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Rudolf Hrubý (14 April 1954 – 14 December 2023) was a Slovak businessman and investor. He was a co-founder and long-term CFO of the software company ESET.


Biography


Early life

Rudolf Hrubý was born on 14 April 1954 in Dubnica nad Váhom. He studied theoretical cybernetics at the Comenius University. Following graduation, he started a company developing accounting software. In 1992 he was invited by Miroslav Trnka and Peter Paško, the owners of IT security start up ESET to join their company as a partner.


ESET era

From 1992 to 2010 Hrubý was a member of top management of ESET, acting as the CFO. In 2010 he departed the management along with the other co-founders, but retained his 22 per cent share in the company. In an ''Forbes'' interview, Hrubý explained that coming from an IT background, he struggled to understand finance matters at first, but benefited from his experience in developing accounting software to understand the economic aspects of running a business.


After ESET

Following his exit from the active management of ESET, Hrubý became involved in various business endeavors. He developed several residence properties in and around his hometown. In 2014 he, along with the other ESET co-founders, invested €1.2 million as a seed funding for the
Denník N ''Denník N'' is a Slovakia, Slovak daily newspaper and a news website which was founded by the former members of the editorial board of ''Sme'' in 2014. History In 2014, the Namav, a subject subvented by the Penta Investments group, announce ...
daily. Subsequently, he was a member of the supervisory board of the newspaper. In 2016, Kusý and his fellow former ESET board member, Maroš Grund, bought the Carlton Hotel in central Bratislava for € 600 million in a joint venture with the property developer Erik Mikurčík. The unsuccessful venture resulted in a lengthy legal battle with Mikurčík. In 2020 Hrubý became the owner of the ice hockey team HC Slovan Bratislava. As the owner of the legendary sports club, he received praise for solving the club's financial problems but was also criticized for poor performances of the club and his opposition to sidelining Russian athletes after the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
. In addition, Hrubý also sponsored athletics and car racing competitions. He was a co-owner of the Slovakia Ring racing course. In 2022, Hrubý donated over € 100,000 eur to Christian Democratic Movement. The party's leader Milan Majerský later admitted the money were donated to support the unsuccessful run of Rudolf Kusý for the
Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
city major, prompting criticism by the NGOs of lack of transparency of Hrubý's political donations. Hrubý rejected that his donation was intended as funding for Kusý's campaign. ESET's spokesman later issued a statement distancing the company from the conduct of Hrubý.


Wealth

According to
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
, Hrubý was the 6th Richest Slovak in 2022 with net worth of €750 million.


Death

Hrubý died of a stroke on 14 December 2023, at the age of 69.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hruby, Rudolf 1954 births 2023 deaths Slovak businesspeople Comenius University alumni People from Dubnica nad Váhom