Final Word from Friday, November 15, 2002
Euro magazine complained recently that President Václav Havel has never given medals of honor to any managers or businesspeople, although there are many who deserve them. Havel isn't the only one with a blind spot. The latest Czech edition of Who is Who (Kdo je kdo) lists 5,000 of the "most important" people in Czech society but has left out most of the CR's richest businesspeople. It includes hired managers such as Přemysl Klíma of Český Telecom and Jaroslav Míl of ČEZ, as well as some major entrepreneurs such as Václav Fischer and Vladimír Železný. But it ignores 30 of the 43 businesspeople who were listed among the 50 richest Czechs in a recent survey by Lidové noviny. Who is Who calls itself a "mirror of our time," but both it and Havel are overlooking many of the people who are shaping current history the most.