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Daniel Kretinsky has received a £220m boost as the West Ham United co-owner reaps big rewards of high prices.
There has yet more speculation surrounding a West Ham takeover over the weekend.
That has been fuelled by Sheikh Jassim officially withdrawing his bid to buy Manchester United.
The speculation works on the assumption that West Ham would be sold by current owners David Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky be looking to turn a quick profit.
But while both of the key Hammers men are flush, it’s fair to say Kretinsky in particular is not short of a few quid.
Daniel Kretinsky gets £220m boost as West Ham co-owner reaps big rewards of high prices
After a series of shrewd, big money investments away from West Ham since he joined the club, we reported earlier this year that Kretinsky’s net worth has almost doubled.
According to the Forbes real-time tracker Kretinsky’s real-time net worth is $9bn (£7.4bn).
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Nicknamed “the Czech Sphinx” in his homeland and described as ‘secretive’ – Kretinsky has stakes in a host of big businesses such as Royal Mail and Sainsbury’s as well as West Ham. But the bulk of his wealth is built on his involvement in energy.
Earlier this year Kretinsky landed a £1bn 15-year mega deal to provide back-up energy supply to the National Grid in the UK.
Now Kretinsky has received a £220m boost as the West Ham co-owner reaps big rewards of high prices.
Hammers money man bags huge dividend in ‘energy bonanza’
According to This Is Money, the West Ham money man has seen profits at his company Energeticky a prumyslovy holding (EPH) jump to £1.7 billion for the first six months of 2023 from £1.1 billion the previous year. That’s despite revenues slipping to £12.9 billion from £13.1 billion in 2022.
“EPH controls energy assets across Europe and is a major player in the UK,” the report states.
“It owns sites including Ballylumford, Northern Ireland’s largest gas-fired power station, and the Lynemouth biomass power plant in Northumberland.
“EPH dished out £438 million in dividends for the first half of this year, according to its latest accounts. This was on top of the £492 million paid in 2022. Kretinsky controls just over half of the company, which means he is in line for at least a £219 million share of the payout.”
With that kind of wealth and West Ham a consistent source of big income too, one has to ask the question: would Kretinsky really be that keen on selling up even if Sheikh Jassim was truly interested.
