Radovan Vítek (born 22 January 1971) is a Czech
billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...
real estate investor, and majority shareholder in
CPI Property Group
CPI Property Group (“CPIPG”) is a real estate landlord of income-generating commercial properties focused on the Czech Republic, Berlin, Warsaw and the Central & Eastern European (CEE) region. It was founded in the Czech Republic in 1991.
The ...
, which owns a €9.8 billion property portfolio of 418 properties including offices, retail, 12,306 residential units and 10,488 hotel beds.
Career
Radovan Vítek started his property career in Slovakia 1990's voucher privatization, before returning to the Czech Republic in 1997.
In 1996, Vitek acquired an investment fund, Boleslavsko, which he transformed into his key real estate investment vehicle (now CPI). In the early 2000s, CPI acquired a wide portfolio of real properties and land in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. His primary focus was the quickly developing retail sector, as the Czech Republic was preparing to join the European Union in May 2004. During the economic downturn, in the absence of competitive bidders, Vitek significantly increased his investment into the office segment. In 2014, Radovan established CPIPG in its current format by the combination of CPI and GSG Group, the leading owner-operator of commercial real estate in Berlin), creating a platform that has become one of the largest CEE real estate groups.
As of September 2020, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' estimated his net worth at US$4.4 billion.
Through a subsidiary, Remontees Mecaniques Crans-Montana Aminona SA (CMA), CPI owns and operates ski lifts, shops, restaurants and other businesses in the Swiss ski resort of Crans Montana. During the 2018 ski season, CMA closed the ski lifts because the town council would not honor an agreement to pay 800,000 Swiss Francs (around $799,000) to CMA for the cost of late-season opening and for running World Cup races. CMA said it did this with the resort's long-term financial interest in mind. The three surrounding towns said the CMA harmed not only the resort's financial interest but also its image, and raised questions about the motivations behind their decision.
Controversies
Fined by the Luxembourg Regulator
At the end of 2017, Vitek was fined by the Luxembourg regulator CSSF in relation to the acquisition of shares in Orco Property Group, alleging an “undisclosed concert action.”.
Lawsuit in New York, US
In April 2019, Vitek and CPI were sued in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for $1bn of damages. The lawsuit was filed by a New York hedge fund called Kingstown, along with Investhold LTD and Verali Limited, entities controlled by Marek Čmejla and Jiri Divis, who were previously indicted