As birthday presents go, winning the lottery isn’t a bad one – or so Czech billionaire Karel Komárek observed after his company, Allwyn, emerged as the “preferred bidder” to run Britain’s national sweepstake, having wrested the prize from the incumbent, Camelot. But the deal isn’t quite in the bag – not least, notes the Financial Times, because Komárek’s broader KKCG empire owns a Czech oil and gas business that has a gas storage joint venture with Kremlin-controlled Gazprom, prompting “anxiety from MPs from across the political spectrum”.
A mystery man
Komárek, 53, is scrambling to undo these links, and has condemned Putin and the invasion of Ukraine via his social accounts. Even then, he may not enjoy a straightforward run, says The Daily Telegraph. Camelot, which has run the lottery since its launch in 1994, isn’t going quietly and may mount a legal challenge against the Gambling Commission’s decision, potentially lifting the lid on a bidding process shrouded in secrecy. Formerly known as the Sazka Group, Allwyn runs lotteries across Europe.
It apparently impressed with its “vow to launch a digital investment spree”, halve ticket prices, and double the amount the lottery makes for good causes. It assembled a roster of British business luminaries, including Sebastian Coe and Air Miles inventor Keith Mills, who both worked with Boris Johnson on the 2012 Olympics when he was London mayor.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Komárek can now expect to find his past dealings under the microscope. But “some of the suspicion” with which he is “viewed in certain British circles can be blamed on xenophobia” and his “relatively mysterious profile”, says the Daily Mail. The fitness fanatic is thought to be worth $7.8bn. He runs his empire from a palatial residence in Verbier billed as “one of the finest properties in the Alps”, which was valued at £28m when it was finished ten years ago and “rents for almost half a million pounds a week” when he’s out of town.
The seeds of his success began in the aftermath of Czechoslovakia’s 1989 Velvet Revolution. Komarek grew up in a twobedroom flat in the South Moravian mining town of Hodonin. He was 20 when the Iron Curtain lifted. With a $10,000 loan from his father, he set up a business selling industrial parts, quickly expanding into oil and gas supply. “When the Revolution came, I felt I was born for the second time,” he told Vanity Fair. “I was so naïve – I had no clue.”
He soon wised up in the rough world of post-Soviet energy markets, showing similar pragmatism when he moved into lotteries. Having taken a minority stake in the Czech national operator, Sazka, in 2011, he acquired it outright within a year and in 2013, took advantage of Greece’s parlous financial state to co-acquire its stake in the listed gambling operator OPAP. Deals to run lotteries in Austria and Italy followed.
An even bigger prize
Komarek’s KKCG empire now encompasses energy, tourism, property, technology, private jets, and biomedicine, as well as the burgeoning lottery and gambling business. Winning in Britain, which hosts the world’s fourth-largest lottery, could add another $10bn to Allwyn’s revenues, says the FT. But the company has its sights set on an even bigger market. In January, it announced plans for a $9.3bn listing in New York, via a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) backed by Gary Cohn, the former president of Goldman Sachs and Trump administration adviser. Lotteries, Komárek told Vanity Fair, are “probably the most interesting type of business I have ever been in”. He likes their potential to change lives – his own included.
-
Will the Bitcoin price hit $100,000?With Bitcoin prices trading just below $100,000, we explore whether the cryptocurrency can hit the milestone.
-
Inheritance tax receipts jump 11% even before Autumn Budget overhaulOfficial figures show inheritance tax receipts are rising even before the chancellor’s changes to reliefs
-
Elon Musk enters the White House – what happens now?Elon Musk has achieved the seemingly impossible many times before in the business world. But will he be able to cut the US government down to size?
-
Sri Mulyani Indrawati: Indonesia’s Iron LadyKeeping Sri Mulyani Indrawati on as Indonesia's finance minister has steadied the ship after the election of a former military general spooked financial markets
-
Media mogul James Dolan takes straight shot at the limelightControversial media mogul James Dolan has been hailed as a visionary for his Sphere arena in Las Vegas. But can he square the circle financially?
-
Do we need central banks, or is it time to privatise money?Analysis Free banking is one alternative to central banks, but would switching to a radical new system be worth the risk?
-
Byju’s – the startling rise and fallIndia’s educational technology start-up Byju's attracted big-name backers and soared to vertiginous heights during Covid. It has now plummeted. What happened?
-
Indian magnate Ratan Tata dies at 86 – how he made a mark in the UKRatan Tata took the helm of the family business in 1991 and transformed it into an international conglomerate worth $365bn. His death plunged India into mourning
-
Jimmy Carter makes history as the first former US president to turn 100When Jimmy Carter left office, few would have predicted an outbreak of national affection for the former president’s 100th birthday four decades later. But his legacy is worth celebrating
-
Eric Adams: the New York City mayor charged with corruptionControversy and accusations of corruption have followed Eric Adams in his rise to the mayoralty of New York City. Now he has been charged with a federal crime.
