Luděk Sekyra

Born in Český Krumlov, after graduation from a secondary school in Kaplice he was admitted to Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague.[4] He became an official of Socialist Youth Union and a member of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.[4] On 13 November 1989 communist daily Rudé právo printed on its front page a group photo of Socialist Youth Union officials including Sekyra.[5] After the Velvet Revolution he became a partner in the law office of professor Milan Bakeš, where he focused on restitutions of real estate seized by the communists after coup d'état in 1948.[4] In July 1992 Sekyra co-founded a real estate agency and gradually became involved as developer and investor in several real estate projects, including refurbishments of pre-fabricated paneláks.[6][7][8][9][10] In April 1999 he named his real-estate development company SEKYRA Group.[9]

Sekyra with Harvard professor Nien-he Hsieh in 2018.

In 2000 Sekyra's SPV company "Středoevropská stavební" (StS) acquired major Czech construction company IPS.[11] Sekyra secretly joined forces with infamous entrepreneur and lobbyist František Mrázek,[12] often referred to as the "Godfather of Czech Organized Crime", and who was at the time wiretapped by the police. The police also got court-approval to wiretap Sekyra and found out that Ivan Langer, a vice-chairman of the parliament and vice-chairman of ODS, is secretly lobbying on StS' behalf. StS made the highest bid for IPS and on 29 February 2000 got a CZK 2 bn loan from Investiční a poštovní banka (IPB). However, the loan was just for one month, not the nine years originally discussed.[13] On 28 March IPB decided not to prolong the loan, however, it did not immediately seize the IPS shares pledged as collateral and on 13 April 2000 Luděk Sekyra became chairman of the board of directors of IPS.[14] On 16 June 2000 IPB went into forced administration[15] and StS was forced to transfer the shares to its rival Skanska. On 20 July 2000 Skanska replaced statutory bodies of IPS.[16]

In 2007 Sekyra transferred his share in Sekyra Group a.s. to Netherlands-based company SEKYRA GROUP REAL ESTATE N.V. (SGRE).[17] At the end of December 2007 Luděk Sekyra controlled Curaçao-based company CEE Holdings N.V., which had a 95% stake in SGRE.[18][19] Sekyra’s companies have contracts to develop major real-estate projects in the country’s capital, Prague. These include Rohan Island, Smíchov Railway Station, Žižkov Railway Station, Victory Square in Dejvice and Litochleby Square in Opatov.

Luděk Sekyra cooperates with Oxford University on a long-term basis. In 2011, Sekyra became one of the 36 members of Harris Manchester College's board.[20] He also became a member of its academic community (Foundation Fellow) the following year and a member of the Vice Chancellor Circle of the Oxford University.[20]

On November 6, 2014, University of Oxford hosted a series of events called Velvet Day as a commemoration of 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in the Czech Republic and its former president, Václav Havel.[21] Among the main events were Havel's Place instalment and its revelation in the University park, and also the inauguration of the student centre Sekyra House, sponsored by Luděk Sekyra.[22] One of its lecture halls was named after the Czech theologian and priest Tomáš Halík.[22]

Through his holding, Sekyra is also one of the main sponsors of the Czech Christian Academy.[23] During the 2018 Czech presidential election he supported Jiří Drahoš.[24]

National Library of Technology. Railings and wooden scaffolding above the entrances were installed to avoid injuries by falling glass tiles.

In 2005, Luděk Sekyra was named Personality of the Year in the Best of Realty competition and received an award from the Association for Real Estate Market Development.[25]

For the National Library of Technology building in Prague, his company received several major awards in 2009, including an award from the Mayor of Prague “The Building of the Year”, an award from the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic for infrastructure, and other awards for the graphic design as well as the architectural and technical solution.

In 2000, a wiretapped conversation between Luděk Sekyra and František Mrázek, a controversial Czech businessman often referred to as the "Godfather of Czech Organized Crime", revealed Sekyra's plans to take over a 2.2 billion Kč construction firm, IPS. In order to complete the deal, Sekyra required a loan extension from Investiční a poštovní banka (IPB) and thus relied on Mrázek's suspicious connections.[26]

In 2007, Luděk Sekyra, together with the businessman Roman Janoušek, who has been under investigation regarding allegations of tender-rigging and bribery, spent a holiday in Sardinia, Italy. An invoice from the time demonstrates that Sekyra fully covered the expenses for the trip.[27] Soon after, a personal friend of Janoušek, Pavel Bém, got elected a Mayor of Prague. Subsequently, the Mayor's planning decision began to align with the interests of both businessmen, and Sekyra Group won a tender for the restoration of Rohan Island in Karlín area.[28]

In November 2020, The Signpost issued an article entitled "Paid editing with political connections" which described the case of Percepto, an Israeli "online reputation management" firm that allegedly engaged in the use of sophisticated sockpuppets, and deceptive online identities to edit Wikipedia entries on behalf of paying clients, namely a number of Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs, and several fraudulent Israeli based companies.[29] In the further investigation by The Times of Israel, Sekyra's Wikipedia page was listed among the ones edited and published by the accounts associated with Percepto.[30]