Mikhail Fridman Net Worth

What is Mikhail Fridman's Net Worth?

Mikhail Fridman is a Russian-Israeli business tycoon and oligarch who has a net worth of $15 billion. That makes him one of the 10 richest people in Russia. Mikhail Fridman co-founded the investment groups Alfa Group Consortium and LetterOne, and founded Alfa-Bank, one of the largest private banks in Russia. He has also been involved with such companies as TNK-BP, Vimpelcom, and X5-Retail Group, and has been a member of such public-facing entities as the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Early Life and Education

Mikhail Fridman was born on April 21, 1964 in Lviv, Soviet Ukraine into a Jewish family. After graduating from high school in 1980, he attended the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, where he studied metallurgical engineering. Fridman graduated from that institution in 1986.

Alfa Group

After graduating from college, Fridman worked as a metallurgical design engineer at the state-owned Elektrostal Metallurgical Works until 1988. He went on to establish a spate of his own businesses after that, including ones for window washing, apartment rentals, and cigarette and perfume imports. Fridman also co-founded the photochemical importer Alfa-Photo with German Khan and Alexey Kuzmichev. In 1989, he co-founded the commodities trading firm Alfa-Eco and the investment firm Alfa Capital. These eventually became part of Alfa Group Consortium, which went on to become one of the largest privately-owned investment groups in Russia. Alfa Group has interests in oil and gas, banking, asset management, insurance, telecommunications, and food retail, among other areas. In the early 1990s, Fridman founded Alfa-Bank, which grew into one of Russia's largest private banks. Due to the increasing expansion and market monopoly of Alfa Group and Alfa-Bank over the ensuing years, Fridman was said to be in control of the majority of the economy and media in Russia.

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TNK-BP

In 1997, Fridman partnered with Len Blavatnik and Viktor Vekselberg to buy the state-owned TNK oil company. Six years later, through their Alfa-Access-Renova consortium, the three men partnered with the British oil and gas company BP to form the joint venture TNK-BP. The merger led to TNK-BP becoming one of the largest private oil companies in the world. Fridman served as chairman of the company for nine years and as CEO for three years, stepping down in 2012. The following year, TNK-BP was acquired by the Russian state-owned energy company Rosneft.

LetterOne

With the proceeds from their sale of TNK-BP, Fridman and two of his Alfa Group partners helped co-found the Luxembourg-based international investment company LetterOne in 2013. Fridman became the company's chairman. LetterOne invests in such sectors as energy, telecommunications, and finance, with its subsidiaries including DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG.

Other Activities

In 1996, Fridman was a founding member of the Russian Jewish Congress, a non-profit charitable fund intended to revitalize Jewish life in Russia. He is also a major donor to the European Jewish Fund and is a co-founder of the Genesis Philanthropy Group, which awards an annual prize recognizing Jewish cultural contributions. In 2014, Fridman launched an annual electronic music festival called Alfa Future People Festival.

In 2016, Fridman coined the term Indigo Era to refer to an allegedly new economic era based on innovation and unconventional ideas. He sits on the board of directors of ABH Holdings and is a member of such public-facing groups as the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and the American think tank the Council on Foreign Relations.

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Legal Problems and Sanctions

Fridman has faced numerous judicial challenges due to his corrupt business dealings. These challenges peaked in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Fridman being blacklisted by the European Union and having all of his assets frozen in response to the attack. He was also sanctioned by the United Kingdom. In late 2022, Fridman was allegedly arrested by the UK's National Crime Agency at his London residence on charges of money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the Home Office, and conspiracy to commit perjury. He was eventually released on bail. In 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that Fridman was suspected of violating the Criminal Code. The next year, he sued the government of Luxembourg to contest his sanctions and demand compensation for his frozen assets.

Personal Life

With his first wife, Olga, Fridman had two daughters named Katya and Lora. He had two more children with his second wife, Oksana. Both marriages ended in divorce. Based in Moscow for many years, Fridman moved to London in 2015 and resided at the Victorian Athlone House. He has dedicated his entire fortune to charity upon his passing.

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