PUBLISHED ONJuly 29, 2015 10:42 AM
WARSAW - Poland's richest person, billionaire businessman Jan Kulczyk, died suddenly at the age of 65 early Wednesday from surgery complications, his company said on its site.
"Last night, Jan Kulczyk passed away at the age of 65 due to postoperative complications," Kulczyk Investments said in a statement.
Company spokeswoman Marta Wysocka-Antonsen told AFP he died in Vienna.
"He had gone to a Viennese hospital to undergo cutting-edge cancer screening tests following his prostate surgery in New York a year ago," a friend of the family told AFP.
Kulczyk was listed this year by Forbes as the world's 418th richest person with a net worth of $4 billion (S$5.5 billion).
Born in the northern city of Bydgoszcz, he spent the majority of his life in the western city of Poznan and was active in many sectors including telecommunications and energy and had investments in Europe, Africa and the Americas.
Ex-wife Grazyna Kulczyk and son Sebastian - whom he made CEO of his company last year - flew to Vienna on Wednesday morning. He is also survived by a daughter, Dominika.