Final Word from Thursday, December 22, 2022
When highly respected U.S. hedge-fund manager Julian Robertson, who died four months ago at the age of 90, pulled his Tiger fund out of Ivo Lukačovič's Seznam.cz internet portal near the end of 2015, it seemed that he was exiting too soon. Seznam just kept racking up the profits. It became the Amazon of Czech media companies, acting as both a business partner and competitor to content providers, to the point that Michal Půr said it was "swallowing the entire media market." The result, according to Půr, is that Czech media have one of the worst situations in all of Europe. When Amazon coughs, the entire U.S. retail market gets a cold, and something similar can now be said of Seznam. Lukačovič is reportedly fearing a big economic crisis next year. He's abandoning the TV news business and firing workers before Christmas. Czech TV, which helped him achieve his market dominion, is now shocked at his ruthlessness. If Robertson were still around, he would advise a bit more elegance. [ Czech Republic United States Television ČT ]
Glossary of difficult words
to rack up - to accumulate or achieve something, typically a score or amount;
cold - a common infection in which the mucous membrane of the nose and throat becomes inflamed, typically causing running at the nose, sneezing and a sore throat;
ruthlessness - the quality of lacking pity or compassion for others.