Michal Šnobr helped a lot of people get very rich by investing in ČEZ shares – the J&T financial group headed by Patrik Tkáč alone gained at least five billion crowns thanks to his bet. Šnobrem still holds a stake in ČEZ today, and he has gradually become a stubborn critic of how the semi-state company operates. “ČEZ is a huge company with huge influence that makes huge money,” says in Vojta Žižka’s podcast.
But it is precisely the enormous influence that CEZ has in society that Michal Šnobr it annoys. According to him, politicians and even the police are afraid of the company and its bosses: “There were a number of problems, but no one was ever held accountable for them.” It is reminiscent, for example, of unsuccessful investments in South-Eastern Europe or Turkey, the opaque sale of the strategic company I&C Energo or problems with the relicensing of the nuclear power plant in Dukovany.
According to Šnobr, the problem is that ČEZ sponsors culture, sports, non-profit organizations or children’s playgrounds and is probably able to financially support associations and projects close to political parties, so no one dares to oppose it. At the same time, government politicians, who theoretically have an influence on who will lead the company, are said to not understand energy, and the company’s managers will eventually process them gradually.
“This is how it works in the Czech Republic for a long time,” stated Vojta Žižka, a businessman who, with J&T, continues to control roughly a percentage of ČEZ’s shares.
The state has a 70 percent stake in ČEZ, the rest is held by minority shareholders – partly large investment funds, partly small investors, perhaps from the days of coupon privatization. According to Šnobr, the paradox is that the state has 70 percent of the shares, but at the same time exercises 100 percent control over the supervisory board, which then elects the management. The long-term head of ČEZ is Daniel Beneš, who replaced Martin Roman in 2011.
According to Šnobr, the fact that ČEZ earns tens of billions, which then largely ends up in the state coffers, is not due to his leadership, but to market conditions: “Fundamental rules are not created in Prague, but in Berlin or Brussels.”
Vojta Žižka’s podcast also touched on other topics than just ČEZ. Michal Šnobr is also a passionate collector of LEGO kits, he owns several holiday resorts in the Krkonoše Mountains and the Šumava Mountains, and he continues to be active together with J&T in the stock markets as well.
You can listen to the entire interview with Michal Šnobre on Vojta Žižka’s Patreon. In it you will also hear, for example:
According to Michal Šnobr, how will the price of ČEZ shares develop in the near future? How will the price of electricity develop? How does he invest in LEGO sets? How does he perceive the investment failure of joining the company Venator?
2023-10-02 17:07:14
#ČEZ #huge #money #great #managers #merit #Šnobr
