BORN: Hodonín, Moravia, Czechoslovakia, 1969
LIVES: Verbier, Palm Beach, London and Czechia
PARTNER: Štěpánka Komárková
CHILDREN: four
BUSINESS: KKCG investment group

The year 2023 was a big one for Czech sailor and entrepreneur Karel Komárek. Not only did his wealth jump from $5.3 billion to more than $8 billion (£3.9 to £5.9 billion) by some estimates, but he also fell in love.

The object of his desire was the 30.5-metre Wally Tango, the heavily customised fourth incarnation of the wallycento, which had proven highly effective on the maxi circuit since its launch in 2017. And as is sometimes the case in the economic stratosphere, Komárek loved the boat so much that he also invested in the company, snapping up shares in Wally owner Ferretti Group when they were first offered in Milan in 2023.

He renamed the boat V and fired the starting gun on a new racing campaign. “With V, the ambition was simple: continuous progress,” says Komárek. “I wanted to helm the boat myself, to feel the rhythm of each race. Sailing gives you immediate feedback. It rewards focus and exposes hesitation. That honesty is what I value.”

He approached it as a growth project, investing in the right people, building strong processes and improving performance step by step. Heading up that effort was Ken Read, perhaps the most storied of all American sailors and latterly president of North Sails.

His role as tactician brought instant success on V’s first outing at the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta in 2023, guiding the boat to victory with Komárek at the helm. It was a remarkable result, and one which Komárek and his team described as unexpected – scoring two bullets in the five-strong class.

When you are on the water everything becomes very simple

Since then, V and her crew have proven themselves time and again with podium finishes across the Mediterranean and the Caribbean in events from the RORC Nelson’s Cup in Antigua to the class win at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. “What I particularly enjoy is the challenge of racing at this level,” says Komárek.

“Every regatta is different: sometimes you win after a perfect race, sometimes you have to deal with setbacks or technical problems. It teaches resilience and adaptability, which are qualities that matter in both sport and business.

“On a personal level, sailing also gives me clarity and balance. When you are on the water everything becomes very simple – the wind, the boat and the team. It forces you to be fully present, and it reminds you that success always depends on trust, preparation and teamwork.”

A similar philosophy also guided Komárek to a move that sent seismic waves around the world of elite yacht racing in early April. He announced that he was challenging for the America’s Cup at the head of a newly convened syndicate called American Racing Challenger Team USA, co-founded by Chris Welch and built around the leadership of Ken Read.

“After American Magic stepped away, the US risked being absent from the 2027 competition for the first time in history,” he says. “Helping to rebuild a credible American challenge, led by Ken Read and equipped with the AC75 Patriot, reflects the same commitment to long-term improvement that has shaped my experiences with V and in business more broadly.”

Komárek has grown close to Ken Read through campaigning V, but that is not the only reason that he was drawn to invest his time and money in a US challenge for the Cup. He sees it as marking the return of US sailing to the world stage. “For the America’s Cup to truly thrive, the US needed not just to return, but also to return with a team built on the right values, the right assets and a clear vision,” he says.

Values return to the surface time and again when talking to this economic titan. He cites them as part of his motivation to woo Ferretti shareholders this spring with an unsolicited offer to buy up to 15.4 per cent of the company. At the time of writing, it looked as if the tide was shifting in favour of the deal after Komárek’s investment firm KKCG upped its offer from €3.50 to €3.90 per share and shareholder Piero Ferrari appeared to back him.

“For me, Ferretti is a jewel of Italian industry,” Komárek explains. “That’s why, through KKCG Maritime, we recently launched a voluntary tender offer to increase our stake from 14.5 per cent to 29.9 per cent – not to take control, but to support Ferretti’s next stage of development with stronger governance and the ability to act more decisively. Our objective is not to change the company’s identity.”

It is a move that has sent the Italian corporate rumour mill into full speculation mode, but Komárek won’t be worried about that, veteran as he is of the corporate battlefield. He loves the company and its products and sees long-term value in the brand.

“What drew me to Ferretti from the beginning was the combination of engineering excellence, design leadership and a remarkable Italian industrial tradition. It is a company where craftsmanship, innovation and global brand prestige come together in a very rare way. When KKCG became a shareholder after the company’s listing in Milan, it was clear to me that Ferretti had all the ingredients of a world-class business with significant long-term growth potential.”

“What drew me to Ferretti from the beginning was the combination of engineering excellence, design leadership and a remarkable Italian industrial tradition”

To a man worth over $9 billion, Komárek’s investment of some €200 million in a yachting brand is relatively small beer. He invests broadly from real estate to tech, but the real money in his KKCG fund comes from fossil fuels and gambling, where it has built a veritable empire. The gaming chapter began in 2012 with the purchase of the troubled Czech national lottery operator Sazka, advancing nearly every year since with incremental stakes in other European lottery businesses.

“Under our leadership it not only recovered but became the foundation for one of the world’s largest entertainment companies, Allwyn,” says Komárek. “Allwyn now operates lotteries and gaming in the UK, US (Illinois), Greece, Cyprus, Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic.”

Allwyn has just completed a €16 billion merger with Greece’s OPAP and taken a majority stake in US PrizePicks, which runs a daily fantasy sports operation. It operates at the border between gaming and betting, allowing people to stake money on team picks and on e-sports, for instance.

It also gives Allwyn access to the skyrocketing US prediction market, which has seen Polymarket and Kalshi shoot to notoriety. The cost of the stake is reported at $1.6 billion, making it a hefty bet on the future of gaming in its own right.

But Komárek created KKCG long before the first lottery purchase. It was founded back in 1996, shortly after the Velvet Revolution in the Czech Republic, which helped set Komárek on the road to fortune.

He had set up an industrial valve business called M.O.S. Hodonin using a £7,500 loan from his father, and it had been a success. “This venture became a stepping stone into the energy sector and ultimately laid the groundwork for my later investments,” says Komárek. 

Oil and gas is still one of the four big pillars of KKCG, although its mandate has been broadened to include some new energy assets as well, including a methanol business in the US. Its guiding principles haven’t changed, says Komárek. “KKCG started as a small investment company, but even then, I believed in spotting emerging trends and building industries for the long term. 

“My ambition was to create a diverse, innovative investment group with the flexibility to move quickly, allocate capital effectively, and build businesses that could scale internationally. Often the investment world is split between those firms which take over operationally or those which are completely absent. My approach is different – we are focused on supporting the best management team possible for each business and helping them to grow. KKCG is the ultimate value-driver.”

It has also allowed Komárek to indulge a passion for boats, including a Riva, the 84-metre Feadship Obsidian and, of course, V. And it has supported his philanthropy, particularly in support of the arts. “Classical music has always been a passion,” he explains. “I co-founded the Dvořák Prague Festival in 2008 to celebrate the legacy of Antonín Dvořák and bring world-class music to Prague. I also help support the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland.”

He has been active in sports philanthropy, too, establishing the More Than Equal foundation with 13-times Grand Prix winner David Coulthard. “It’s a global non-profit working to discover and develop the first female Formula 1 world champion,” Komárek says. “It blends two things I care about deeply: opportunity and high-performance sport.” F1 fans will spot Allwyn signs during the formation lap of each race this season.

Komárek is looking forward to more high-performance sport this maxi racing season. The Loro Piana Giraglia in June is likely to be the next testing ground, where V will again meet her arch-competitor Galateia, the wallycento belonging to David Leuschen and Chris Flowers. The prospect of a win shines bright, but Komárek takes broader satisfaction from these outings on the water.

“The proudest moments are often the quiet ones; when preparation reveals itself in a clean race, when decisions feel instinctive and when the crew works almost without words,” he explains. “Those moments are deeply satisfying because they are earned.” 

To be published in the July 2026 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.