CEO of Russian gas company Novatek Leonid Mikhelson (centre) and Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ALEXANDER KAZAKOV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL
The number of Russian billionaires has grown in the past year, from 110 to a record 125, according to the Forbes world ranking. There would have been even more, had 10 Russian billionaires not renounced their citizenship.
Until now, the largest number of Russian billionaires recorded by Forbes was in 2021, when it counted 123. The combined wealth of all 125 Russian current billionaires amounts to $576.8 billion, a 14% increase on last year’s total.
This year also saw 19 new names added to the list. According to Forbes, most of the new additions made their fortunes in the consumer sector — which includes retail, agriculture, and housing construction — though some are owners of transportation assets.
Some of the billionaires, such as owners of clothing chains, profited from the exodus of foreign brands from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, and some of them earned or increased their fortunes by buying foreign companies’ Russian assets at a discounted price. For example, the richest new addition to the list, Ivan Tavrin ($2.4 billion), bought listing site Avito and other assets from foreign owners.
The richest Russian businessman this year is the former president of Lukoil, Vagit Alekperov, whose fortune, estimated at $20.5 billion last year, jumped to an estimated $28.6 billion. He is ranked by Forbes as the world’s 59th richest person.
The other top five richest Russians are Leonid Mikhelson, CEO of gas company Novatek; Vladimir Lisin, chairman of steel company Novolipetsk; Alexey Mordashov, chairman of steel company Severstal; and Vladimir Potanin, a member of Putin’s inner circle who acquired his wealth through the controversial loans-for-shares programme in the 1990s.
