Daniel Křetínský (Czech: [ˈdanɪjɛl ˈkr̝ɛtiːnskiː]; born 9 July 1975)[1] is a Czech billionaire businessman and lawyer, who is the chief executive officer (CEO) and 94% owner of Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH), co-owner and president of football club Sparta Prague, and director and major shareholder of English football club West Ham United.
His biological father is Mojmír Křetínský, informatics professor at Masaryk University,[2][3] and his mother, Michaela Židlická, is a former justice of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic.
[11][12] On 12 March 2020, Jérôme Lefilliâtre, a French journalist, published Mister K, Petites et grandes affaires de Daniel Kretinsky (Le Seuil Editions), an investigative book about the Czech billionaire.
This triggered intervention and a British government review by Kwasi Kwarteng the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Business under the National Security and Investment Act.
On 31 October 2022, the Secretary of State for Business approved Křetínský's intention to increase Vesa's shareholding in Royal Mail (owned by parent company International Distributions Services).
[26] In February 2025, EP Global Commerce GmbH ("EPGC"), a holding company controlled by Křetínský which holds approximately 49.99 percent of the voting rights in METRO AG, entered into a delisting agreement with company and issued a revocation of the admission of METRO AG shares to trading on the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.