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Doing what you love and earning billions of dollars while at it is one of the best feelings in the world. There are lots of individuals who have earned their wealth by doing the things they love to do best. Ranging from sports to art and science, we have seen great people excel at life by grooming their talents and making good use of their ideas. In this piece, we will look into the life of one of these people, who has made as much mark in the business world as he had in the world of sports. Today, we examine the life and career of Michal Solowow in a bid to find out how he was able to earn so much to become a billionaire and the richest man in Poland.

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Who Is Michal Solowow?

A Picture Of Michal Solowow
Via Wikimedia Commons

Born in Kielce, Poland on the 11th day of July 1962, Michal Solowow is a Polish businessman, financial investor, and rally driver with interests in, finance, sports, chemicals, and construction. He was born to the family of Andrew and Barbara Solowow. He attended the Kielce University of Technology and upon graduation, worked for a while in the Western Bloc till he was able to create his own enterprise. Michal controls many businesses and owns some big factories that sell products in over 60 countries on 6 continents.

He is the largest private employer of labor in Poland with over 16,000 people employed in his industrial group which boasts 18 production plants in 8 countries. Michal Solowow is also a stock exchange investor and was the biggest Polish stock exchange investor until 2017 when he delisted his major companies from the Warsaw Stock Exchange. He has just one child, Karolina Solowow who is as passionate about rally driving as her father and lives a good life with her rally driver partner, Rafal Sonik. As estimated by Forbes, Michal Solowow has a net worth of $5.7 billion.

Building the Solowow Empire

A Picture Of Michal Solowow
Via Wikimedia Commons

After his graduation from the university, Michal did not return to Kielce immediately. Instead, he worked in the western bloc to be able to earn enough money as he was focused on achieving a goal. That goal was achieved when he was able to save enough money to create his first company, Miltex Construction Enterprise in Kielce in the late 1980s. Miltex would later grow to be one of the biggest construction companies in Poland. Having established Miltex and nurtured it to an impressive stage, Solotow decided to delve into investments. He became an active investor on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, trading with profits he made from Miltex. That is not all, Solotow proceeded to buy shares in Dwory, a chemical company. He funded the company’s expansion with loans he was able to acquire taking advantage of the low-interest rates in that era. He would later acquire the Dwory chemical company which is now Synthos Green Energy S.A. Not only did Solowow expand the chemical company, but he also diversified and started other companies under Synthos Group namely Cersanit S.A. for the production of ceramic tiles and Barlinek S.A. for the production of wooden floorboards Today, he has given up on most management roles in the group but is still an active investor on the private equity markets. In October 2019, Synthos Green Energy S.A. made a deal with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to synergize in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Poland that will operate based on small modular reactors BWRX-300 technology. This project is expected to make both companies billions of dollars in revenue.

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Solowow’s Career As A Rally Driver

A Picture Of Michal Solowow
Via Wikimedia Commons

Since he was a teen, Michal Solowow has been passionate about amateur rally driving. He had hoped to become a rally driver if the chance came. In 2001, his two companies Synthos Green Energy S.A. and Cersanit S.A. sponsored him and he started his professional rally career. His immense training and impressive performances earned him good results. He was the European vice-champion in 2008, 2009, and 2012, the vice-champion of Poland in 2006 and 2010, and the European second vice-champion in the same years. In 2015, Solowow suspended his career as a rally driver and resumed back in 2020.

Real Estate, Shares, And Other Investments

A Picture Of Michal Solowow
Via Wikimedia Commons

Apart from being the sole shareholder in Synthos Group’s 3 major companies, Michal Solowow also invests in the real estate and the biotechnology sector. He manages his assets, making use of various funds such as the Black Forest SICAV-SIF fund, the FTF Columbus Fund, the FTF Galleon, and Magellan Pro-Equity Fund I S.A. He also makes his investments via the IPOPEMA 112 FIZAN fund. Michal Solowow is a key stakeholder in numerous companies such as Komfort, Homla, Nexterio, Corab, WP Systems, New Era Materials, 3DGence, Genicore, OncoArendi, ExploRNA Therapeutics, and GETCAR. In 2015, he sold his 41.55% stake in his real estate company, Echo Investment to Oaktree and PIMCO for an undisclosed amount.

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Sources: Forbes, Celebrity Net Worth, and Business Insider.