Tomasz Czechowicz
Tomasz Czechowicz
Born23 June 1970 (1970-06-23) (age 53)
Legnica, Poland
NationalityPolish
Alma materWroclaw University of Technology
Warsaw School of Economics
OccupationBusinessman

Tomasz Czechowicz (born 23 June 1970) is a Polish entrepreneur and a private equity investor. He is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of MCI Capital SA, one of the most dynamic private equity groups in Central and Eastern Europe. He also serves on the supervisory boards of multiple companies. Czechowicz manages a group of investment funds active in Poland and across Central and Eastern Europe. The funds are primarily focused on supporting companies in the technology and internet services sectors.[1]

Education

Czechowicz is a graduate of Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław University of Economics, Master of Business Administration received from the University of Minnesota and the Warsaw School of Economics.[2]

Business ventures

Czechowicz began pursuing various business ventures from a young age. As a teenager, he coded, produced and sold computer accessories at the trade center in Wrocław,[3] and later in Warsaw as well.[4] When he moved to Wrocław to attend the university, he also began importing old and new computers to Poland, among them Commodore 64s, which made him one of the company's largest European customers.[3]

In 1990 Tomasz Czechowicz, Janusz Krasnopolski and Tomasz Gomułkiewicz co-founded JTT Computer SA. The company continued importing Commodores. In 1997, the company reached a milestone agreement with Intel and Microsoft that allowed them to begin assembling their own PCs under the ADAX brand.[5] Czechowicz was the company's CEO until 1998. During these eight years, he turned the company into the leading Central European PC assembly and distribution business,[1] generating over $100 mln in revenue.[6] In a 2006 interview Tomasz Czechowicz said his experience at this company played a significant role in shaping him and his future business ventures.[7] In an interview from 2016, he commented that JTT Computer S.A. was one of his biggest business challenges, but also one which prepared him well for his next business endeavors.[4]

In 1999, after leaving JTT Computer S.A., Czechowicz founded MCI Group, one of the leading private equity firms in Poland[8] and in Europe, and has been its managing partner since.

MCI Capital ASI SA is a private equity fund with an equity capitalization of EUR 395 million (as of 31 December 2021). MCI focuses on buyout and expansion capital investments in businesses operating in or supporting the digital economy, with a preferred investment size of €30-100 million in a single project. MCI currently holds shares in thirteen portfolio companies and, in line with its investment strategy, plans to pursue 2 to 3 new investments annually.[9]

Some of MCI’s most significant investments completed to date include, amongst others: iZettle (which was sold to PayPal for over $2 billion),[10] RemoteMyApp (sold to Intel Corporation),[11] ATMan (sold to a Goldman Sachs-managed investment fund),[12] WP.pl (sale of the entire block of shares by Orange to the O2 Group, which sold part of its shares to the MCI fund, debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange – record capitalization of EUR 800 million),[13] Invia (sold to Rockaway Group for over PLN 300 million),[14] Netrisk (implementation of the "buy & build" strategy to build a leading European insurance leader, recapitalization with TA Associates),[15] Dotcard (sale of one of the Polish leaders in the e-payment market for PLN 315 million to a strategic investor Nexi Group/Nets, a digital leader on the European market), [16], sale of e-shop Mall.cz to Naspers,[17] sale of Mall.cz to Naspers, [18] and exit from Lifebrain to Investindustrial.[19]

Awards

  • One of the TOP-10 most influential people in European Internet – awarded by Business Week in 2000[20]
  • Global Leader for Tomorrow[21] – awarded by World Economic Forum in Davos in 2001 “for his exceptional feeling of the market, professionalism, vision and business efficiency[22][23]
  • The TOP Manager of Year 2007 – awarded by TOP MANAGEMENT and angel.me within the framework of “The Entrepreneur Awards of the Year” program[24] for successful implementation of MCI Group’s strategy[23]
  • Wektor 2013 – awarded by Employers of Poland to exceptional people from the world of culture, science, business and media in Poland
  • The Top Manager of Year 2015 – awarded by Polish Edition of Businessweek Bloomberg[25] for successful management, successes, persistence, innovations and contesting other companies not only on the domestic market, but also the foreign one
  • List of 100 richest Polish people by Forbes – Tomasz Czechowicz appeared on the list several times,[26] for example: in 2011 (82nd),[27] 2014, 2015 and 2016 (64th)[28]
  • List of 100 richest Polish people by Wprost – Tomasz Czechowicz appeared on the list several times, for example: in 2014 (78th),[29] 2015 (46th),[30] 2016 (66th)[31] and 2017 (89th)[32]
  • CEE Mergers & Acquisitions Award in "Professional" category – awarded on 23 March 2017 by CEE M&A jury for dedication, outstanding results and top quality client services in CEE, SEE and NEE[33]
  • Nominee and finalist, both by himself and together with MCI, in a number of categories in PE Diamonds – awarded by Polish Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, member of Invest Europe[34]
  • Capitalist of the Year (2020) by Forbes Polska[35]

Personal interests

Tomasz Czechowicz devotes his free time to a number of sports.[7] He was quoted in Onet Biznes, saying that “Doing sports allows me to decrease the amount of days I need for the holiday. Thanks to this hobby, I keep myself in good condition, which is necessary in this profession."[4]

  • Czechowicz is an avid triathlete. He has completed multiple full IronMan competitions, including, amongst others: Gdynia 2021, Barcelona 2019, Emilia-Romagna 2020, Panama City Beach (Florida) 2020.
  • He has also competed in marathons around the world (over 50 times), including in New York (5 times), Warsaw (5 times), Miami (2 times), as well as in Berlin, London, Chicago, Paris, Tokyo, Beirut and Istanbul. He also took part in the ultramarathon "Rzeznik" in Bieszczady (80 km).
  • He also enjoys mountain climbing, trekking, and ski touring (including mountain routes such as Epinephrine/Red Rocks, Gabarou-Alboni, numerous routes in Yosemite/California, ice climbing on Mt. Blanc de Tacul, north face of Marmolada in the Dolomites, Matterhorn/Swiss route, ski run from Mont Blanc, climbing on Kilimanjaro, Chachani/Peru. In an interview for „Polityka” Czechowicz remarks that „mountains allow you to relax and they teach how to assess the risk, since you can pay a lot for every wrong move or bad decision”.[36]

References

  1. 1 2 "Tomasz Czechowicz, Polish entrepreneur, sets the standard for prosperity". Financial Times. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  2. ↑ "Tomasz Czechowicz". www.forbes.pl. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  3. 1 2 "Tomasz Czechowicz – ludzie – whoiswho Pulsu Biznesu". ludzie.pb.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  4. 1 2 3 "Najbogatsi Polacy: drapieżnik z intuicją". Onet Biznes (in Polish). 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  5. ↑ Bonek, Tomasz (2006-03-02). "JTT Computer - bankructwo przez fiskusa, czy na zlecenie konkurencji?". WP money (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  6. ↑ onepixeluniverse. "RE-Invest - Portfolio". www.jtt.pl. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  7. 1 2 Gąsiorowski, Daniel (2006-02-06). "Tomasz Czechowicz, prezes MCI". WP money (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  8. ↑ Rooney, Ben (2013-07-17). "Polish Startups Must Look Beyond Home". WSJ. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  9. ↑ "Q&A: Tomasz Czechowicz, MCI Capital". realdeals.eu.com. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  10. ↑ "Polski fundusz uczestniczył w przejęciu przez PayPal fintechowego jednorożca". BusinessInsider.com.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  11. ↑ "Szczecińska spółka Red Sky kupiona przez Intela". ceo.com.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  12. ↑ "Goldman Sachs Invests $500m in Data Center Platform Global Compute". dgtlinfra.com. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  13. ↑ "Wirtualna Polska oficjalnie sprzedana. Do Grupy o2 wszedł fundusz MCI Management". Forsal.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  14. ↑ "Polish MCI sells travel portal Invia to Czech Rockaway". Reuters.com. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  15. ↑ "MCI.EuroVentures Completes Partial Sale of Stake in Netrisk to TA Associates". MCI.pl. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  16. ↑ "Nets acquires Polish online payment service providers Dotpay/eCard from MCI Capital". Nets.eu. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  17. ↑ "Polish MCI sells travel portal Invia to Czech Rockaway". Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  18. ↑ "MCI Management dostał za Mall.cz blisko 150 mln zł". Parkiet.com (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  19. ↑ "MCI wyszedł z lifebrainu" (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  20. ↑ "Tomasz Janusz Czechowicz: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  21. ↑ "Weforum.org". Archived from the original on 2015-05-11.
  22. ↑ "PEManagers – Tomasz Czechowicz". www.privateequitymanagers.pl. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  23. 1 2 "Tomasz Czechowicz | najnowsze informacje, komentarze, opinie". CEO Magazyn Polska (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  24. ↑ "The Entrepreneur Awards of the Year | Un site utilisant WordPress". theentrepreneurawards.net (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  25. ↑ Pasławski, Krzysztof. "Szefowie spółek IT wśród „Top Menedżerów 2015 roku"". www.crn.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  26. ↑ "Tomasz Czechowicz" (in Polish). 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  27. ↑ "Tomasz Czechowicz" (in Polish). 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  28. ↑ "2016" (in Polish). 2017-06-27. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  29. ↑ "100 Najbogatszych Polaków 2014". Rankingi Wprost (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  30. ↑ "100 Najbogatszych Polaków 2015". Rankingi Wprost (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  31. ↑ "100 Najbogatszych Polaków 2016". Rankingi Wprost (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  32. ↑ "100 Najbogatszych Polaków 2017". Rankingi Wprost (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  33. ↑ "Winners announced at the inaugural CEE Merger and Acquisitions (M&A) Awards". CEE Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Awards. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  34. ↑ "Another edition of the prestigious "Investment Forum & Private Equity Awards Gala" conference, bringing together the leaders of investment markets, will take place on June 6 at the Westin hotel in Warsaw". www.executive-club.com.pl. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  35. ↑ "Znamy Przedsiębiorcę Roku "Forbesa"". Forbes.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  36. ↑ "Tomasz Czechowicz: Dyktator z laptopem" (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
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