Jan Kulczyk, born June 24, 1950, in Bydgoszcz, is a prominent Polish business oligarch. He is the owner of Kulczyk Holding with headquarters in Warsaw, and an international investment house Kulczyk Investments (former name: Kulczyk Investment House) with headquarters in Luxembourg and offices in London, Kiev and Dubai. According to the Wprost newspaper, his fortune is estimated at PLN 7.8 billion (approximately USD$ 2.4 billion). In 2006 ranked 756 among The World Richest People by Forbes with an estimated net worth of US$1 billion, disappeared from Forbes ranking in 2007 and 2008. In 2010 he emerged on the Forbes' list again, ranked No 463 with the estimated net worth US$2,1 billion. He is also at the top of the Richest Poles list 2010.
Education
Kulczyk is a law graduate of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań as well as a graduate of foreign trade at the University of Economics in Poznań. He holds a Ph.D. in international law. His business activities are a continuation of a family business tradition into the third generation.
Business Background
His father set up three companies after WW2, all of which were taken over by the communist state. In 1981, Kulczyk formed Interkulpol, one of the first companies with foreign capital in Poland. In 1988 he established the Kulczyk Tradex company, which was the only official dealer of Volkswagen and Audi in Poland. In 1991 Kulczyk Holding, a limited liability was established, and in 1993 it was transformed into a joint-stock company. Jan Kulczyk is the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the company. Kulczyk Holding belongs to the international investment group Kulczyk Investments (former name: Kulczyk Investment House), and manages the assets of the group in Poland. Completed investments include: PTC Era mobile operator (4.8% in 1993-1999, partnership with Deutsche Telekom Mobil Net GmbH), TPSA Polish telecom operator (47.5% acquired alongside France Telecom in privatisation deal and later sold to France Telecom), national oil refining and marketing PKN Orlen (nearly 5% in 2001-2005), TUiR Warta SA, an insurance company (70% gradually sold to KBC) and PTE Dom pension fund (50% disposed to KBC).
From : www.wikipedia.org
