WARSAW, Poland, July 29 (UPI) — Jan Kulczyk, Poland’s richest businessman, died Tuesday night of complications following surgery.
He made his great fortune during Poland’s economic transformation that saw it become a free market.
He passed away in Vienna at 65.
Kulczyk’s estimated net worth was registered as late as February 2015 at $3.9 billion reported Forbes.
Key transactions included the purchase of minority stakes in the national telecom provider Telekomunikacja Polska SA, now Orange Polska, insurer Warta; and Tyskie brewery, reported The Wall Street Journal. He also had been a private investor in SABMiller PLC, the giant brewing company.
Kulczyk also invested in the energy and natural resources sectors in Europe and Africa, while also developing the car sector in Poland, according to news reports.
A noted philanthropist, Kulczyk’s donation of 20 million zlotys — or $5.3 million — helped finish the work on the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. He also sponsored grants for gifted young people, The New York Times reported.
“It will be hard to organize some things without him,” Poland’s former President Lech Walesa said.
Divorced from his wife, Kulczyk is survived by a son and a daughter.
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