Meet the richest man in Russia, Vladimir Potanin: he’s pals with Vladimir Putin, invested US$2.5 billion in the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games and is part of Bill Gates’ The Giving Pledge
- Potanin is the richest man in Russia, worth an estimated US$25 billion, and enjoys time on yachts and playing ice hockey with Russian president Putin
- He’s the first Russian billionaire to sign Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett’s the Giving Pledge, promising to donate most of his wealth to charity
Vladimir Potanin is the richest documented person in Russia. He’s worth US$24.9 billion, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows.
His net worth, however, has taken a massive hit since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine: his fortune has fallen to US$25 billion – nearly a quarter of his wealth – according to Bloomberg.
Here’s a look at how Potanin makes and spends his fortune.
He is the son of a diplomat and a doctor
Born in Moscow in 1961, Potanin went on to study international relations and spent eight years working at the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Trade.
When he was 30, Potanin met Mikhail Prokhorov, who would become his future business partner. The pair founded the International Company for Finance & Investments and then Onexim Bank, which became one of Russia’s largest private bank at the time.
Potanin became president of the bank in 1992 at age 32.