with US$7.6 billion.[17][18][19] Kellner’s newest position on the Forbes list is 137th with an estimated wealth of US$9.2 billion (2015).[20]

He was estimated to have a net worth of $11.4 billion according to Forbes list of billionaires, making him the wealthiest person in the Czech Republic and the 102nd richest person in the world as of 10 August 2016.[21] In March 2016, his net worth was $10.9 billion.[22]

However, the above figures were criticized as overestimated by some Czech economic media. Their estimates were considerably lower, CZK 60–75 billion (approx. US$4 billion) according to the weekly Týden,[18] or even less than CZK 50 billion (app. US$3 billion) according to journalist Miroslav Motejlek.[23] Thus, Kellner would have been surpassed by entrepreneur Andrej Babiš on the position of the wealthiest resident of the Czech Republic.

Formerly, he owned a Gulfstream G500 airplane named Káně.[citation needed] In 2010 he bought a Boeing 737-700BBJ as his business airplane.[24] He lives in an extensive residence in the village of Podkozí near Prague, but he owns a number of other real estates in various countries. He also owns one of the largest collections of photographs taken by Josef Sudek.[5]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ “Archived copy”. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  2. Jump up^ https://www.forbes.com/profile/petr-kellner/?list=rtb#58d5bee21f0d
  3. Jump up^https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/3/#version:static_header:source
  4. Jump up^ “PPF Group – Key Group Personnel”. Ppf.cz. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  5. ^ Jump up to:a b c d “iDNES.cz – Kellner – miliardář s nenávistí k počítači”. Ekonomika.idnes.cz. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  6. Jump up^ Commercial register at justice.cz, identification number (IČ) 43222277
  7. Jump up^ “Skupina PPF brzy získá od IPB další akcie České pojišťovny”.
  8. Jump up^ “Prodej akcií IPB – PPF”. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007.
  9. Jump up^ “Mapování.cz – PPF: Rok 2000”.
  10. Jump up^ “PPF Group – History”. Ppf.cz. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  11. Jump up^ “PPF Group – Press Releases”. Ppf.cz. Retrieved 14 April2011.
  12. Jump up^ “Generali Group: Shareholder structure”. Generali.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  13. Jump up^ “Biggest mergers and acquisitions with Czech participation”. CTK Business News. 2013-11-04.
  14. Jump up^ “Generali Corporate bodies` members”. 5 December 2014. Archived from the original on 25 January 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  15. Jump up^ Hlavní podnikatelské činnosti skupiny PPF
  16. Jump up^ “The World’s Billionaires – #76 Petr Kellner”. Forbes. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  17. Jump up^ Net worth: from Petr Kellner – Forbes, March 2013.
  18. ^ Jump up to:a b “E15: Nejbohatším Čechem zůstává Petr Kellner”. E15.cz. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  19. Jump up^ “Americký Forbes minimálně trojnásobně nadhodnotil majetek Petra Kellnera”. Motejlek.com. Retrieved 14 April2011.
  20. Jump up^ “The World’s Billionaires » #137 Petr Kellner”.
  21. Jump up^ https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/3/#version:realtime
  22. Jump up^ https://www.forbes.com/profile/petr-kellner/?list=billionaires
  23. Jump up^ “Babiš odstavil Kellnera. Je najbohatší u nás aj v Česku”. Hnonline.sk. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  24. Jump up^ “Kellner si pořídil kapitální Boeing 737-700BBJ”. motejlek.com. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2011.

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