Wirtualna Polska

Wirtualna Polska
IndustryE-commerce and mass media
Founded1995 (1995) in Gdańsk, Poland
FoundersMarek Borzestowski and Leszek Bogdanowicz
Headquarters
Gdańsk
,
Poland
OwnerGrupa o2 (100% shareholder)
Websitewp.pl

Wirtualna Polska (WP [vuˈpɛ]; lit. 'Virtual Poland') is a Polish company involved in many mass media and e-commerce enterprises.

History

The two founders of the portal, Marek Borzestowski and Leszek Bogdanowicz, created it whilst in Germany in 1995. Initially named Wirtualna Akademia, it was a web directory. It was later renamed to Wirtualna Polska and soon gained a stable headquarters in Gdańsk. Borzestowski sold his shares to other investors in 2002, and the company has grown significantly since then;[1] its e-mail service, Poczta WP, was established in November 1998 and has since become extremely popular.[2]

Ownership and structure

In 2014, Orange Polska sold all shares of Wirtualna Polska to Grupa o2, another mass media company, for 375 million zł. The purchase was funded by the private equity firm Innova Capital.[3][4] From March 2018 to August 2024, Wirtualna Polska's owner was Joanna Pawlak.[5] She was succeeded by Jacek Świderski, the owner of Wirtualna Polska's holding company.[6]

On 16 November 2020, Marcin Meller became the editor-in-chief of Wirtualna Polska,[7] a position left vacant by the departing Tomasz Machała after a scandal in February 2020.[8] On 4 December, Meller also left the role and was replaced by Piotr Mieśnik.[9] On 1 March 2023, he was in turn replaced by Paweł Kapusta.[10]

Controversies

In January 2020, the investigative journalism portal OKO.press published an article detailing the alleged collaboration of Wirtualna Polska with the Ministry of Justice, primarily by censoring material criticizing Zbigniew Ziobro and writing articles expressing support for the ministry under false surnames.[11] The aforementioned editor-in-chief, Tomasz Machała, was forced to resign following an internal investigation.[8] Machała then made several negative comments about Wirtualna Polska and stated that only 1% of its revenue came from advertising.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Historia Wirtualnej Polski według Marka Borzestowskiego". computerworld.pl. 10 August 2004. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  2. ^ "Historia www.wp.pl". komputer.cuprum.pl. 2004. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  3. ^ "O2 kupuje Wirtualną Polskę za 375 mln złotych". forbes.pl. Forbes. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  4. ^ Wojtas, Tomasz (24 October 2013). "Grupa o2 kupuje Wirtualną Polskę za środki Innova Capital". wirtualnemedia.pl. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  5. ^ Słomski, Damian (27 March 2018). "Przetasowania w zarządzie Wirtualnej Polski". money.pl. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  6. ^ "Zmiana na czele mediów Wirtualnej Polski. Odchodzi szefowa". wirtualnemedia.pl. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  7. ^ Erling, Barbara (18 November 2020). "Marcin Meller nie planuje rewolucji w WP, ale zapowiada transfery". press.pl. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  8. ^ a b Niepytalski, Michał (7 February 2020). "Sprawa Machały to ostrzeżenie dla mediów". press.pl. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  9. ^ "Marcin Meller nie jest już naczelnym Wirtualnej Polski". press.pl. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  10. ^ "Paweł Kapusta naczelnym Wirtualnej Polski. Odchodzi Piotr Mieśnik". wirtualnemedia.pl. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  11. ^ Klauziński, Sebastian (15 January 2020). "Jak Wirtualna Polska promuje Ziobrę. "Łączy nas z Ministerstwem Sprawiedliwości wiele interesów"". oko.press. OKO.press. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  12. ^ "Wirtualna Polska odnosi się do zarzutów – komunikat prasowy". dlaprasy.wp.pl. Wirtualna Polska. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
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