On his first visit to Rome, young Daniel Křetínský stayed in a hotel 40 kilometers outside the city to save money. Decades later, the Czech billionaire regularly shuttles across Europe in his private jet, becoming one of the continent’s most prolific dealmakers.
The 47-year-old’s fortune has doubled to more than $10 billion in the past year, according to estimates by Forbes and people familiar with his business, as the energy crisis boosted profits at his electricity, natural gas and coal businesses.
He is now looking to use the windfall to accelerate his group’s expansion into media, logistics and retail, building on a spate of recent deals in Germany, the UK and especially France.
An avowed Francophile, Křetínský developed an interest in many of the country’s most high-profile active deals while gradually shedding his outsider status. Since 2018, he has acquired The Power Plant and magazines such as Elle and Marianne, while holding stakes in newspaper Le Monde, broadcaster TF1 and electronics retailer Fnac-Darty.
“He’s a builder, not a financier . . . he wants to build something that will produce products and services for a long time,” says Denis Olivennes, a consultant in charge of CMI France, the French arm of Křetínský’s company Czech Media Invest. “He’s not a speculator.”
Some may question this description. Krzetinsky built his empire by buying neglected businesses on the cheap, often using outside financing. Its backbone is a collection of unpopular, often carbon-intensive businesses that have helped him turn Prague-based energy group EPH into a sprawling conglomerate with 30 billion euros in assets that nearly doubled its revenue last year doubled to 37.1 billion euros.
Krzetinski has a long way to go to realize his ambitions beyond energy. EPH generated the vast majority of its empire’s more than $40 billion in revenue last year, according to people familiar with the matter.
A football fanatic who owns AC Sparta Prague and bought a 27 percent stake in Premier League club West Ham in 2021, the former lawyer is described by those who know him as sharp, strategic and detail-oriented.
In France, Křetínský is in exclusive talks to buy publisher Editis from billionaire Vincent Bolloré’s media group Vivendi, and floated the idea of taking over Atos’ fading IT services business in a spin-off deal — checks in the hundreds of millions Euro capitalized one turn.
His most recent investment in the country was to lead a more than 1 billion euro injection into indebted food retailer Casino, of which he is already the second-largest shareholder. If successful, it could wrest control of the group from founder Jean-Charles Naouri, who has resisted previous deals that could loosen his grip.
Křetínský takes advice in the country from figures including Olivennes, a seasoned media personality in retail and navigating the halls of French power, and Jean-Michel Mazalerat, who runs the French subsidiary of his energy company .
“Every time there was a big bid in France, whether it was Editis or Casino, he showed up,” said one French investor. “He paid to get into the establishment and it worked.”
Kretinski declined to comment.
Born in Brno, Czech Republic, in 1975 to parents of a professor and a judge, Krzetinski learned French as a student and traveled to France on an exchange program. After starting his university education in his hometown, he went on to study law in Dijon. “There’s an emotional connection there,” said one consultant.
After working as a junior lawyer in Brno for a while, Křetínský joined the investment group J&T founded in Slovakia in 1999 and quickly rose through the ranks as partner and renowned dealmaker. After acquiring a German coal company in 2009, J&T decided to divest its energy assets into a new structure, EPH, and awarded him a 20% stake in the venture.
Křetínský’s sniff for deals was confirmed, and he went on to lead lucrative acquisitions in Central and Eastern Europe, first in energy infrastructure, then in power generation, and eventually took control of EPH. He also formed a relationship with the late Petr Kellner, one of the wealthiest men in the Czech Republic and Křetínský’s future partner, Father of Olympic skydiver Anna Kellnerová.
“I’m not surprised that he is a successful entrepreneur . . . he doesn’t waste his time on things that are not important to his goals,” says Jiří Gottweis, who employs Křetínský.
Křetínský’s energy portfolio expanded rapidly as EPH became one of Europe’s largest electricity suppliers, acquiring assets including UK power plants from Centrica and Italian power plants from Eon.
His deal was not without controversy. One of his early successes was securing a monopoly on the Slovakian gas storage business through a co-ownership agreement with the Slovakian government, including a pipeline company that transported Russian gas—a connection that sparked when he first started investing in Western Europe. caught people’s attention.
Gary Mazzotti, chief executive of EP Infrastructure, whose assets include Křetínský’s Slovakian gas business, said the businessman’s decision was based on pragmatism.
“People are obsessed with the risks of Russia, but at the end of the day, people here need to eat, sleep and be energized,” he said. “So if it comes from Russia, fine, but if not Europe can find a replacement. I know the story is about whether we can survive without Russia, but the reality is we have.”
In Germany, Krzetinski became known as a “coal tycoon” after he took over a number of coal-fired power plants and mines that produced lignite, a highly polluting fuel.
“He realized that a 40% renewable energy target by 2040 might not be realistic, and even then 60% would still be fossil fuels,” said a person who works with him on energy projects. “At the same time, everyone is rushing into renewable energy, so the returns are very low. While everyone is rushing into one side of the market, he’s playing the other side.”
For Mazzotti, “Daniel is a realist . . . someone who understands how long a process takes . . . he invests in common sense, even though common sense is sometimes unsatisfactory”.
EPH said this month that it would spin off its assets in Germany into a separate entity “to negotiate constructively with the German authorities on phasing out coal-fired power plants by 2030”.
By the mid-2010s, Krzetinski was looking beyond energy to other undervalued industries. He looks at retail and logistics, two industries reeling from the rise of online shopping, and media as the internet disrupted business models.
As well as Fnac Darty, his retail portfolio includes German wholesaler Metro as well as stakes in US sneaker chain Foot Locker and British grocer J Sainsbury.
His 2018 investment in Le Monde newspaper, considered a mainstay of the French establishment, angered journalists and shareholders. While Krzetinski has snapped up radio stations in Eastern and Central Europe and magazines from the French Lagardère group, the purchase of France’s largest daily has drawn national attention and scrutiny.
“Le Monde’s view is that Daniel doesn’t count or exist,” said a senior insider at the newspaper.
His French media group, CMI France, has annual revenue of 220 million euros, a figure that could rise significantly if the Editis deal goes through, according to industry sources. “Then we started to become an interesting group size with revenues of about 1 billion euros,” said a person with knowledge of the business.
There could be further media deals, according to people close to Krzetinski. He has also set his sights further afield, at one point hoping to buy Britain’s major newspaper The Telegraph before abandoning the project, people familiar with the matter said.
However, not all of his investments were immediate successes, including his 25% stake in Royal Mail’s parent company. But colleagues say Křetínský prefers to take a long-term view of investments.
By diversifying, “he wanted to create a business that matched his energy interests,” one of his advisers said. “Remember, he’s only 47. He’ll be 60 when they mature like his energy business. Time is on his side. It’s a sort of second career, a second phase in the development of his team. “
Additional reporting by Leila Abboud