Since the beginning of 2024, Russian billionaires have become richer by $28.7 billion
Photo: Evgenia GUSEVA. Go to Photobank KP
“The well-being of Russians is growing rapidly!” – Rosstat makes us happy.
“Which Russians are growing it?” – our man often complains about this.
“But which ones!” – replies the American agency Bloomberg. And it publishes its traditional ranking of billionaires, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index (BBI). This time, it is dedicated to the results of the first half of 2024.
The BBI list includes the top 500 richest people on the planet. Their wealth is not just the amount of money in the billionaire’s accounts, but also their other assets. Mainly, the value of the shares they own. If the shares go up in price, the rich person’s wealth increases. And vice versa.
Here’s how the three richest people in the world line up:
1. Elon Musk, USA (Tesla, SpaceX): $218 billion
2. Jeff Bezos, USA (Amazon.com): $215 billion
3. Bernard Arnault, France (Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Hennessy): $199 billion
25 Russians are also included in the current BBI rating. Their total wealth increased by $28.7 billion over the year. The main reason for the growth lies in the source of their wealth. The fact is that most of the Russian rich own shares in raw materials companies (and not in technology companies, like all the Musks and Bezos). And oil, metals and many other minerals became more expensive in the first half of the year. After that, the shares and the wealth of their owners grew.
Of course, not all of them. In the first half of the year, due to sanctions and problems with exports, the shares of companies related to natural gas fell sharply in price. Thus, the owners of gas companies lost billions of dollars. However, this is unlikely to force them to save electricity and prepare tea bags twice. They also have a lot left. And in general, the “impoverished” oligarchs are in the minority: only three Russians from the BBI list have gone into the red since the beginning of the year.
ONLY NUMBERS
Which Russian has become the richest since the beginning of the year?
1. Andrei Melnichenko
Capital growth since the beginning of the year: +5.76 billion dollars
Net worth as of July 1: $24.6 billion
Source of wealth: Large stakes in coal company SUEK and fertilizer manufacturer Eurochem.
2. Alexei Mordashov
Capital growth: +$4.71 billion
Net worth: $25.6 billion
Source of wealth: stakes in Severstal, the Lenta retail chain, the TUI tour operator, the energy engineering company Power Machines and the gold mining company Nordgold.
3. Vagit Alekperov
Capital growth: +$3.54 billion
Net worth: $28.2 billion
Source of wealth: 28.3% of shares in oil company Lukoil (as of September 31, 2021).
4. Vladimir Lisin
Capital growth: +$3.24 billion
Net worth: $27.2 billion
Source of wealth: owner of the Novolipetsk metallurgical plant and the first port company.
5. Tatiana Bakalchuk
Capital growth: +$2.83 billion
Net worth: $8.33 billion
Source of wealth: 99% of shares in the Wildberries online store.
6. Mikhail Prokhorov
Capital Growth: +$1.84 billion
Net worth: $17.6 billion
Source of wealth: Renaissance Credit Bank and around $9 billion from asset sales (Rusal shares, Brooklyn Nets NBA basketball club, etc.).
7. Mikhail Fridman
Capital Growth: +$1.49 billion
Net worth: $13.8 billion
Source of wealth: As of February 24, 2022, he was the main owner of the LetterOne Holdings group (oil and gas company Wintershall DEA, telecommunications companies VEON and Turkcell), as well as the Alfa Group (Alfa Bank, AlfaStrakhovanie, X5 Group).
…and who is poor?
1. Gennady Timchenko
Decrease in capital since the beginning of the year: -2.85 billion dollars
Net worth: $11.3 billion
Source of wealth: 23.5% of Novatek shares (natural gas), 17% of Sibur (oil and gas chemicals production), 80% of Transoil (transportation of oil and oil products), 53% of Stroytransgaz (construction of industrial facilities).
2. Alisher Usmanov
Capital reduction: -$1.86 billion
Net worth: $19.2 billion
Source of wealth: 49% of shares in USM holding company (Metalloinvest, Udokan Copper, Megafon).
3. Leonid Mikhelson
Capital reduction: -$1.61 billion
Net worth: $25.8 billion
Source of wealth: 24.6% Novatek shares, 30.6% Sibur.
According to Bloomberg and Forbes.
