While Kellner wasn’t publicly active in the political arena, his business in China caused some controversy at home. He had been among business leaders accompanying President Milos Zeman, a promoter of closer business ties with China, on his trips to Beijing.
Late in 2019, PPF and Home Credit sought to fend off allegations in local media that the lending arm had hired a public-relations agency to help improve China’s image back at home. Home Credit said its goal was only to “rationalize the public debate” and “weaken extreme positions in the public sphere” by presenting facts about doing business and life in the Asian nation.
Mountain Retreat
Kellner had been a guest at the Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, which organizes heliskiing trips into the Alaska back-country. After the helicopter, which is owned by Soloy Helicopters of Wasilla, Alaska, didn’t return on the evening of March 27, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center dispatched a team to the last known location, where they discovered the debris and managed to airlift out the sole survivor, according to a statement.
Kellner kept a low public profile and was known to closely guard his private life. His company’s annual reports were a rare platform through which he shared his thoughts about business and personal priorities. In his most recent musings, the 2019 report, he lamented the damage wrought by the coronavirus crisis, saying “for someone like me, who loves to create and build, there is nothing worse than seeing decline and destruction.”
“He was very private because he was looking for the pleasures of the thing he was doing rather than looking for the pleasure of being recognized for the thing he was going,” said Duvieusart.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.