Mikhail Fridman

Mikhail Maratovich Fridman (also transliterated Mikhail Friedman;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:Langx; Template:Langx; born 21 April 1964) is a Ukrainian-born,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Russian–Israeli tycoon and oligarch.<ref name="50RichestJews"/><ref name="entrepreneur"/><ref name="ynet4806556"/> He is one of the co-founders of Alfa-Group, a multinational Russian conglomerate. According to Forbes, he was the second-richest Russian as of 2013 ($16.5 billion), moving down to ninth-richest Russian in 2023 ($12.6 billion).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In May 2017, he was also ranked as Russia's most important businessman by bne IntelliNews.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In February 2024, Fridman had a net worth of $13.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As per Forbes list of The Richest People In The World, dated 6 February 2025 Mikhail Fridman ranked #150 with a net worth of $13.3 Billion.

In 1991, he co-founded Alfa-Bank, one of the largest private banks in Russia.<ref name="giants">Template:Cite news</ref> After being CEO of TNK-BP, the 50/50 TNK-BP joint venture, for nine years,<ref name="LetterOne profile"/> in 2013 he sold his stake in the company and co-founded the international investment company LetterOne (L1).<ref name="Forbes Billionaires"/> Until 2022 Fridman was chairman of the supervisory board of Alfa Group Consortium,<ref name="Alfa Group Profile"/> and was on the boards of Alfa-Bank<ref name="Alfa-Bank Profile"/> and ABH Holdings.<ref name="Alfa-Bank Profile"/>

Prior to 2022, he was on the supervisory board of directors for VEON (formerly Vimpelcom)<ref name=VEONboard>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and X5 Retail Group.<ref name="Alfa Group Profile"/> He is a member of the supervisory board of DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, which is owned by LetterOne.<ref name="DEAsupervisory">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="deagroup"/> Fridman has been a member of numerous public-facing bodies, including the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs,<ref name="Moscow Times profile"/> the Public Chamber of Russia,<ref name="Alfa-Bank Profile"/><ref name="Moscow Times profile"/> and the Council on Foreign Relations.<ref name="CFR IAB">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2022, the EU imposed sanctions on Fridman in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Fridman claimed the EU's allegations were false and defamatory. He subsequently decided to step down from the boards of LetterOne and Alfa Group, so that they could avoid sanctions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As reported by several media, Fridman has already filed lawsuits challenging sanctions on at least two occasions, like in July 2022<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and in December 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In December 2022, a man reported by Russian state media to be Fridman was arrested in London by the UK's National Crime Agency, on charges of money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the Home Office and conspiracy to commit perjury.<ref name="NCA_12/27/2022" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The UK National Crime Agency did not name the man, stating only that it had detained a 58-year-old "wealthy Russian businessman" at a "multi-million-pound residence".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was later released on bail.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Subsequently, the agency scaled back its probe.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In September 2023 the National Crime Agency closed the investigation.<ref name="Bloomberg.com">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="news.yahoo.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In October 2023, Fridman reportedly announced to return to Russia.<ref>Fridman heads home, as pro-war lobby push for punishments against emigrants (18 October 2023)</ref>

Early life and education

Fridman was born in 1964 in Lviv, Ukrainian SSR, USSR, where he spent his youth.<ref name="Moscow Times profile"/><ref name="skirts"/> He graduated from high school in Lviv in 1980.<ref name="LetterOne profile"/> He says he was denied entrance to Moscow's top physics college because he is Jewish,<ref name="genesisreferelcting"/> and instead attended the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys.<ref name="FTlunch"/> He had various jobs while a college student in Moscow, including washing windows<ref name="PBS Frontline">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Moscow Times profile"/><ref name="piratization">Template:Cite book</ref> and founding and co-owning a student discothèque named Strawberry Fields.<ref name="nervous"/><ref name="skirts"/><ref name="Moscow Times profile"/><ref name="PBS Frontline"/> He also led a group of students who would queue for tickets at popular Moscow plays, and then use the tickets as hard currency to barter for rare goods and favours.<ref name="FTlunch"/><ref name="Moscow Times profile"/><ref name="PBS Frontline"/> Having studied metallurgical engineering,<ref name="evolving"/> he graduated with distinction<ref name="silobreaker"/> from the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys in 1986.<ref name="Moscow Times profile"/>

Career

Early years and Alfa companies (1980s–1990s)

Template:See also After graduation Fridman worked as a metallurgical design engineer at the Elektrostal Metallurgical Works, a state electrical machinery factory, from 1986 to 1988.<ref name="skirts"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="veon"/><ref name="silobreaker"/><ref name="wealthiest dozen"> Template:Cite news</ref> As Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began to open up the economy in the late 1980s,<ref name="Moscow Times profile"/> in 1988 Fridman established a window-washing business,<ref name="FTlunch">Template:Cite news</ref> an apartment rental agency for foreigners,<ref name="skirts"/> a company that sold used computers,<ref name="skirts"/> and a company that imported cigarettes and perfumes,<ref name="evolving"/> with fellow friends from college,<ref name="LetterOne profile"/> employing students from various Moscow universities.<ref name="LetterOne profile"/>

Armenian Robert Yengibaryan (Template:Langx) provided strong assistance to Fridman and, later, Yengibaryan's son Vahe Yengebaryan (Template:Langx), who was the Russian consul in New York from 2003 onwards, became very close to Fridman's business interests.<ref name=CnewsScheme>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=CnewsSon>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In October 2019, Fridman told a Spanish court that he was a friend of Vahe.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1988, along with German Khan and Alexey Kuzmichev, Fridman co-founded Alfa-Photo (also transliterated as Alfa-Foto), which imported photography chemicals.Template:Citation needed<ref name="veon">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="PBS Frontline"/><ref name="piratization"/> In 1989 the three partners founded Alfa-Eco (Alfa-Echo, Alfa-Eko, Alfa-Ekho), a commodities and eventually oil trading firm,<ref name="FT rugs"/><ref name="bne">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Forbes Billionaires"/><ref name="piratization"/><ref name=benchmark>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Alfa Capital (Alfa Kapital), an investment firm.<ref name="piratization"/><ref name="Int Whos Who 2004">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="globalbeat">Template:Cite news</ref> Alfa-Eco and Alfa Capital developed into Alfa Group Consortium.<ref name="How I Became">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="FT rugs"/><ref name="intellinews profile 2017"/> The company, which initially focused on computer trading and copy machine maintenance, expanded into imports and exports and commodities trading,<ref name="LetterOne profile"/> eventually becoming one of Russia's largest privately owned financial-industrial conglomerates, with interests in industries such as telecommunications, banking, retail, and oil.<ref name="FTlunch"/><ref name="LetterOne profile"/>

Using $100,000 of his profits from his businesses to pay the required fee, in January 1991 Fridman co-founded Alfa-Bank.<ref name="evolving"/><ref name="piratization"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Moscow Times profile"/> The company grew to become one of the largest private banks in Russia.<ref name="giants"/><ref name="Moscow Times profile"/> Alfa Group's later divisions include Rosvodokanal, a private water utility; AlfaStrakhovanie, a diversified insurance company; A1 Group, an investment company; and X5 Retail Group, a large chain of food retailers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Alfa Group flourished considerably after Fridman recruited Petr Aven, the former Minister of Foreign Economic Relations for the Russian Federation; in 1994 Aven became president and chairman of Alfa-Bank.<ref name=autumn>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> By late 1996, thanks to the success of Alfa-Bank and Alfa Group, Boris Berezovsky, in an interview by the Financial Times, named Fridman and Aven among the seven businessman and bankers who controlled most of the economy and media in Russia,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=autumn/><ref name="Russia's Path PT312"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and who had helped bankroll Boris Yeltsin's 1996 re-election campaign.<ref name="FT alpha"/><ref name="qui est"/><ref name="Russia's Path PT312">Template:Cite book</ref> Both Fridman and Aven were quite close to Berezovsky. In his book The age of Berezovsky Aven says: "It was Fridman and I who happened to be by Boris's bed after his attempted assassination in 1994, and it was our yacht that he chose to go after being discharged from hospital".<ref>https://petr-aven-books.com/ Template:Bare URL inline</ref>

Fridman and Aven sold off most of their Russian government securities in early August 1998, prior to the ruble crisis of 17 August 1998, and emerged relatively unhurt from the 1998 Russian financial crisis.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> During the crisis, Alfa-Bank used its holdings related to TNK to avoid a debt default, and was one of the few Russian banks at the time to continue to allow customer withdrawals.<ref name="evolving"/>

Retail holdings and X5 Retail (1995 to present)

Fridman's Alfa Group founded the Perekrestok (also transliterated Perekriostok) chain of supermarkets in Moscow in 1995.<ref name="corporate giants">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="X5 history">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Through a merger with the Pyatyorochka (also transliterated Pyaterochka) supermarket chain, which had been founded in St. Petersburg in 1999 by Alexander Girda and Andrey Rogachev,<ref name="corporate giants"/><ref name="X5 history"/> Alfa Group founded the X5 Retail Group in 2006.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="corporate giants"/><ref name="X5 history"/> X5 acquired another grocer, Kopeyka, for $1.65 billion in December 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> X5 is Russia's largest food retailer in terms of sales.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Alfa Telecom and Altimo (2001–2015)

Alfa Group acquired a 44% stake in Golden Telecom, a large telecommunications and internet company in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, in 2001.<ref name="alfa group history">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also in 2001, Alfa purchased a strategic ownership interest in Vimpelcom, a large cellular operator in Russia, and Fridman joined Vimpelcom's board of directors.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="telecom newsletter">Template:Cite news</ref>

Alfa Group consolidated its telecom holdings as Alfa Telecom, and in 2005 renamed it Altimo.<ref name="alfa group history"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Its holdings and acquisitions included MegaFon, Vimpelcom, Golden Telecom, and Kyivstar.<ref name="alfa group history"/> In December 2005 Altimo also acquired a 13.2% interest in Turkcell, the largest telecoms company in Turkey.<ref name="alfa group history"/><ref name="intellinews profile 2017"/>

Fridman's desire to merge Vimpelcom and Kyivstar was thwarted by his Vimpelcom partner, the Norwegian telecoms group Telenor,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="telecom newsletter"/> which held stakes in both companies.<ref name="intellinews profile 2017"/> Fridman resorted to protracted and aggressive efforts to strong-arm Telenor in 2005, and although the merger of Vimpelcom and Kyivstar was achieved in 2010,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> conflicts with Telenor over control of Vimpelcom lasted seven years in total.<ref name="intellinews profile 2017"/><ref name=teflon/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nervous"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

From 2003 until 2007 Fridman's Altimo was locked in a complex four-year battle of claims and counter-claims of fraud with the Bermuda-based investment firm IPOC International Growth Fund associated with Leonid Reiman and Jeffrey Galmond over ownership of a 25.1% stake in MegaFon that was formerly held by Leonid Rozhetskin's LV Finance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="intellinews profile 2017"/> James Hatt, a British telecommunications executive, represented Fridman's interests while Jeffrey Galmond, a Danish attorney, represented Reiman's interests during deliberations between the two groups.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Altimo's ownership of the stake was finally maintained in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the dispute in 2005, Altimo hired the Haley Barbour-founded BGR public relations firm, which then hired a security firm, Richard Burt's Due Diligence, in order to infiltrate and obtain information about the KPMG independent investigations funded by Paula Cox, who was the Bermuda Minister of Finance, into the IPOC International Growth Fund.<ref name=RoyalGazette09052008>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=CopanhagenPost28102004>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Bloomberg20070225>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Telegraph2008-06-22>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Duplicity>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=AlfaGroupArsenalDiagram22032007>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Richard Burt and Mikhail Fridman have a strong working relationship.<ref name=AlfaGroupArsenalDiagram22032007/><ref name=Politico07102016>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2012 Fridman sold his entire stake in MegaFon for $5 billion.<ref name="bear down"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

TNK-BP (2003–2013)

In 1997, Fridman had collaborated with Len Blavatnik and Viktor Vekselberg to purchase the state-owned TNK (Tyumen Oil Company), an oil company in Siberia, for $800 million.<ref name="FT alpha"/><ref name=benchmark/><ref name="skirts"/><ref name="qui est">Template:Cite news</ref> In February 2003, the British multinational oil and gas company BP agreed to form the TNK-BP joint venture with the AAR (Alfa-Access-Renova) consortium, which included Alfa Group, Blavatnik's Access Industries, and Vekselberg's Renova.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="evolving"/><ref name="troubled history">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Oxford Kremlin billionaires"/> After the merger, TNK-BP became the third largest oil producer in Russia, and one of the top 10 largest private oil companies in the world.<ref name="Oxford Kremlin billionaires"/> Fridman was TNK-BP chairman for nine years,<ref name="LetterOne profile"/> and CEO for three years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Prior to the TNK-BP joint venture, in 1999 Fridman had thwarted BP by seizing BP's stake in the Siberian oil company Sidanko, via bankruptcy maneuvers widely regarded as unfair practices.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="FT alpha"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="intellinews profile 2017"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> And although TNK-BP was highly successful financially,<ref name=apocalypse/> Fridman's relationship with BP during the TNK-BP years was contentious, and included blocking BP's 2011 planned partnership with Rosneft for Arctic oilfield exploration.<ref name="FT alpha"/><ref name="bear down">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Oxford Kremlin billionaires"/><ref name="nervous"/><ref name=teflon>Template:Cite news</ref>

He resigned as CEO of TNK-BP in May 2012.<ref name="troubled history"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2013, TNK-BP was sold to Russia's state-owned energy group Rosneft for $56 billion,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with Fridman and his Russian partners receiving $28 billion for their 50% stake, at the height of crude oil prices.<ref name="FTlunch"/><ref name=apocalypse>Template:Cite news</ref>

Founding LetterOne and L1 Energy (2013–2015)

File:Mikhail Fridman.jpg

Fridman speaking at the L1 Energy launch on 14 September 2015 in New York.

Using the proceeds from the sale of their stakes in TNK-BP, Fridman and his Alfa Group partners Khan and Kuzmichev established the international investment company LetterOne (L1) in 2013,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Forbes Uber">Template:Cite news</ref> and Fridman became the company's chairman.<ref name="2015 LetterOne Our Story">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> LetterOne's additional co-founders were Petr Aven and Andrei Kosogov.<ref name="Russian Businessman of the Year 2017"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Headquartered in Luxembourg,<ref name="Davies LetterOne"/> the company was created to invest in international projects in energy, telecoms, finance, technology, and other sectors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="2015 LetterOne Our Story"/> As of 31 December 2013, LetterOne had $29 billion in assets under management.<ref name="Davies LetterOne"/> In May 2015 Mervyn Davies (Lord Davies) was appointed deputy chairman of LetterOne,<ref name="Davies LetterOne"/> and former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt was appointed as the board's advisor.<ref name="retursarticle"/>

In 2013 LetterOne also formed L1 Energy, an energy investment vehicle, initially focused particularly on undervalued international oil and gas assets during the slump in oil prices.<ref name="Reuters L1 Energy">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="maven">Template:Cite news</ref> John Browne (Lord Browne) was appointed to its advisory board,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Reuters L1 Energy"/> and in March 2015 became its chairman.<ref name="scratch"/><ref name="maven"/>

L1 Energy's North Sea oil assets (2015)

File:Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and Lord Browne at the L1 Energy launch New York.jpg

Fridman (center) with colleagues Petr Aven and Lord Browne (2015)

On 3 March 2015, L1 Energy acquired the international oil and gas company DEA from the German utility RWE for $7 billion (€5.1 billion).<ref name="letteronecompletes"/><ref name="scratch"/> Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with extensive assets in the British North Sea,<ref name="letteronecompletes"/> RWE DEA had total natural gas production output of 2.6bn cubic metres in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The purchase was opposed by the UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey, who raised concerns that Fridman might one day face international sanctions due to the Russo-Ukrainian war,<ref name="bloombergview"/><ref name="Looks to Sell"/><ref name="lookstoavert"/> which could force L1 Energy to shut down production in the North Sea, thus imperiling oil supplies and 5% of Britain's North Sea natural gas output.<ref name="FT Uber"/><ref name="Looks to Sell"/> On 4 March 2015, Davey gave Fridman a one-week deadline to convince the UK government not to force him to sell the North Sea oil and gas assets.<ref name="bbcrussin"/> In April 2015, the government gave Fridman up to six months to sell.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Looks to Sell"/>

In October 2015 Fridman and the LetterOne Group sold L1 Energy's British North Sea assets to Ineos, a Switzerland-based petrochemical company owned by Jim Ratcliffe, for $750 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="letteroneonesale"/> The British government assured LetterOne that the forced sale was "not a judgement on the suitability of LetterOne's owners to control these or any other assets in the UK".<ref name="ineostargest"/>

In October 2015 LetterOne Group acquired German utility company E.ON's equity interests in 43 Norwegian oil and gas licences, including interests in three producing Norwegian fields, all located in the North Sea, for $1.6 billion.<ref name="financiatltimesfields"/><ref name="eonagressa"/>

LetterOne's telecom and other technology assets 2015 to present

In April 2015, LetterOne Technology (L1 Technology) was launched in London. Its focus was on buying "struggling telecom or technology companies that require a fresh infusion of capital".Template:Citation needed Various advisory board members were appointed including Brent Hoberman, Denis O'Brien, and Sir Julian Horn-Smith.<ref name="telecoms spree">Template:Cite news</ref>

The L1 Technology fund began acting as a holding company for the 48 percent stake in Vimpelcom owned by Fridman and his partners.<ref name="telecoms spree"/><ref name="skirts"/> The fund also has a 13.2% share in the Turkish telecom company Turkcell,<ref name="telecoms spree"/> which since 2005 has been hampered by a long-running feud between its three largest shareholders: Cukurova, owned by Turkcell founder Mehmet Emin Karamehmet, Fridman's LetterOne via Alfa Telecom/Altimo, and Sweden's Telia Company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In February 2016, Vimpelcom agreed to pay $800 million to settle U.S. and Dutch claims that it had bribed officials to win contracts in Uzbekistan between 2006 and 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="intellinews profile 2017"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A year later the company rebranded itself VEON, and changed its focus to mobile internet services such as banking, taxis, and messaging.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In February 2016, Fridman's LetterOne fund invested $200 million in Uber.<ref name="Forbes Uber"/><ref name="FT Uber"/> In August 2016 LetterOne invested $50 million in telecommunications start-up FreedomPop, to help finance its international expansion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Additional activities 2012 to present

In 2012 Fridman partnered with American real-estate developer Jack Rosen in a joint venture to invest $1 billion in distressed real estate properties along the U.S. East Coast.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="intellinews profile 2017">Template:Cite news</ref>

In June 2016, LetterOne prepared to expand into healthcare by launching the $3 billion fund L1 Health in the United States, for investments in the global healthcare industry.<ref name="expandsintohealthcare"> Template:Cite news</ref>

In October 2016, Alfa Group acquired Ukrainian bank Ukrsotsbank, by offering its parent, the Italian financial conglomerate UniCredit Group, a minority stake of 9.9% in ABH Holdings.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In December 2016, LetterOne launched L1 Retail, headquartered in London, to invest $3 billion in "the retail stars of tomorrow" in Europe and the UK.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2016 Fridman coined the term "Indigo Era", for his theory of a global shift to an emerging era of economics based on creativity and digital skills rather than on natural resources.<ref>Solomon, Shoshanna. "Israel ranks only 36th out of 152 nations in new innovation index". Times of Israel. 7 December 2016.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2017 he funded a £100,000 Indigo Prize for new economic-measurement models based on the paradigm.<ref>"Economics turns into a new moneyspinner" Template:Webarchive. City A.M. 6 July 2017. p. 11.</ref><ref>O'Donnell, Gus; Hoberman, Brent. "Think beyond GDP to measure the true success of an economy". Evening Standard. 6 July 2017.</ref>

In June 2017 LetterOne's L1 Retail division acquired Holland & Barrett, Europe's largest health-food store chain, for £1.8 billion ($2.3 billion).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also in 2017 Fridman, via LetterOne, invested $3 billion in Pamplona Capital Management,<ref name="Russian Businessman of the Year 2017"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a private-equity firm that was founded by Alexander Knaster, the former CEO of Alfa-Bank, and which Fridman had invested in previously.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Russian Businessman of the Year 2017"/>

In January 2018, due to concerns over possible sanctions stemming from the 2017 U.S. Congressional sanctions on Russia, Fridman announced that Alfa-Bank was phasing out its holdings in Russia's defense industry.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In May 2018 Fridman and Aven spoke to an off-the-record private dinner at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C.<ref name=interpreterdinner>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=MTdinner>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=VOAdinner>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=whitewash>Template:Cite news</ref> The invitation and the privacy of the meeting drew criticism of the Atlantic Council from a group of 13 Russian and U.S. experts and activists,<ref name=interpreterdinner/><ref name=MTdinner/><ref name=VOAdinner/><ref name=whitewash/> who wrote that "In our view ... Aven, Fridman, and other key Alfa-Bank oligarchs are ... close cronies and insiders of Putin's regime, and do not operate independently of Putin's demands."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Atlantic Council responded that the private meeting was not "a sweetheart platform",<ref name=VOAdinner/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Kremlin responded that the two oligarchs represented the interests of their business.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2019, Mikhail Fridman acquired a 50% stake in one of the suppliers of computing devices for the Russian defense industry via the structures affiliated with A1 investment company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Sanctions

On 28 February 2022, the European Union blacklisted Fridman and had all his assets frozen as part of a package of sanctions imposed against Russian officials and oligarchs in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fridman said that the war would "damage two nations who have been brothers for hundreds of years" and called for the "bloodshed to end".<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The United Kingdom also sanctioned Fridman on 15 March 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In October 2022 Fridman offered to transfer $1 billion of his personal wealth into the Ukrainian Sense Bank<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> that he co-founded. Officials said the proposal was calculated to persuade the UK to lift sanctions against him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Fridman denied making a quid pro quo offer to Ukraine.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Following the invasion of Ukraine Sense Bank transferred millions of its own budget to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and territorial defense units.<ref name="alfa-bank-ukrayina-104">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}
{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fridman was sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 in relation to the invasion.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In September 2023 the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation HM Treasury (UK) updated the text of the financial sanctions notice related to Mikhail Fridman. He is now referred to as "an involved person under the Russia regulations" instead of "a prominent Russian businessman and pro-Kremlin oligarch". Additionally, a phrase alleging close ties between Mikhail Fridman and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been deleted from the document.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 5 September 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine announced in absentia that Fridman was suspected of violating Article 110 of the Criminal Code, which provides for liability for financing actions to seize power, overthrow the constitutional order, or change the territory of the state. Under this article, he could face up to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property. The SSU believes that since the start of the conflict, the banker has invested about 2 billion rubles in Russian defense enterprises, in particular, in the Tula Cartridge Plant.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In April 2024, following a legal challenge, The General Court of the European Union stated there were no evidence to put him on EU sanctions list.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In May 2024, Fridman sued the Luxembourg government, becoming the first Russian billionaire to challenge European sanctions and demand compensation for his frozen assets.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In August 2024, Fridman, after loss of trial in Luxembourg, started arbitration dispute with Luxembourg at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In March 2025, the Financial Times reported that Hungary's ambassador to the EU sought the removal of Fridman from the sanctions list, threatening to veto the extension of the 2000-person sanctions list. Hungary's effort to remove Fridman from sanctions list was supported by Luxembourg.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Controversy in Spain

Fridman first appeared in the Spanish press in November 2002, when the Liberian tanker Prestige sank off the coast of Galicia. It was transferring 77,000 tons of Russian heavy oil; the cargo belonged to Crown Resources, a company owned by Fridman's Alfa Group. The oil spill contaminated the Spanish coast, causing a major environmental disaster, with total damage estimated at 1.5 billion euros. After the disaster, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo called Fridman ‘Dirty Michael’.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the summer of 2016, the Spanish entrepreneur Javier Perez Dolset, head of the ZED Corporation (mobile apps developer), addressed the Spanish prosecutor's office with a complaint about his Russian partners associated with VimpelCom Ltd.<ref name=CnewsScheme/><ref name=CnewsSon/> According to Dolset, they had illegally seized the capital of their joint venture, which resulted in the bankruptcy of the parent company. El Confidencial published a series of articles about the story of ZED's bankruptcy, and accused Fridman of staging an illegal takeover by removing Javier Perez Dolset from the business and ruining him financially.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 16 January 2017, Peter Wakkie, a Dutch attorney known as Fridman's righthand man, was arrested at Madrid's Barajas Airport for possible business fraud.<ref name=RighthandManWakkie>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=newsru20170117>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn

In October 2019, Fridman attended court proceedings relating to the Zed case in order to be questioned by Spain's National Court in Madrid. He was summoned to a pre-trial hearing as a person under investigation. The accusation was formulated as “a series of actions which brought about the insolvency of Spanish firm Zed Worldwide… in order to acquire it at a derisory price, far lower than its market value.” The prosecutor referred to Fridman's dealings with Zed Worldwide as a 'raid', clarifying that this was a technique used “typically used by the Russian mafia” with the purpose of taking over a business illegally. And while his legal representatives claimed that Fridman had never been a director of any entities involved in Zed's takeover or driving down Zed's market value, the Spanish prosecutors insisted that Fridman “hides his control of criminal activities behind subordinates.”Template:Overly detailed inline<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After the pre-trial hearing, Jose Grinda, who was the lead prosecutor in the case, commented to the media that “from the perspective of the Prosecutor's Office, Fridman will remain in the status of the accused.”<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 15 December 2020 the Spanish National Court dismissed the case. According to the decision, the judge considered that the continuation of the case against Fridman contradicted the principle of the presumption of innocence and stated that there were "no reasonable grounds to accuse the suspect as an author, accomplice or accessory."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Subsequently, in an order dated 22 February 2021, the National High Court of Spain dismissed appeals by Zed Group in Fridman's favor, concluding there was no evidence to demonstrate that Zed Group's allegations were true,<ref name="Europa Press, 2021, Europea Press">Template:Citation</ref> and that the text messages originally used as evidence failed to implicate Fridman "beyond references from third parties."<ref name="2021, El Economistas">Template:Citation</ref>

In mid-2017, Fridman's LetterOne investment company acquired Dia, a Spanish supermarket chain. From 2011 to 20 December 2018, Dia was listed in the so-called IBEX 35 as one of the 35 largest Spanish companies on the stock market. Economy expert Sergio Avila commented: “... With the entry of [LetterOne] into [Dia] the sales fell sharply, the profitability of enterprises decreased, which was accompanied by a fall in Dia's share prices on the Madrid Stock Exchange. Therefore, I assess Dia's prospects as extremely negative, and in no way recommend it to investors.” El Confidencial recalled past episodes associated with Fridman and qualified his actions as raider attacks on Spanish enterprises.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In January 2021, the Spanish National Court dismissed a case alleging that Fridman had manipulated the market to devalue Dia's shares,<ref name="2021, AFP">Template:Citation</ref> with the judge stating the court instead saw Dia's decline in value as a result of "mismanagement" and lack of investments in marketing.<ref name="Europa Press, 2021, Europea Press" />

Current posts

Fridman is on the board of directors of ABH Holdings, which is the Luxembourg-headquartered holding company of Alfa Banking Group.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Alfa Group Profile"/> Since DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG was bought by L1 Energy in 2015, he has been a member of its supervisory board.<ref name="deagroup"/><ref name="DEAsupervisory"/>

Fridman is a member of numerous public-facing bodies, including the National Council on Corporate Governance in Russia<ref name="Alfa Group Profile"/> and a boardmember of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.<ref name="Moscow Times profile"/> In February 2001, he became a member of the Council for Entrepreneurship at the Government of the Russian Federation.<ref name="silobreaker"/> He was elected as a member of the Public Chamber of Russia in November 2005.<ref name="Alfa-Bank Profile"/><ref name="Moscow Times profile"/> Since 2005, he has been a Russian representative on the international advisory board of the Council on Foreign Relations.<ref name="CFR IAB"/>

Philanthropy and initiatives

In 1996 Fridman was one of the founders of the Russian Jewish Congress,<ref name="50RichestJews"/> and he has been an active member since then,<ref name="Sarkozy"/> including having been its vice president and head of its cultural committee.<ref name="silobreaker"/> He is a major donor to the European Jewish Fund, which promotes inter-religious dialogue.<ref name="50RichestJews"/> In 2007,<ref name="yadvashem"/> Fridman, along with Stan Polovets, Alexander Knaster, Petr Aven, and German Khan, founded the Genesis Philanthropy Group, whose purpose is to develop and enhance Jewish identity among Russian-speaking Jews worldwide.<ref name="Russians Join Israel"/><ref name="yadvashem"/><ref name="Russian speaking Jews">Template:Cite news</ref> The Genesis Prize, which the group founded in 2012, is a million-dollar annual prize for Jewish contributions to humanity.<ref name="Russians Join Israel"/><ref name="50RichestJews"/> Fridman was also one of the major funders of the Holocaust memorial project at Babi Yar in Kyiv, Ukraine, which was launched in 2016.<ref name="babyyarkillings">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="babyyarkilliggs">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2011 he founded the annual Alfa Jazz Fest, which is funded by Alfa-Bank, in his place of birth Lviv, Ukraine,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and in 2014 launched the Alfa Future People Festival, an annual electronic music festival held on the banks of the Volga River in the Nizhny Novgorod region in Russia.<ref name="Tatler June 2017">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Honours and awards

In 2003, Fridman received the Golden Plate Award from the Academy of Achievement in Washington, presented by former U.S. President Bill Clinton,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="silobreaker"/><ref name="Alfa-Bank Profile"/> and he was named one of "The Stars of Europe: 25 Leaders at the forefront of change" by BusinessWeek.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2004 he was included in the Financial Times list of 25 business executives named "Leaders of the New Europe".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2004 he was included in Fortune magazine's list of the Power 25 in Europe and was given GQ Russia's Man of the Year national award in 2006. Forbes Russia named Fridman Russian Businessman of the Year in 2012 and 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Russian Businessman of the Year 2017">Template:Cite news</ref>

Legal challenges

In 2003, two "elite dachas" owned by the Russian government were sold below market value, one to Fridman and another to former Russian prime-minister Mikhail Kasyanov.<ref name="kommersant597882">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="newsrua"/> The sales caught the attention of the press in July 2005, with State Duma member and journalist Aleksandr Khinshtein stating that the sales had gone through without the mandatory media announcement of auction.<ref name="kommersant597882"/><ref name="newsrua"/> Khinshtein also alleged a preferential loan from Fridman to Kasyanov, which Fridman denied.<ref name="newsrua"/> Fridman stated that the property's asking price was low because the building was dilapidated and sold without land.<ref name="newsrua"/> Radio Free Europe reported that Khinshtein's investigation appeared to be an attempt to intimidate Kasyanov, who aspired to head anti-Putin forces.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In early 2006, the Moscow Court of Arbitration ruled that the two houses should be returned to the state, maintaining Fridman's right to a refund but arguing the proper procedures were not followed during the privatization.<ref name="lentraru"/><ref name="kommersant641510"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 1 March 2006, government officials responsible for the sale of the two properties were charged with misappropriation of entrusted property for an especially large sum by an organized group.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2005, a United States district court in Washington, D.C. dismissed a 2000 libel suit by Fridman and Petr Aven against the Center for Public Integrity over an online article which included a suggestion that they had been involved in drug-running and organized crime; the federal judge ruled that there was no evidence of actual malice on the part of the publication and that Fridman and Aven were limited public figures regarding the public controversy involving corruption in post-Soviet Russia.<ref name="Politico GPS suit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=autumn/>

In May 2017 Fridman, along with fellow Alfa-Bank owners Petr Aven and German Khan, filed a defamation lawsuit against BuzzFeed for publishing the unverified Steele dossier,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which alleged financial ties and collusion between Putin, Trump, and the three bank owners.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In October 2017 Fridman, Aven, and Khan also filed a libel suit against the private-investigation firm Fusion GPS and its founder Glenn Simpson, who had commissioned former MI6 agent Christopher Steele to compile the dossier, for circulating the dossier among journalists and allowing it to be published.<ref name="Politico GPS suit"/> In April 2018 Fridman, Aven, and Khan filed a libel suit against Steele in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but the suit was dismissed with prejudice the following August.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Aven, Khan, and Fridman then brought a lawsuit for defamation in Britain against Orbis Business Intelligence, Steele's private intelligence firm.<ref name="wsj080720" /><ref name="foxnews090720" /><ref name="msm090720" /> The trial started in March 2020 in London, with Steele arguing the claim should be dismissed as the subject matter "fell within the remit of national security".<ref name="Browning, 2020, Bloomberg">Template:Citation</ref> In July 2020, Mr. Justice Mark Warby in the Queen's Bench Division of the British High Court of Justice ordered Orbis pay $23,000 to both Fridman and Aven in damages,<ref name="Cullison 2020, The Wall Street Journal">Template:Citation</ref> after Steele claimed they had delivered "large amounts of illicit cash" to Vladimir Putin when Putin was deputy mayor of St. Petersburg. Warby stated that the claim was "demonstrably false" and awarded the damages to compensate "for the loss of autonomy, distress and reputational damage caused by the breaches of duty". The judge also stated that Steele's dossier inaccurately claimed that Aven and Fridman provided foreign policy advice to Putin.<ref name="wsj080720">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="foxnews090720">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="msm090720">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="we080720">Template:Cite news</ref> Fridman testified in the proceedings that he had never been asked by Putin to perform political favors, with Warby agreeing that "in the context of his position as a businessman, the idea of [Fridman] doing Mr Putin's political bidding makes no sense."<ref name="FR, 2020, Financial Times">Template:Citation</ref>

Alleged arrest in London

On 1 December 2022, an unnamed 58-year-old man was arrested at his residence in London and later released on bail by officers from the Combatting Kleptocracy Cell, established by the UK’s National Crime Agency.<ref name="NCA_12/27/2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Several media, such as the Russian state-owned news agency TASS, alleged the man was Mikhail Fridman.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Alfa-Bank denied that Fridman was the man in question.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Russian Embassy in London, meanwhile, stated that Fridman had not asked for consular assistance<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Later, in September 2023, the National Crime Agency closed the investigation. An NCA spokesman said that the agency would take no further action against Fridman based on the warrant executed at Athlone House in December 2022.<ref name="Bloomberg.com"/><ref name="news.yahoo.com"/>

Personal life

Fridman was based for many years in Moscow, often spending time in European cities such as London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Hamburg.<ref name="evolving"/><ref name="timeabroad"/> In 2015 he moved to London,<ref name="Sarkozy"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and by 2016 had purchased Athlone House for £65 million to be his primary residence.<ref name= "annabehrmann"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He is divorced and has four children.<ref name= "annabehrmann"/><ref name="jewishbillionari"/><ref name="Tatler June 2017"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2016 Fridman announced that by virtue of his will, his entire fortune will be left to charity.<ref name="annabehrmann"/><ref name= "jewishbillionari"/>

Fridman and his first wife Olga have two daughters Katya (Ekaterina) and Lora (Larisa) (Template:Langx). Olga studied with Mikhail at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, but in the 1990s she attended design courses in Paris and became an interior designer. As of May 2014, she and the daughters live in France.<ref name=wives>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=wives2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fridman has two children with his second wife Oksana Ozhelskaya (Template:Langx).

See also

• Energy in Russia
• Russian oligarchs
• List of billionaires
• List of Russian people by net worth
• List of Russian billionaires

External links

• Template:Official website
• Mikhail Fridman Profile Template:Webarchive at Alfa Group
• Mikhail Fridman Profile Template:Webarchive at LetterOne
• Mikhail Fridman Profile Template:Webarchive at Alfa-Bank