Mikhail Fridman
#172

Mikhail Fridman

Russia 62 years old Self-Made

Overview

Source of Wealth
Oil, banking, telecom
Industry
Energy
Residence
Moscow
Education
Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (Master of Science)
Marital Status
Divorced
Children
5

Assets

  • Distribuidora Internacional de Alime
    17,100,000 shares @ -
    -
    DIA-ES
  • Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S.
    165,092,000 shares @ -
    -
    TCELL.E-TR
  • VEON Ltd. ADR
    14,956,000 shares @ -
    -
    VEON-US
  • X5 Retail Group (MICEX)
    60,887,000 shares @ -
    -
    -

Biography

Mikhail Fridman, cofounder of Alfa Bank, Russia's largest non-state bank, was hit with sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Soon after, Fridman (who also has Israeli citizenship) stepped down from his Luxembourg holding company, LetterOne, and reduced his shareholding.

Fridman's properties in London, including the $100 million Victorian-era Athlone House estate, have been frozen by the U.K.

A Ukraine native, Fridman and his college buddies German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev started commodities trader Alfa-Eco in 1989.

Thanks to Kremlin connections, Fridman and his partners were able to create a joint venture with British Petroleum, TNK-BP, in 2003.

In 2013 he got $5.1 billion in cash when the trio and partners sold their TNK-BP stakes for $14 billion

In August 2023, Ukraine opened a criminal case against Fridman related to fraud charges stemming from Alfa Bank Ukraine. In December he was put on the international wanted list.

About

Fridman filed defamation lawsuits against Buzzfeed and Fusion for reporting that his Alfa Group had a role in Russia's meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

Fridman lived in Western Ukraine until he was 17. Both of his parents are Ukrainian citizens, who live in Lviv, which he called his "favorite city."