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Billionaire Petr Kellner died in a helicopter crash at the age of 56.
He was considered the richest Czech.
He belonged to the group of investors who had taken over the East German lignite power plants and opencast mines from Vattenfall, which are controlled from Cottbus under the name "Leag".
In the accident in Alaska, the pilot and four other people died.
A woman on board survived the accident with serious injuries, according to police, she was treated in a hospital in Anchorage on Sunday.
The passengers were three guests and two guides from a ski hut that offers heli-ski tours, a spokeswoman for Tordrillo Mountain Lodge said.
The Eurocopter AS 350 crashed on Saturday under unknown circumstances about 80 kilometers from Anchorage, said the FAA.
The crash site is near the Knik Glacier.
The traffic safety authority NTSB started investigations into the cause of the crash.
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Forbes magazine led the entrepreneur in its 2020 list of the richest people in the world with assets of more than 17 billion dollars (14.4 billion euros).
He owned 98.93 percent of the PPF Group, an international investment company with total assets of 44 billion euros.
The company confirmed Kellner's death.
The Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis spoke of an "unbelievable tragedy".
The billionaire held back in public and rarely spoke to the media.
Born on May 20, 1964 in Northern Bohemia, the waiter had started selling photocopiers.
He leaves behind four children, including the internationally successful show jumper Anna Kellnerova.
She is the life companion of his business partner, who is also worth billions, the major Metro shareholder Daniel Kretinsky, who with his EPH Holding organized the takeover of the East German Leag.
EPH and Kellner's PPF Group each hold half of the Leag.
Part of the German coal phase-out
Much was never known about the details of the Vattenfall business.
What is certain is that the Swedish state-owned company wanted to get out of East German lignite for reasons of climate policy and left the business to Czech investors extremely cheaply, some even say: gave it as a gift.
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Today the Leag is the object of the German coal phase-out, but later than the RWE in West Germany it has to close open-cast mines and power plants.
Nevertheless, a large part of the compensation payments made by the federal government for lignite totaling 4.35 billion euros go to Leag's own EPH and PPF.
Adjustment funds for the employees and structural aid from the federal government for Lusatia are also flowing.
“We learned of the tragic accident with dismay and are saddened by the unexpected early death of Petr Kellner, whom we have cherished as a successful economic manager,” said Leag's chairman, Helmar Rendez: “Our thoughts and our condolences are now with his family."
Other investments of PPF are the home credit company, which is mainly active in Russia and China, the media company CME with the private television broadcaster Nova and the online retailer Mall.cz.
According to an earlier report by the “Handelsblatt”, Kellners PPF is active in the Czech Republic, Serbia, Montenegro, Russia, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and China.
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"We employ 170,000 people and pay billions in taxes in the countries in which we operate," the newspaper quoted the entrepreneur as saying.
In recent years, his group has grown by 41 percent annually through acquisitions and organic business.
Most recently he invested apparently by joining the pharmaceutical company Sotio in the biotech sector, especially in the fight against cancer.
According to information from the "Handelsblatt", Kellner grew up in the North Bohemian town of Reichenberg (Liberec) south of Görlitz.
Studying at the University of Economics in Prague brought him to the capital.
In the disorderly privatization after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Kellner co-founded the “First Privatization Fund”, the Prvni privatizacni fond - PPF for short.
Investor attracted by the German rule of law
The paper described his appearance as unconventional, willing to take risks, but at the same time as a control freak.
"He could become the Warren Buffet of Eastern Europe," the paper quotes an admirer.
The foundation for his rise was the privatization of the Czech insurance company Ceska Pojistovna and a joint venture with the Italian Generali.
Five years ago he acquired the majority of the Spanish Telefonica in its cellular subsidiary O2 in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Last year he took over the business in Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Montenegro from the Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor for 2.8 billion euros.
In 2018, PPF also acquired Skoda Transportation, which manufactures trams, electric trains, locomotives, subway cars and electric buses.
He was considered the richest Czech: Petr Kellner while he was watching his daughter, the rider Anna Kellnerova, on the occasion of a Prague tournament in August 2020
Source: picture alliance / dpa / CTK
Kellner belonged to a larger group of Czech investors who, after disappointments in Eastern European countries, were drawn to Germany's stability and rule of law. With direct investments of over six billion euros in Germany a few years ago, the Czech Republic even exceeded the commitment of countries such as Russia (4.4 billion euros), China or that of the large neighboring state Poland, from which only 0.5 billion euros were invested directly in Germany .