Šárka Grossová (born Bobysudová on 6 November 1969) is a Czech entrepreneur,[1] whose husband Stanislav Gross was Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from August 2004 to April 2005. Her opaque business activities contributed to the resignation of her husband Stanislav Gross from the post in April 2005.[2]

Šárka Grossová
Spouse of the
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
In role
4 August 2004 – 25 April 2005
Prime MinisterStanislav Gross
Preceded byViktorie Špidlová
Succeeded byZuzana Paroubková
Personal details
Born (1969-11-06) November 6, 1969 (age 54)
Prague, Czechoslovakia
(now Czech Republic)
SpouseStanislav Gross (1996–2015)
ChildrenNatálie Grossová
Denisa Grossová
Occupationentrepreneur

Career edit

Šárka met Stanislav in the Chamber of Deputies, where she worked in the cafeteria and he was a freshman member of parliament.[3] Her business career became successful just as her husband was becoming an influential MP and subsequently the prime minister of the Czech Republic, however, her rise in the business world became the subject of controversy.[4]

In January 2004 Šárka set up a charitable foundation, Nadační fond Diamant dětem.[1] However, by the end of year 2005, after Gross had resigned as Prime Minister, the foundation did not register any philanthropic activity, and Grossová was accused of attempting to use the foundation for public relations purposes.[5] Musician Michal David was appointed as one of the three board members. David was the co-owner of the company Cleopatra Musical, which had been among the contributors of the company in 2004.[6] The largest donor sent the foundation 500,000 CZK and asked the foundation to remain anonymous.[6]

Grossová owns a $735,000 Hidden Bay condo in Miami, Florida.[7][8]

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Czech commercial register at justice.cz, identification number (IČO) 27103471, Nadační fond Diamant dětem
  2. ^ Jaroslav Kmenta, Barková nepodniká. Boxuje, Mladá fronta DNES, 7 February 2006, page 4
  3. ^ Sabina Slonková, Jiří Kubík, Grossova rodina si polepšila, Mladá fronta DNES, 12 February 2002, front page
  4. ^ Kenety, Brian (22 February 2005). "Loan Sarka? Business interests of the prime minister's wife take center stage in coalition crisis". Radio Prague.
  5. ^ "News section of the foundation website" (in Czech).
  6. ^ a b Annual report of Nadační fond Diamant dětem 2004 pdf
  7. ^ "Miami-Dade prop. tax records".
  8. ^ "Grosses properties - info from Idnes.cz - Czech internet newspaper" (in Czech). 2008-10-30.