Net Worth:$21billionRoman Arkadyevich Abramovich (born 24 October 1966 in Saratov, Russia) is a Jewish Russian oil billionaire and the main owner of private investment company Millhouse Capital, referred to as one of the Russian oligarchs. According to the 2006 Forbes magazine, as of 13 February 2006, he had a net worth of $18.2 billion, and according to Russian Finance magazine, as of January 2007, his fortune was $21.0 billion.
In Russia, Abramovich is prominent as the governor of Chukota, a post to which he was elected in 2000. He is most famous outside Russia as the owner of Chelsea, an English Premiership football club, and for his wider involvement in European football. Despite his high profile around the world, Abramovich makes virtually no public statements about his activities.
Early life and education
Roman's parents were exiled to Siberia from Tauragė by the Soviets after the occupation of Lithuania in 1940. Roman grew up as an orphan. His mother, Irina Abramovich, died from bacteremia as a result of a back-alley abortion when Roman was one year old. His father Arkady Abramovich was killed in an incident on a construction site when Roman was three years old] Abramovich grew up in his uncle's family in Ukhta and with his grandmother in Moscow.Abramovich attended the Industrial Institute in the city of Ukhta before being drafted into the Soviet Army. After military service, he studied briefly at the Moscow State Auto Transport Institute before dropping out to go into business. He later earned a correspondence degree from the Moscow State Law Academy.
Post-Soviet privatization and business success
Abramovich started his commercial activity in the late 1980s when Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms permitted the opening of small private businesses, known as co-operatives. In 1992 to 1995 Abramovich founded five companies that conducted resale and acted as intermediaries, eventually specializing in the trading of oil and oil products. In 1995 Roman Abramovich, together with Boris Berezovsky, acquired the controlling interest in the large oil company Sibneft. The deal was within the controversial Loans-for-shares program and partner paid $100m for half of the company, only slightly below the stake's stock market value of $150 million at the time. The fast-rising value of the company led many observers, in hindsight, to suggest that the real cost of the company should have been in the billions of dollars.
During the 1990s, through their holding company Millhouse Capital, Abramovich and his business partner Eugene Shvidler acquired significant stakes in Russia's largest air company Aeroflot and several aluminium plants which were merged with the metals assets of Oleg Deripaska to creat aluminum giant Rusal. Millhouse LLC, as it is now known, also invested in several smaller companies in the automobile industry, pharmaceuticals, food processing, real estate and other sectors.
Millhouse divested of several key assets in 2002–2005. Most notably, the company sold its stake in Sibneft to state energy giant Gazprom for $13 billion, and its stake in Rusal to Oleg Deripaska for $2 billion. In 2006, Millhouse reinvested some of the proceeds by acquiring a 41% stake in Evraz Group, Russia's largest domestic steelmaker and one of the top 10 internationally.
In 2004, Swiss criminal investigators abandoned an investigation into an alleged fraud involving a $4.8 billion loan from the IMF to Russia, in which Abramovich was one of the investigators' key suspects, after the United States and Russia refused to divulge information on the scandal. No evidence linking Abramovich to the IMF funds was ever reported.
Despite maintaining that his primary residence is Moscow, Abramovich was named the second-wealthiest person in the UK in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006, with an estimated fortune of £10.8 billion. Abramovich qualified for the list by virtue of retaining residences in Knightsbridge, London and Sussex. His 440-acre estate in West Sussex was previously owned by King Hussein of Jordan. It has a swimming pool, a clay pigeon shoot, a rifle range and a go-kart track.
Political career
In 1999, Abramovich was elected to the State Duma as the representative for the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, an impoverished region in the Russian Far East. He started the charity Pole of Hope to help the people of Chukotka, especially children, and in December 2000 was elected governor of Chukotka, replacing Alexander Nazarov. Since then he has invested hundreds of millions of pounds in Chukotka, which has paid for a college, a hospital, a pre-school and hotels in Anadyr, as well as renovating the airport and funding new or renovated schools in many small towns and villages. He has also used Chukotka as a tax haven for Sibneft, though the company re-invested most of its tax savings in the region and has been exploring for oil there as part of the governor's drive to boost the local economy. Abramovich said that he would not run for governor again after his term of office expired in 2005, as it is "too expensive", and he rarely visits the region. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin changed the law to abolish elections for regional governors, and on 21 October 2005 Abramovich was reappointed governor for another term. In 2006 Abramovich used his power as governor to help out the explorer Karl Bushby who was deported from the region for border violations after walking from Alaska into Russia during his attempt to walk round the world.
Abramovich was awarded the Order of Honor for his "huge contribution to the economic development of the autonomous district [of Chukotka]", by a decree signed by the President of Russia.
Relationship with Kremlin
Abramovich's close relationship with Boris Yeltsin and his family was well known. At first he was described as an aide to the powerful tycoon Boris Berezovsky: "At every stage of Berezovsky's rise, Abramovich was there, watching and learning."
The proposed merger of Sibneft with Yukos was seen by most as a move to distance himself from Russia, at a time when the Kremlin appears to have decided to bring at least some of the oligarchs to account for their colourful past business practices. Abramovich was a close associate of controversial Boris Berezovsky who sold him his stake in Sibneft, although in July 2005 Berezovsky announced his intention to sue Abramovich in the British courts for pressuring him into selling most of his Russian assets cheaply to Abramovich after Berezovsky fled the country.
The Kremlin press service reported that Abramovich's name had been sent for approval as governor for another term to Chukotka's local parliament, which confirmed his appointment on 21 October 2005.
Chris Hutchins, a biographer of Vladimir Putin, claims that the relationship between the Russian president and Abramovich is like that between a father and a favourite son; when rumours began about the latter's relationship with Zhukova, Putin reportedly told him "to clean up his act". Reports of such a conversation are hearsay and have never been verified. Abramovich himself has stated that his relationship with Putin is professional, as signified by his use of the Russian language's formal "vy" in addressing Putin, as opposed to the informal "ty".(source:wiki)
In Russia, Abramovich is prominent as the governor of Chukota, a post to which he was elected in 2000. He is most famous outside Russia as the owner of Chelsea, an English Premiership football club, and for his wider involvement in European football. Despite his high profile around the world, Abramovich makes virtually no public statements about his activities.
Early life and education
Roman's parents were exiled to Siberia from Tauragė by the Soviets after the occupation of Lithuania in 1940. Roman grew up as an orphan. His mother, Irina Abramovich, died from bacteremia as a result of a back-alley abortion when Roman was one year old. His father Arkady Abramovich was killed in an incident on a construction site when Roman was three years old] Abramovich grew up in his uncle's family in Ukhta and with his grandmother in Moscow.Abramovich attended the Industrial Institute in the city of Ukhta before being drafted into the Soviet Army. After military service, he studied briefly at the Moscow State Auto Transport Institute before dropping out to go into business. He later earned a correspondence degree from the Moscow State Law Academy.
Post-Soviet privatization and business success
Abramovich started his commercial activity in the late 1980s when Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms permitted the opening of small private businesses, known as co-operatives. In 1992 to 1995 Abramovich founded five companies that conducted resale and acted as intermediaries, eventually specializing in the trading of oil and oil products. In 1995 Roman Abramovich, together with Boris Berezovsky, acquired the controlling interest in the large oil company Sibneft. The deal was within the controversial Loans-for-shares program and partner paid $100m for half of the company, only slightly below the stake's stock market value of $150 million at the time. The fast-rising value of the company led many observers, in hindsight, to suggest that the real cost of the company should have been in the billions of dollars.
During the 1990s, through their holding company Millhouse Capital, Abramovich and his business partner Eugene Shvidler acquired significant stakes in Russia's largest air company Aeroflot and several aluminium plants which were merged with the metals assets of Oleg Deripaska to creat aluminum giant Rusal. Millhouse LLC, as it is now known, also invested in several smaller companies in the automobile industry, pharmaceuticals, food processing, real estate and other sectors.
Millhouse divested of several key assets in 2002–2005. Most notably, the company sold its stake in Sibneft to state energy giant Gazprom for $13 billion, and its stake in Rusal to Oleg Deripaska for $2 billion. In 2006, Millhouse reinvested some of the proceeds by acquiring a 41% stake in Evraz Group, Russia's largest domestic steelmaker and one of the top 10 internationally.
In 2004, Swiss criminal investigators abandoned an investigation into an alleged fraud involving a $4.8 billion loan from the IMF to Russia, in which Abramovich was one of the investigators' key suspects, after the United States and Russia refused to divulge information on the scandal. No evidence linking Abramovich to the IMF funds was ever reported.
Despite maintaining that his primary residence is Moscow, Abramovich was named the second-wealthiest person in the UK in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006, with an estimated fortune of £10.8 billion. Abramovich qualified for the list by virtue of retaining residences in Knightsbridge, London and Sussex. His 440-acre estate in West Sussex was previously owned by King Hussein of Jordan. It has a swimming pool, a clay pigeon shoot, a rifle range and a go-kart track.
Political career
In 1999, Abramovich was elected to the State Duma as the representative for the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, an impoverished region in the Russian Far East. He started the charity Pole of Hope to help the people of Chukotka, especially children, and in December 2000 was elected governor of Chukotka, replacing Alexander Nazarov. Since then he has invested hundreds of millions of pounds in Chukotka, which has paid for a college, a hospital, a pre-school and hotels in Anadyr, as well as renovating the airport and funding new or renovated schools in many small towns and villages. He has also used Chukotka as a tax haven for Sibneft, though the company re-invested most of its tax savings in the region and has been exploring for oil there as part of the governor's drive to boost the local economy. Abramovich said that he would not run for governor again after his term of office expired in 2005, as it is "too expensive", and he rarely visits the region. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin changed the law to abolish elections for regional governors, and on 21 October 2005 Abramovich was reappointed governor for another term. In 2006 Abramovich used his power as governor to help out the explorer Karl Bushby who was deported from the region for border violations after walking from Alaska into Russia during his attempt to walk round the world.
Abramovich was awarded the Order of Honor for his "huge contribution to the economic development of the autonomous district [of Chukotka]", by a decree signed by the President of Russia.
Relationship with Kremlin
Abramovich's close relationship with Boris Yeltsin and his family was well known. At first he was described as an aide to the powerful tycoon Boris Berezovsky: "At every stage of Berezovsky's rise, Abramovich was there, watching and learning."
The proposed merger of Sibneft with Yukos was seen by most as a move to distance himself from Russia, at a time when the Kremlin appears to have decided to bring at least some of the oligarchs to account for their colourful past business practices. Abramovich was a close associate of controversial Boris Berezovsky who sold him his stake in Sibneft, although in July 2005 Berezovsky announced his intention to sue Abramovich in the British courts for pressuring him into selling most of his Russian assets cheaply to Abramovich after Berezovsky fled the country.
The Kremlin press service reported that Abramovich's name had been sent for approval as governor for another term to Chukotka's local parliament, which confirmed his appointment on 21 October 2005.
Chris Hutchins, a biographer of Vladimir Putin, claims that the relationship between the Russian president and Abramovich is like that between a father and a favourite son; when rumours began about the latter's relationship with Zhukova, Putin reportedly told him "to clean up his act". Reports of such a conversation are hearsay and have never been verified. Abramovich himself has stated that his relationship with Putin is professional, as signified by his use of the Russian language's formal "vy" in addressing Putin, as opposed to the informal "ty".(source:wiki)
0 comments:
Post a Comment