Michał Sołowow's sports adventure began in the driver's early youth, when he began competing in amateur events right after passing his driving test. Sołowow began his professional career quite late, in 2001 – at the age of 34. He achieved his first success in his driver's career in 2004, when he won the title of 2nd Vice-Champion of Poland in group N. He was classified in fourth place in the European Championship.
Michał Sołowow is richer than Michael Jordan or Cristiano Ronaldo!
In 2008, Sołowow became the vice-champion of Europe in car rallies. Sołowow won the sixth place on the podium in the history of Polish motoring on the Old Continent by a shot on the tape at the end of the series, Rallye d'Antibes in France. He was the vice-champion of Europe for the last time in 2002. Janusz Kuligdied tragically two years later. – Is it for money in this sports can you buy everything? You can't buy anything! I am a perfect example of this. If I could, I would simply buy the best reliable equipment – Michał Sołowow said then in an interview with Kielce's “Wyborcza”.
In March of this year, “Forbes” published its annual list of the 100 richest Poles. The value of their assets increased by PLN 38 billion, or over 15 percent, and reached PLN 286 billion. Michał Sołowow was again number one in this ranking (he has held this position since 2020!). The Kielce resident can boast a fortune of PLN 27.25 billion, which means a 5.4 percent increase year-on-year. The still active rally driver is ahead of the richest Poles on the list athletes such stars as: one of the best football players in the world Cristiano Ronaldoformer great basketball player Michael Jordan or successful golfer Tiger Woods.
The nearly 52-year-old businessman has been involved in construction from the very beginning. He worked in the Żaczek student cooperative, painting walls and laying floors. – He started his first business while still in high school, running a shop with bunsdoughnuts and orange soda. During his studies, he worked in car workshops in Germany during the holidays. With the money he saved, he first entered the construction market, and then the development market – Przegląd Sportowy wrote in March this year.
In 1988, Sołowow founded the Mitex company, which he sold 14 years later to the French concern Eiffage as the largest construction concern in Poland. In addition, the developer Echo Investment with increasingly large shopping malls not only in the country: Cersanit, Barlinek or Synthos.
– He is a perfectionist, he loves to work. And everything he does, he tries to do as best as he can – say people from Sołowow's circle. Not only in business, but also in sports. After his adventure with basketball, when he gave Kielce the Ekstraklasa during the prosperity of this discipline in Poland, he decided to try the feat himself. He decided that since very well-paid basketball players cannot repay with good attitude, he does not have to support them. And he disbanded the team. He returned to his passion from his youth, i.e. car racing. – wrote Piotr Rozpara, a journalist from “Wyborcza” in 2014.
What is Sołowow doing now? He is still racing, but he is focused primarily on three industries: the chemical sector (Synthos), wooden floors (Barlinek), tiles and sanitary ceramics (Cersanit).
– The largest asset is Synthos – it works for 17 of the 20 largest tire manufacturers in the world, processing 2 million tons of chemicals. It also invests in commercial companies, technologies and renewable energy sources. Its industrial group includes 15 companies, employing about 16 thousand people – Przegląd Sportowy added.
How does the fortune of Polish athletes compare to Sołowow? Anna and Robert Lewandowski's fortune is less than 700 million zlotys, while Iga Świątek, for example, has so far earned only over 90 million.