In 2025, the fortunes of Russian billionaires increased by $15 billion despite sanctions
In the first months of 2025, the total capital of Russian billionaires increased by 15 billion dollars, reaching 305 billion dollars. About this testify updated data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the net assets of the world’s richest people.
Among the 22 Russian businessmen included in the list, the largest increase in capital was recorded among the owners of assets in the metallurgical, mining, telecommunications and technological spheres.
Alisher Usmanov, the founder of the USM holding, increased his fortune the most, adding $3.6 billion to his capital. Its businesses span metallurgy, mining, telecommunications and technology. Today, he has 16.9 billion dollars and ranks 129th in the world ranking.
Andriy Melnychenko, co-founder of Eurochem and SUEK, increased his capital by 2.5 billion dollars to 22.7 billion dollars, which allowed him to rise to the 88th position. Suleiman Kerimov, a senator from Dagestan, added $2.45 billion and took 311th place. His family owns Polyus, the largest gold producer in Russia.
The capital of Volodymyr Potanin, the president of the Interros holding and the main shareholder of Nornickel, increased by 2.2 billion dollars to 35.5 billion, which corresponds to the 57th place in the world list. Pavlo Durov, the founder of the Telegram messenger, has improved his financial performance by 1.6 billion since the beginning of the year — his fortune is now estimated at 12.6 billion dollars.
However, some billionaires suffered losses. In particular, Volodymyr Lisin, the chairman of the board of directors of NLMK, lost 2.3 billion — his capital is 23.5 billion dollars. Gennady Timchenko, the main shareholder of Novatek and co-owner of Sybur, had a capital reduction of 1.57 billion, which left him with 9.4 billion dollars. Novatek is Russia’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas.
Mykhailo Fridman, co-founder of Alfa Group, lost 1.45 billion, and his assets are now estimated at 13.3 billion. Leonid Mikhelson, the chairman of the board of Novatek, reduced his fortune by 1.3 billion to 21 billion dollars.
