Kretinsky was born in the eastern Czech city of Brno A billionaire with interests in football clubs, media outlets, supermarkets and now the potential new owner of Britain's Royal Mail, Czech Daniel Kretinsky retains a stubbornly low profile internationally. The 48-year-old made his fortune in the energy industry, where he controls one of Central Europe's largest groups, EPH. But in recent years he has also become a major player in France's media scene and amassed a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at more than $9 billion.
His $4.6 billion takeover offer for Royal Mail was accepted by the postal service's board on Wednesday. The deal is likely to push the reclusive billionaire further into the spotlight in Britain, where he already owned a stake in the postal service as well as 27 percent of Premier League football club West Ham.
His move into football brought scrutiny from British tabloids, which labelled him the "Czech Sphinx" and detailed his purchase of a London home for £65 million ($85 million) in 2015. The newspapers also chronicled his relationship with Anna Kellnerova, a Czech showjumper 20 years his junior. The pair have since split up.
Kretinsky has otherwise kept his private life out of the headlines, though he has offered some insights into his business strategy. He told Forbes in an interview last year that Britain, France and Germany were the most important countries for his company -- and he appreciated questions would be asked about him. "It's always the.
