The country’s tycoons have added more than $26 billion to their wealth since the start of 2024
Vladimir Potanin with wife Yekaterina © Sputnik / Yekaterina Chesnokova The combined net worth of Russia’s wealthiest people jumped by more than $26 billion since the start of the year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. A total of 25 Russian billionaires with a combined net worth of $355.33 billion were listed in the ranking of the world’s 500 richest people as of November 1. Vladimir Potanin, the owner of mining giant Norilsk Nickel, remained Russia’s richest person, occupying the 55th spot globally. The nickel magnate is estimated to have increased his wealth by $1.2 billion in the period from January to November, to $32.2 billion. The largest jump in wealth was posted by Vladimir Lisin, the chairman of NLMK, Russia’s largest steelmaker. The businessman added $4.81 billion to his wealth this year and is now worth an estimated $28.8 billion. At the start of the year, Bloomberg ranked Lisin as the fourth-richest Russian. Vagit Alekperov, the ex-boss of Russian energy giant Lukoil, who still owns a large chunk of the company’s shares, came in third. His fortune stood at $27.4 billion as of November 1, up by $2.78 billion since the start of 2024. According to the ranking, the chairman of steel giant Severstal, Aleksey Mordashov, added $4.75 billion to his wealth, increasing it to $25.6 billion. Leonid Mikhelson, the co-owner of Novatek, Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer, came in fifth. His fortune, however, shrank by $1.98 billion to $25.5 billion. Meanwhile, billionaire Alisher Usmanov saw the biggest decline in wealth among the richest Russians, down by $6.46 billion as of November to $14.6 billion. Usmanov owns 49% of USM, an investment group that controls Russia’s largest iron ore producer Metalloinvest, as well as the MegaFon mobile operator. READ MORE: Russia has record number of billionaires – Forbes Bloomberg’s list also included, among others, Telegram founder and owner Pavel Durov, and Russia’s richest woman, Tatyana Kim, the founder and chief executive of the country’s largest online retailer Wildberries. Also listed in the Billionaire Index were the founder of the Eurochem and SUEK companies, Andrey Melnichenko, Mikhail Prokhorov (Onexim group), Gennady Timchenko (Novatek and Sibur co-owner) and Mikhail Fridman (Alfa Group).
