The Virgin Islands, particularly Virgin Gorda, is mourning the death of one of its dearest friends, Czech billionaire Petr Kellner who died in a helicopter crash in Alaska, USA on March 27, 2021. Photo: Bloomberg

The late billionaire Petr Kellner owned Saba Rock, currently under reconstruction in North Sound, and a private golf course and other properties at Nail Bay on Virgin Gorda. Photo: Facebook

Junior Minister for Trade and Economic Development, Hon Shereen D. Flax-Charles (AL), a Virgin Gordian, told Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) that after the hurricanes of September 2017, Mr Petr Kellner donated hurricane relief items to a lot of persons in Virgin Gorda. Photo: VINO/File

Petr Kellner, the Czech billionaire who built a business empire with $52 billion in assets over three decades to become the country’s richest man, died in a helicopter crash in Alaska. He was 56.

Kellner, 56, was among five people killed in the crash of the Airbus AS350 B3 chopper, which went down near the Knik Glacier in Alaska, according to local authorities.

One passenger survived and is in stable condition. Kellner had been on vacation at a remote luxury lodge located 40-minute flight from Anchorage, according to a statement cited by the Associated Press.

Kellner, an avid snowboarder and kite surfer, had a net worth of $15.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Billionaire owned businesses on VG

The billionaire owned Saba Rock, currently under reconstruction in North Sound, and a private golf course and other properties at Nail Bay on Virgin Gorda.

Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration, Honourable Vincent O. Wheatley, who is the Ninth District Representative, described Mr Kellner as a true friend to the Virgin Islands and Virgin Gorda in particular.

Kellner donated to VI after 2017 hurricanes

Junior Minister for Trade and Economic Development, Hon Shereen D. Flax-Charles (AL), a Virgin Gordian, told Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) that after the hurricanes of September 2017, Mr Kellner donated hurricane relief items to a lot of persons in Virgin Gorda.

The donations included generators and building materials.

“We have truly lost someone who was very important to the people of Virgin Gorda. He spared no expense and did whatever he could, brought in barge loads of building equipment, including generators to help the people of Virgin Gorda. He will truly be missed by the people of Virgin Gorda for sure,” Hon Flax-Charles lamented.

She added that one of the important things about the late Mr Kellner was that he was very low-keyed.

“You would never know that it was him walking down the street or sitting at the little roadside café having a coffee.”

Vacation turned tragic

Kellner, according to Bloomberg, had been a guest at the Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, which organises 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, 2021, 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.

“For someone like me, who loves to create and build, there is nothing worse than seeing decline and destruction,’ he wrote about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the 2019 foreword. “I have experienced and seen this several times.”