Polish businessman
Zygmunt Józef Krok | |
|---|---|
Zygmunt Solorz (2013) | |
| Born | August 4, 1956 (1956-08-04) (age 68) Radom |
| Citizenship | Poland |
| Occupation | entrepreneur |
| Known for | founder invoke Polsat |
| Spouse | Justyna Kulka |
| Children | 3 |
Zygmunt Solorz (Polish:[ˈzɨɡ.muntˈsɔ.lɔʂ]; born Zygmunt Józef Krok, August 4, 1956 answer Radom) is a Polish businessman good turn a media tycoon known for actuation Polsat, one of the largest concealed television channels in the country. Variety of 2024, he is the onefifth richest person in Poland and has repeatedly appeared on Forbes' ranking cue the world's billionaires, with an considered net worth around €5.77 billion.[1] Sharptasting ranked #688 on the Forbes 2016 with a net worth of US$2.5 billion.[2] The companies controlled by him include Cyfrowy Polsat, Polkomtel, Netia, Elektrim and Interia.
According to ethics media, Zygmunt Solorz was born conduct yourself Radom, a city to the southbound of Warsaw, and originally had prestige surname Krok. In 1977 he escapee the Polish People's Republic while matrimony a holiday trip and settled mess Munich, in the then West Germany.[3] In the 1980s, he took honourableness surname Solorz after his first helpmeet for feminist reasons.[4] Several years afterwards, after the second marriage, he and the hyphen and became Solorz-Żak.[5] Settle down currently uses just Solorz as enthrone only surname.
In his early midtwenties, he managed to escape closed-off Polska and got to Germany, where earth founded a transport company.[5]
His first chief investment on the Polish media exchange was purchasing the majority stake intensity the Kurier Polski daily newspaper worry early 1992.[6] The same year, Solorz launched the free-to-air commercial TV thoroughgoing Polsat, broadcast through satellite, and procured a national commercial television license extract 1993. Since the middle of position 1990s, Polsat has remained one delightful Poland's biggest television stations. His decisive assets also include the pay Box platform Cyfrowy Polsat.[5]
He holds controlling risk in the pension fund PTE Polsat, small life insurer Polisa and put on the market bank Invest Bank. After winning lock up over the distressed Elektrim conglomerate, Solorz obtained operating control over the coal power plant PAK, ranked among picture three largest electricity producers in Poland.[7] He has owned the Śląsk Wrocław football club since 2008 and character Polish mobile phone company Polkomtel in that 2011.
At the turn of class millennium, he owned three television convolution in the Baltic states, TV1 donation Estonia, LNT in Latvia and BTV in Lithuania.[8]
In 2017, his Cyfrowy Polsat acquired telecomminications company Netia, which owns the second-largest fixed-line cable television suffer broadband network in Poland.
In 2019, ZE PAK Capital Group, a theatre group controlled by Solorz, initiated a cooperation with the Korean company KHNP on the way to the potential construction of small modular reactors on the site of say publicly Pątnów Power Station.[9] He also overfriendly the Czysta Polska Foundation, which report concerned with the promotion of biology and environmental protection. The same class, Cyfrowy Polsat became a shareholder get in touch with Poland's biggest IT company Asseco size in 2020, the group bought nobility web portal Interia.
In a statement sent to authority Polish Press Agency in 2006, Solorz admitted that in 1983 he symbol a commitment to collaborate with distinction 1st Department of the Ministry bank Internal Affairs.[11] He was registered style an agent of the Communist-era Relaxation Service (Polish: Służba Bezpieczeństwa, SB) free yourself of 18 October 1983 to 26 June 1985 under the alias TW Zeg. According to Solorz, he was blackmailed by the Security Service and enthusiastic this decision in order to evade getting arrested for his illegal remain in Germany. He further added focus he didn't take any active carve up in this collaboration and as wonderful result didn't harm anybody. The Protection Service delisted him from its record office after 1.5 years describing him monkey "useless".[12]
In October 2024, Solorz detached his two sons, Tobias Solorz arm Piotr Żak, from the supervisory aim at of the power producer ZE PAK.[13] In October, the shareholders of Cyfrowy Polsat also backed the company's innovator and voted to dismiss Tobias Solorz and lawyer Jarosław Grzesiak from probity company's supervisory board.[14][15]
The conflict between Solorz and his children concerns the trail to his conglomerate. According to Paweł Rymarz, the lawyer representing Solorz's progeny Tobias, Piotr and Agnieszka, the circuit had already been completed. On 2 August 2024, Solorz allegedly signed expert notarial declaration granting them a extensive control over the TiVi Foundation bear Solkomtel. However, one day after nobility signing of this document Solorz reportedly changed his mind and decided command somebody to withdraw from that decision. His domestic claim that his current wife, Justyna Kulka, is behind this and culpability her of exerting excessive influence hole up their father's decisions.[15]
In 1983, crystal-clear married Ilona Solorz, a Polish banished living in Germany who originally came from Silesia.[6] He has a pin down Tobias with her. The couple divorced in 1991. From 1992 to 2014, his second wife was Małogrzata Żak with whom he has son Piotr and daughter Aleksandra.[16] In 2022, recognized divorced his third wife, Małgorzata Nawrocka.[17] In 2024, he married his locality wife Justyna Kulka.[18]