Daniel Křetínský in the first ever major profile interview about the birth of the most global Czech capitalist, who does not let France or Britain sleep.
Prague, Pařížská street
When you have an interview with the real richest person in the Czech Republic, who has avoided the media for many years – except for sketchy exceptions – and whom the Anglophone press refers to as the “Czech Sphinx”, you imagine many things.
Who exactly is that Czech who is making waves in Western Europe like no other before him? Who is the 208th richest person in the world, known in the Czech Republic primarily for owning Sparta football?
Who is he who is portrayed in some media as a coal baron who is one of the biggest polluters of the air, even though this is not true?
Who is the one who has a business of global proportions and yet his offices in Pařížská street occupy only two floors and actually seem inappropriately undersized?
Daniel Křetínský brushes off all these questions as he enters the meeting room of his Prague headquarters, where he arrives a good thirty minutes later, but as casually as possible.
“Guys, I’m so sorry, I’m just going to play with the air conditioner a little here because I’m late and if I’m still feeling it, it would be a total disaster,” he says with a smile.
Patrik Tkáč recently said about him that he goes everywhere late and always apologizes for his late arrival for several minutes. Not only that, it can be seen that they have been doing business together for over twenty years.
“I had, shall we say, a geographically challenging call,” he continues, laughing as he reaches for his favorite green tea. In a dark blue suit and in perfect shape, he looks like he just came back from the gym. However, the astute reader knows that Daniel Křetínský may have a thousand and one reasons for his late arrival.
None of the Czech businessmen moves as many big pieces on the chessboard of capital as the thoughtful man sitting across from us. In addition, we have been waiting for this meeting for twelve years – tens of minutes certainly do not matter to us.
Twelve years really meant a lot in Daniel Křetínský’s business. When Forbes entered the Czech market in 2011, the EBITDA profitability of the still nascent Krétín Empire was around seven billion crowns. Last year it was a hundred billion in crowns, please.
The enterprise, whose beginnings were supported by Křetínský Petr Kellner and Patrik Tkáč, thus represents perhaps the most successful Czech business venture of the modern era. The excess of liquidity has caused EPH to be “doomed to growth” in the words of Daniel Křetínský.
In twelve years, the group has grown far beyond energy and the surname Křetínský, or rather Kretinsky, is today used in Western Europe in connection with the acquisitions of companies of national importance such as Royal Mail, Sainsbury’s, Metro, Casino, Footlocker and Le Monde.
Daniel Křetínský and I spent several hours on the Prague-Paris line, resulting in the longest profile interview we have ever conducted. An interview during which we tried to find out who Daniel Křetínský really is. And what does he think of the world?
How are you? Or are you feeling better than usual when Sparta won the title?
I have to say that it’s actually a joy for me, but it’s such a joy in the form of relief. The wait and the series of disappointments were terribly long. In addition, there are two very important factors for Sparta. The first is that in the end there is relatively little one can do about it. Of course, I am responsible for everything, because I always had the opportunity to change anything in the club.
So when there are failures, they are my failures. I was always responsible. But the truth is that once the coach, the sports management and the players are selected, one basically just looks on and can do almost nothing, or very little. This is a factor that increases stress.
And the other factor?
In the case of Sparta, I feel responsible for the emotions of many people who support Sparta. And I put myself in that role. No one elected us, we ourselves decided to acquire the club. We really try extremely hard to do what we can and support the club. There were moments when we practically couldn’t get through for reasons beyond our control.
In particular, the referees worked in such a way that it was really almost impossible. But of those eight years, it was, let’s say, three years. And not the other five. So it’s not an excuse. For at least five out of eight years, we’ve had things in our hands and could handle them without a problem, and we didn’t handle them. We didn’t do a good job. So yes, now I’m happy and really relieved.
And did you celebrate the title properly?
I can celebrate well, but not for so long. (laughs) I can immediately see what needs to be done next. But I celebrated it, I was on the boat with the guys and it was really cool. I enjoyed it very much.
When will West Ham win the title?
I don’t think West Ham should be going through a phase where they are trying to take part in a full arms race. It is necessary to follow a peaceful path of evolution. To try to build a solid foundation with honest and good work with youth and good scouting and good sports management and achieve the best possible results on it. Embarking on a major arms race would not be right.
So its a long term game for you…
Certainly.
Has anything made you as happy as Sparta lately?
It is clear that the most important things in life are the same for all of us. The health of those closest to you, knowing that they are okay and doing well, and your relationships with them. If I look away from these most important things, yes – the most positive moment in recent times really was Sparta. When the guys kicked it in Slovakia, I felt like I needed to go to bed in ten minutes. I was terribly stressed. Terrible stress.
When the guys kicked it in Slovakia, I felt like I needed to go to bed in ten minutes. I was terribly stressed.
If we draw a parallel with Sparta, have you had the most successful year in business as well?
Of course, we had a very good year in terms of business. On the other hand, it was partly caused by something no one wanted. If I could choose that I don’t want such a good year and I don’t want what happened to happen, I would do it in a picosecond. To the extent that our results were due to the Russian invasion, I am not happy about them and I do not celebrate them.
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2023-07-04 05:02:29
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