Another Czech billionaire player – Zdeněk Bakala – also grew up in the backdrop of developing opportunities and ubiquitous lobbying. His name recurs in cases falling into several chapters of the History of Corruption.
Bakala started his career in 1989 at the American bank Drexel Burnham Lambert. From there he moved to Bank of America, where he managed several interesting investment funds. He gained respect in the Czech Republic and especially in Prague for what he did in 1994. From practically nothing and on the uncertain financial market of that time, he founded the investment company Patria Finance.
The company is still considered a prestigious consulting and investment group, and for a long time no one had a bad word to say about Zdeněk Bakala. He tarnished his reputation only in 2004, when he entered the mining industry. We report on the controversies surrounding OKD in the introductory chapters. He has not fulfilled his obligations under the privatisation agreement.
In 2006 Bakala entered the media – he bought the magazine Respekt and two years later also the Economia publishing house, which publishes the Czech newspaper Hospodářské noviny and several professional titles. He also bought the Slovak publishing house Ecopress, which publishes Hospodářské noviny, but sold it separately to Andrej Babiš’s Agrofert in 2013.
In 2011, it made further interesting acquisitions. He bought the computer game producer Warhorse Studio and the Belgian cycling “stable” Omega Pharma Quickstep. Together with his wife – Czechoslovak Miss Michaela Maláčová – he also bought the Forum Karlín luxury multifunctional cultural centre and other lucrative properties. He retains a certain respect in Prague, for example for financing the construction of the Václav Havel Library and other art facilities.
