Owner and CEO of the regional weaponry conglomerate Czechoslovak Group (CSG) Michal Strnad has become the richest Czech following CSG’s IPO on the Euronext bourse in Amsterdam last week. The January 23 IPO became the “world’s largest defence IPO ever recorded both in terms of amount raised and market capitalisation,” according to Euronext. With the current market valuation of approximately €32bn CSG has also moved ahead of the majority-state-owned energy utility ČEZ to top the Czech list of the most valuable companies. In April 2024, CSG announced revenue of €1.73bn in 2023, which was a record-breaking year, cruising on the back of booming deliveries in the defence industry. CSG registered the steepest percentage increase in arms sales revenues on the list of 100 largest arms-producing companies worldwide compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).