Mikhail Maratovich Fridman. Biographical note. Mikhail Fridman Bloomberg learned of Fridman's readiness to increase investment in the British chain of health food stores
Mikhail Maratovich Fridman
In 2007, the fortune was estimated at $13.5 billion (the sixth largest fortune among Russian entrepreneurs at the beginning of 2007, according to Forbes).
According to Forbes magazine in 2010, he takes 42nd place in the list of world billionaires published in March 2010, having a fortune of $ 12.7 billion.
Mikhail Maratovich Fridmanborn April 21, 1964 in Lvov, Jewish by nationality. He lived with his mother, father and grandmother, his mother had a decisive influence on his upbringing. He studied excellently at school, attended a piano class at a music school, and was the organizer of a youth vocal and instrumental ensemble.
After graduating from high school, he entered the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), but did not pass the competition. In 1982 he entered the faculty of non-ferrous and rare earth metals of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISIS), graduating in 1987. Mikhail Grushevsky (now an actor-parodist), Alexander Nikonov (writer and journalist), Alexander Kasyanenko (businessman) studied with him on the same course. Before M. Fridman, his cousin Dmitry Lvovich Fridman entered MISIS.
While studying at MISIS, he was a member of the Moscow student so-called. the "theater system" (or "theater mafia"), which was engaged in buying and reselling theater tickets. He was allegedly engaged in small fartsovka ("Profile", 05/22/2000).
On the way to the top
In the 3rd year of the institute under the auspices of the Komsomol organized a night youth club "Strawberry Glade", which functioned in the hall of the MISIS hostel in Belyaevo. In his student years, he met Peter Aven, who headed the Music Club of Moscow State University.
After school, he worked for one year at the Lvov Institute of Physics and Mechanics as a laboratory assistant. After graduating from MISIS, he worked in 1986-88. design engineer at the Elektrostal plant in Elektrostal, Moscow Region.
In parallel with the work at the factory founded and headed the cooperative "Courier" specialized in window cleaning. Together with Dmitry Fridman, he created the Helios and Orsk cooperatives that traded computers.
Since 1988 - private entrepreneur (firms "Alfa-foto", "Alfa-Eco", "Alfa-Capital"). In "Alfa-photo" and "Alfa-Eco" he worked together with Oleg Kiselev.
In 1991, he created Alfa-Bank, since its foundation he has been the chairman of the board of directors of the bank.
In 1992, he attracted cosmonaut Alexei Leonov to the leadership of Alfa Group, who took over as vice president of Alfa Bank.
From 1995 to 1998 - Member of the Board of Directors of ZAO Public Russian Television (ORT).
Fridman vs. Khodorkovsky (Banking sector)
November 26, 1995 chairman of the board " Alfa Bank" M. Fridman, President of Inkombank Vladimir Vinogradov and President of Rossiyskiy Kredit Bank Anatoly Malkin made a statement "On the financial problems of privatization, the relationship between the bank" MENATEP "and some government structures." The statement was caused by suspicions that the outcome of the investment competition and a loans-for-shares auction for state-owned shares in the oil company Yukos is a foregone conclusion in favor of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's MENATEP bank.
On December 5, 1995, Menatep Bank, as an authorized bank of the State Property Committee of the Russian Federation for holding an investment competition, refused to accept the application of a consortium consisting of Inkombank, Russian Credit and Alfa-Bank. According to a representative of the Menatep bank, instead of the $350 million required to participate in the investment competition, the consortium deposited $82 million and "provided a certificate showing their own and client's GKOs." Then the consortium submitted an application for the loans-for-shares auction, which was also not registered, since only participants in the investment competition are allowed to participate in the loans-for-shares auction.
On December 8, 1995, two companies became participants in the auction - Laguna CJSC and Reagent CJSC. The third application was received from JSC "Babaevskoe", which represented the interests of "Inkombank", "Alfa-Bank" and "Rossiyskiy Kredit". Commission for the investment competition, chaired by Deputy. Valery Fatikov, chairman of the Russian Federal Property Fund (RFFI), rejected the application of Babaevskoye OJSC, as the company did not deposit funds equivalent to $350 million on the blocked account of the Ministry of Finance with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Considering the obligatory condition for participation in the investment tender, before the start of the tender, Babaevskoye OJSC sent an official letter to the Commission with a request to withdraw their application.
The winner was the firm "Laguna", behind which stood "Menatep". The same company won the shares-for-shares auction by offering a $159 million loan.
On January 26, 1996, the Moscow Arbitration Court satisfied the claim of Menatep Bank against Alfa-Bank, Rossiyskiy Kredit and Inkombank for the protection of business reputation. The court ordered the defendants to give a refutation of the information contained in their statement on the loans-for-shares auction of NK Yukos.
In June 1996, the appellate instance of the Moscow Arbitration Court rejected the complaint of AO Babaevskoye to invalidate the results of an investment tender and a shares auction for a block of shares in Yukos Oil Company and to cancel the decisions of the court of first instance. In April 1996, the Moscow Arbitration Court considered the claim of JSC "Babaevskoye" and recognized the results of the auction as legitimate.
Fridman and TNK (Oil sector)
In 1996, M. Friedman decided to go into the oil business and for this purpose buy the state-owned Tyumen Oil Company ( TNK), the summary plan for the privatization of which the State Property Committee approved on October 2, 1995. The intention of M. Fridman ran into resistance from the "red" management of TNK, headed by the chairman of the board of directors of TNK, the general director of Nizhnevatovskneftegaz, Viktor Paly, and the company's president, Yuri Vershinin, who planned the privatization of TNK in the interests of management and in alliance with other Moscow commercial structures (Rosinvestneft JSC, Diamant Bank, Stolichny Savings Bank).
In July 1996 Viktor Paly resigned as Chairman of the Board of Directors of TNK. The new chairman of the Council was the former Minister of Fuel and Energy of the Russian Federation Yuri Shafranik, who supported the plans of the Alfa group.
In December 1996, the top officials of TNK (including Yu. Vershinin and V. Paliy) and its subsidiaries Nizhnevartovskneftegaz, the Ryazan Oil Refinery, as well as the heads of JSC Rosinvestneft and the Capital Savings Bank sent a letter to Prime Minister V. Chernomyrdin with a request to extend for another three years the consolidation of a state-owned block of shares in the amount of 91% of the shares in federal ownership and to transfer it to the trust management of OJSC Rosinvestneft (Vitaly Mashitsky) for the same period with the right of subsequent redemption.
On July 1, 1997, V. Paliy, speaking to reporters, stated that the situation with the privatization of TNK "cannot be called otherwise than state robbery in relation to a state company with the tacit consent of state leaders" and said that "the organizers of this dirty business" are Yuri Shafranik , Petr Mostovoy and ("to our great regret") Alfred Koch.
On July 18, 1997, at an investment competition, a 40 percent state-owned stake in TNK was bought by the New Holding company, created by Alfa (M. Fridman) and the Acces / Renova group (Leonard Blavatnik and Viktor Vekselberg). The company "New Holding" undertook in 1997-98. to invest in TNCs 810 million dollars, of which 755 million dollars. during August 1997 (according to the terms of the competition, the minimum investment amount was 160 million dollars). According to Sergei Kiriyenko, Deputy Minister of Fuel and Energy of the Russian Federation, the funds received are to be used first of all to pay off the budget debts of TNK enterprises. On August 2, 1997, at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders of TNK, it was decided to liquidate the Board of Directors of the company and transfer its powers to the general meeting of shareholders.
After the investment competition, the New Holding company owned a 40% stake in TNK, the State Property Committee - 50.98%, other legal entities and individuals - 9.02%.
Having won the competition, Alfa Group actively began to reorganize the company. The composition of the management of the TNC was almost completely changed, all commodity and cash flows of the enterprises that were part of the TNC were transferred under the control of the parent company. The solution of the issue of control over the economic activities of the company's largest mining enterprise, Nizhnevartovskneftegaz JSC, was dragged out, the general director of which V. Paliy stubbornly did not want to cooperate with the new owners. September 14, 1997 in Moscow and Nizhnevartovsk held alternative meetings of shareholders of JSC "Nizhnevartovskneftegaz" (NNG). A meeting of shareholders supporting TNK and Alfabank and JV Renova was held in Moscow. In Nizhnevartovsk, the shareholders' meeting was attended by supporters of NIS General Director V. Paliy (behind whom stood such commercial structures as Moscow's Diamant Bank and Credit Investment Bank). The meeting of shareholders in Moscow decided to transfer the powers of the executive body of the managing organization - the Tyumen Oil Company. A new NNG Board of Directors was elected. On December 11, 1997, the Arbitration Court of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug decided to introduce external management for a period of one year at JSC Nizhnevartovskneftegaz (NNG). Fyodor Marichev, Vice President of TNK, has been appointed external manager.
In 1998, New Holding bought the remaining 50.98% of TNK shares from the State Property Committee. M. Fridman, L. Blavatnik and V. Vekselberg joined the new board of directors of TNK. Semyon Kukes became the new president and chairman of the board of TNK, and German Khan became his deputy and executive director.
On June 5, 1998, together with a number of leading Russian entrepreneurs, M. Fridman signed the "Appeal of representatives of Russian business" regarding the economic situation in the Russian Federation.
In July 1998, after the merger of Alfa-Bank and Alfa-Capital, M. Fridman became Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO IKB Alfa-Bank.
Friedman against Sberbank
In October 2003, he spoke out against Sbebank, accusing Sberbank in many violations of fair competition. In late May-early June 2004, after the revocation of the license from Sodbiznesbank and the suspension of payments by Credittrast Bank, a crisis erupted on the Russian interbank lending market. Due to liquidity problems that arose in connection with this, a number of banks stopped payments in June. Alfa-Bank was the leader among Russian banks in reducing balances on individual accounts from June 1 to July 1, 2004, which announced the introduction of a 10% commission for early withdrawal of deposits for its depositors. On October 6, 2004, Alfa-Bank and Fridman won a lawsuit against the Moskovskaya Pravda newspaper in the Moscow Arbitration Court. The reason for the lawsuit was Konstantin Laskin's article "A Bullet and a Pen", published in the newspaper on July 21, 2004. It discussed the versions of the murder of Paul Khlebnikov, the editor-in-chief of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, including the version of Alfa- Group" and Fridman. The newspaper filed an appeal court, but it upheld the decision of the arbitration court. On October 20, 2004, the Moscow Arbitration Court satisfied Alfa-Bank's claim against the Kommersant publishing house and decided to recover 310.5 million rubles in compensation in favor of the bank. The reason for the bank's appeal to the court was an article in the newspaper "Kommersant" dated July 7, 2004 "The banking crisis has taken to the streets", which, according to the bank, caused him financial problems. Alfa-Bank believed that the Kommersant article violated Article 51 of the Russian law "On Mass Media", which prohibited "the falsification of socially significant information, the spread of rumors under the guise of reliable reports." (Interfax, October 20, 2004).
Friedman vs. Berezovsky
On March 31, 2005, Boris Berezovsky filed a lawsuit in a London court for the protection of honor and dignity against Fridman in connection with his speech in the NTV program "To the Barrier", during which Fridman accused Berezovsky of threatening him.
On April 21, 2005, the Civil Liberties Foundation, financed by Boris Berezovsky, sent an electronic file to the editorial offices of several media outlets entitled "Information on materials regarding M. M. Fridman, A. V. Kuzmichev, G. B. Khan, L. Blavatnik, Vekselberg V. .F.". It said that in 1989, Friedman, Kuzmichev, Khan, Blavatnik and Vekselberg "conspired to create an organized group to ... commit fraud on a large scale." Friedman and Co. were charged with "seizure by deception of the shares of Russian enterprises ...", for example, the Tyumen Oil Company, "fraudulently establishing control" over Nizhnevartovskneftegaz, "violating currency, customs and tax laws," etc. In a press release from Alfa- The bank stated that the information contained in the "certificate" is not true, and the authors of the document are trying to put pressure on the courts in the proceedings between Alfa-Bank and Kommersant and Berezovsky and Fridman. (Vedomosti, April 22, 2005)
On May 26, 2006, the High Court of England completed consideration of Boris Berezovsky's claim against Fridman for the protection of honor and dignity. In the recording of the TV show "To the Barrier" Fridman, who had a polemic with the former chief editor of the Kommersant publishing house Andrei Vasiliev, said that Berezovsky, allegedly dissatisfied at the time with the competition in buying the publishing house, threatened him in a telephone conversation, uttering the phrase "We will kill you !". 10 out of 12 jurors confirmed the fact that Fridman caused damage to Berezovsky's reputation and considered that he should be compensated financially. Within three weeks, the defendant was obliged to transfer to the plaintiff £50,000. (Kommersant, May 27, 2006)
Own
He controls the Gibraltar company AB holdindgs limited, which owns the Luxembourg firm Alfa finance holdins SA (authorized capital of $40,000), which was founded in May 1999 and owns Alfa Bank. Along with the Gibraltar company of M. Friedman, the co-founder of the Luxembourg Alfa is the Shapburg limited company of a certain Olivier Peters (British Virgin Islands), which owns one of the 20 thousand two-dollar shares of Alfa finance holdins SA; Directorial functions in the Luxembourg Alpha are assigned to one individual - manager Paul Joseph Williams, a British citizen, and two legal entities - Virginia firms Shapburg limited and Quenon investments limited.
He is a co-owner of offshore companies TNK Industrial Holdings Ltd, TNK International Ltd (Virgin Islands), Sborsare (Cyprus) and, through them, SIDANCO and TNK companies.
In 2001, he bought a mansion in Neuilly, a bohemian suburb of Paris, which previously belonged to actress Mireille Darc, the ex-wife of Alain Delon. Neighbors - Mireille Mathieu, Belmondo, Sophie Marceau. (Profile, November 5, 2001).
In June 2001, Forbes Magazine listed Friedman as one of the richest Russians in the list of billionaires living on the planet. His fortune was estimated at 1.3 billion dollars.
In February 2002, Forbes Magazine ranked Fridman third (after Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Roman Abramovich) in Russia in the annual ranking of the richest people in the world, and 191st in the world according to 2001 data. The magazine estimated his fortune at $2.2 billion. ("Kommersant", March 2, 2002).
According to the results of 2002, Forbes Magazine gave M. Fridman in February 2003 the same 3rd place in Russia and 68th in the world, estimating his fortune at $4.3 billion.
Since April 2003 - co-owner (through TNK - that is, together with Vekselberg and Blavatnik) "Orenburgnefi".
In November 2005, European Business Magazine estimated Friedman's fortune at 8.3 billion euros.
In February 2006, the magazine "Finance" estimated Friedman's fortune in $11.4 billion(third place in Russia after Abramovich and Deripaska).
In March 2006, another Forbes Magazine rating appeared, in which Friedman is in 50th place in the world (state - 9.7 billion).
In October 2005, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, he said that his stake in the Alpha group exceeded 40%. And all the assets of Alfa were estimated at $ 20 billion.
On November 23, 2005, as part of the road-show of its Eurobonds, Alfa-Bank distributed a memorandum stating that over 75% of its capital was controlled by members of the board of directors Mikhail Fridman, German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev. The exact shares of the owners in the document were not called. At the same time, it was noted that none of them owned more than 50% of the bank. (Kommersant, November 24, 2005)
In May 2006, the Pyaterochka trade house named the shares of new beneficiaries that it should have had after the merger with the Perekrestok trading house. The head of Alfa Group, Mikhail Fridman, was to receive 21.9% of the shares of the combined company (in total, the co-owners of the group were to receive 47,8% ), managers of Perekrestok Alexander Kosyanenko and Lev Khasis - 3.4% and 1.8%, respectively. Alexei Reznikovich was to become the owner of about 1%. (Vedomosti 04.05.2006)
CTF Holdings is "a company that Alfa Group calls its corporate center" (Vedomosti, August 25, 2004).
Fridman Mikhail Maratovich was born on April 21, 1964 in Lvov in a family of engineers. Father is a laureate of the USSR State Prize for the development of identification systems for military aviation.
Education
In 1986 he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISiS).
Labor activity
In 1986-1988 he worked as a design engineer at the Elektrostal plant (Elektrostal, Moscow Region).
Then he started doing business.
In 1988, he organized the Courier Cooperative, which specialized in window cleaning. In 1989, together with Mikhail Alfimov (from his last name comes the name "Alpha"), German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev, he created and headed the Alfa-Photo company, which was engaged in the sale of photographic materials, computers and copying equipment.
A year later, he founded the Alfa-Eco Soviet-Swiss joint venture, which was engaged in the export of oil and metallurgical products, on the basis of which Alfa Group was later created.
In 1991, he became chairman of the board of directors of Alfa-Bank. Part of his capital is invested in Belarusian projects - Alfa-Bank, Life operator, Belmarket and BelEvroset retailers.
Later he was a member of the board of directors of the Public Russian Television (ORT) association, as well as the board of directors of the SIDANCO Oil Company and the Perekrestok trading house.
In January 1996, he became one of the founders of the Russian Jewish Congress, becoming its vice president and head of the RJC culture committee. Member of the Presidium of the Russian Jewish Congress. Provides significant support to Jewish initiatives in Russia and Europe.
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In 1995-1998, he was a member of the board of directors of the television company Public Russian Television (CJSC ORT).
Positions currently held:
Co-owner and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Alfa Group consortium (which includes Alfa Bank, Alfa Capital, Alfa Insurance, Alfa Eco, X5 Retail Group, Rosvodokanal, Altimo, etc.) and LetterOne Holdings. Owns the brands Beeline, Pyaterochka, Perekrestok.
Member of the Supervisory Board of VimpelCom Ltd., member of the Bureau of the Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, founder and member of the Bureau of the Presidium of the Russian Jewish Congress, member of the Public Chamber of the 2006 convocation, National Council on Corporate Governance, International Advisory Council on Foreign Relations (USA).
Awards
Winner of the V National Award "Director of the Year" (2010) in the nomination "Chairman of the Board of Directors: Contribution to the Development of Corporate Governance".
In 2013 and 2017, Forbes magazine awarded him the title of "Businessman of the Year".
One of the richest Russian businessmen, regularly included in the top richest people in Forbes magazine ratings. In Russia, he has repeatedly entered the top 3 richest businessmen in the country, with the exception of 2011 and 2012. During these years, he occupied the seventh and sixth lines of the rating with a mark of 15.1 and 13.4 billion dollars, respectively. From 2013 to 2016, he was in second place (16.5 / 17.6 / 14.6 / 13.3 - a fortune in billion dollars).
In 2018, he took 89th place among the world's billionaires and eighth in Russia. Over the year, he increased his fortune to $15.1 billion, but already in April 2018, due to new US sanctions, he lost $445 million in a day.
On March 12, 2019, Forbes named the co-owner of Alfa Group the richest resident of London (his fortune is estimated at $15 billion). In the next rating of the magazine, he took 7th place among Russian businessmen (he lost $ 100 million in a year).
Interesting Facts
In 2000, his parents moved permanently to Cologne. He himself has Israeli citizenship and lives in London. Speaks Ukrainian.
In 2016, he bought the Victorian-era Athlone House in the UK for $90 million.
Hobbies
The billionaire's favorite hobbies are cinema, music and chess.
Family status
Divorced, ex-wife - Olga, studied with him on the same course.
Mikhail Fridman may soon step down as chairman of the board of directors of Alfa-Bank, the Kommersant newspaper writes on Tuesday.
Mikhail Maratovich Fridman - Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors of the Alfa Group Consortium, Chairman of the Boards of Directors of TNK BP and OJSC Alfa Bank. Fridman was born on April 21, 1964 in Lvov, Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine) into a family of engineers. M. Fridman's father was awarded the USSR State Prize for the development of identification systems for military aviation. In the first half of 2000, the parents moved to a permanent place of residence in Cologne (Germany).
While studying at one of the schools in Lviv, he attended piano lessons and organized a vocal and instrumental ensemble. He graduated from school with one "four" (in Russian). After leaving school, he made two unsuccessful attempts to enter the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). In 1986 he graduated from the faculty of non-ferrous and rare earth metals of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISiS).
While studying at MISiS, Mikhail Fridman became one of the founders of the informal youth club "Strawberry Glade".
In 1986, he was a laboratory assistant at one of the institutes in Lvov.
In 1986-1988 ‑ design engineer at the Elektrostal plant (Elektrostal, Moscow Region); During the same period, he began to engage in entrepreneurial activity. In 1988, he founded the cooperative enterprise "Courier" specialized in window cleaning.
In 1989, he created and headed Alfa-Photo, a company specializing in the sale of computers and copying equipment.
In 1990, Mikhail Fridman created and headed the check fund Alfa Capital.
Since 1991 - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Commercial Innovation Bank Alfa-Bank (CIB Alfa-Bank).
In 1995-1998 He was a member of the board of directors of CJSC Public Russian Television (CJSC ORT).
Since 1996 - Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors of the Alfa Group Consortium, member of the Board of Directors of OAO Siberian Far Eastern Oil Company (OAO NK SIDANCO).
In 1998, after the merger of Alfa-Bank and Alfa-Capital, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alfa-Bank.
He was a member of the Banking Council and the Entrepreneurship Council under the Government of the Russian Federation.
Since March 11, 2003 - Chairman of the Board of Directors of TNK-BP. Member of the boards of directors of VimpelCom and X5 Retail Group N.V.
For the 2003 deal between TNK and BP, Mikhail Fridman was named one of the most outstanding entrepreneurs of the year (BusinessWeek international magazine) and one of the 25 business leaders of the new Europe (Financial Times).
Member of the Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Employers) - RSPP(r), oversees issues of judicial reform.
In January 1996, he became the founder and vice president of the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC). Currently, he is a member of the Bureau of the Presidium of the RJC.
Mikhail Maratovich Fridman is the main owner of Alfa Group, the largest financial and industrial association in Russia, among whose assets are Alfa Bank, X5, AlfaStrakhovanie, A1, as well as the LetterOne Holdings group (VimpelCom, DEA Deutshe Erdoel, Turkcell), a member of the leadership of the Russian Jewish Congress, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the private American organization Council on Foreign Relations.The oligarch, who went down in the history of the domestic elite as an honest and respected businessman, was repeatedly named in the media as a prudent and authoritative intellectual with an aggressive form of doing business while ignoring the interests and opinions of other parties, and was also declared a European business leader, the most influential and outstanding entrepreneur of the year. .
His fortune in 2015 was estimated by Forbes magazine at $14.6 billion. Thus, he ranked 68th in the world ranking of the richest people and second among Russian businessmen after Roman Abramovich.
Childhood and family of Mikhail Fridman
One of the richest and most powerful people in Russia was born in the Ukrainian city of Lvov on April 21, 1964 in a Jewish family. His relatives worked at a defense enterprise, were members of the CPSU, his father was awarded the State Prize in the field of electronics. 
Since childhood, Misha has been surrounded by love and care from his mother, grandmother and other relatives. He did not attend kindergarten, he was an excellent student at school. The boy studied music in the piano class and then organized a school vocal and instrumental ensemble, a type of musical creativity that was popular in those years.
Upon graduation in 1981, the young man entered the country's leading university - the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, but he was not accepted. According to one version - he did not pass the competition, according to another - the fateful “fifth column”, that is, nationality, became the reason for the failure. Allegedly because of her, he, being an excellent student, also did not receive a gold medal at school and subsequently failed when entering graduate school.
Mikhail's second attempt to become a student was crowned with success - he entered the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. The choice of the educational institution was determined, as it were, by its location in the very center of Moscow, as well as the presence of a good House of Culture in it, where pop stars such as Yuri Vizbor and Vladimir Vysotsky performed with concerts.
3 Qualities of Billionaire Mikhail Fridman
Mikhail's student life was eventful. In addition to studying professional subjects, he was engaged in the resale of theater tickets, carpets, imported goods, and also created a youth nightclub operating in the institute hostel under the auspices of the Komsomol organization, organized discos, performances by artists. During that period, he met Pyotr Aven, who moved in the same circles, being the head of the Moscow State University music club.
The beginning of the career of Mikhail Fridman
The young engineer began his dizzying ascent to the top of the business Olympus almost immediately after graduating from the university in 1986. By distribution, he ended up in the city of Elektrostal near Moscow, at the metallurgical plant of the same name, where he worked in a design bureau.At the same time, he organized a cooperative for washing windows, then - for the delivery of products, created, together with his cousin Dmitry, who graduated from the same institute a year earlier, firms that traded in computer equipment.
In 1988, together with German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev and with the assistance of Academician Alfimov, whose name allegedly served as the basis for the formation of the name of the current financial and investment empire, Friedman set about creating it.
The Alfa-Photo cooperative for the sale of copiers and the Soviet-Swiss joint venture Alfa-Eco for the export of petroleum products and metallurgy products were the very first at the birth of Alfa Group.
Among the consortium's many areas of activity - gas and oil processing, art and food trade, insurance, telecommunications services, advanced technologies, investments - Alfa-Bank is considered the cornerstone, the first in the country among private banks, which the businessman has headed since his inception. institutions in December 1990. Subsequently, he owned a 37% stake in a financial and credit institution (Khan owned 23%, Kuzmichev - 18%, bank president Petr Aven - 14%).
Mikhail Fridman's advice: How to get a job at Alfa-Bank
In 1995, the oligarch was a member of the ORT collective leadership body, in 2002 he headed the Conference of the Leaders of Jewish Organizations of the Russian Federation, he always supported Jewish initiatives in the country and abroad in every possible way.
In 2005, Alfa Group bought X5 Corporation for a billion dollars. It includes the Perekrestok and Karusel supermarket chains and Pyaterochka discount stores.
In 2008, the tycoon gave his senior position in the bank to his deputy, a ratings manager from Prague, Petr Schmide. In 2009, Mikhail Maratovich headed the oil company TNK-BP.
Personal life of Mikhail Fridman
The oligarch is divorced. With Olga, his ex-wife, they studied on the same course at MISiS. The girl then came from Irkutsk to study. Olga is fond of interior design, in 2000 she graduated from the relevant courses. 
Married to her, they had two daughters, Larisa and Ekaterina. They were born and live with their mother in Paris, and in the summer they usually go on vacation to St. Tropez.
The girls attend a school taught in English. They communicate with friends and acquaintances, of course, in French, and with their parents in Russian. That is, the daughters of an oligarch develop mental flexibility from childhood.
Many people talk about Friedman as a hardworking and talented entrepreneur, inclined towards charity, who achieved everything on his own, with his own work, thanks to his mind, and not to theft. He finances the foundation for helping children "Line of Life"
One of the most famous businessmen in the Russian Federation remains a non-public person, lives in isolation. Today he is an Israeli citizen, lives in London, loves fast driving, movies, music, chess, collects samurai swords. His parents at the beginning of the new century moved from Lviv to Cologne.
In 2001, Mikhail bought a house in the elite suburb of the French capital of Neuilly, previously owned by the ex-wife of Alain Delon, model and artist Mireille Dark. Next to the oligarch's estate are the mansions of the legendary actors Jean-Paul Belmondo and Sophie Marceau.
In order to realize himself as part of the Jewish people, in 2012 Friedman, as part of a group of 12 Russian businessmen, made a three-day pilgrimage through the Israeli Arava desert to the holy city of Jerusalem. They spent the night in tents and covered almost 20 kilometers every day.
Mikhail Fridman today
In 2012, Alfa Group increased its stake in the telecommunications company VimpelCom, which provides services under the Beeline brand, to 48 percent through the sale of MegaFon shares.In the homeland of the financial tycoon, in Lviv, Alfa-Bank (since 2011) has been organizing the annual jazz festival Alfa Jazz Fest. In 2015, for 5 days in the city recognized as the cultural capital of Ukraine, more than a hundred performers from ten countries performed, including the legendary American composer and pianist Herbie Hancock, guitarist and vocalist George Benson, and Japanese pianist Hiromi.
As of the end of 2015, Alfa-Bank served 14 million individuals and 194 thousand legal entities. The number of branches and affiliates of the financial institution opened in Russia and abroad, including subsidiaries in the USA, the Netherlands, England, and Cyprus, has reached 775.
Mikhail Fridman is the only representative of the "seven bankers" who has managed to keep his bank since the early 1990s - Alfa-bank, which has been the largest private bank in Russia for many years. Of all the bankers who helped Boris Yeltsin win the 1996 elections, three more became billionaires: this is Fridman's partner in Alfa Group, and Bidzina Ivanishvili (No. 365 on the global Forbes list). Potanin and Ivanishvili, unlike Boris Berezovsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Vladimir Gusinsky, Alexander Smolensky and Vladimir Vinogradov, managed to keep the business, but not the banks - their Onexim Bank and Russian Credit collapsed during the 1998 crisis.
Fridman was born in Lvov in a family of engineers and studied at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISiS). After graduating from the institute, he went to work in the city of Elektrostal near Moscow, but very soon received a Moscow residence permit. In 1988, together with his institute friends, he organized the Courier cooperatives, which delivered food and washed windows, and Alfa-Photo, where he invited Mikhail Alfimov, Academician of the Institute of Chemical Physics, as a scientific supervisor. In honor of the academician, the cooperative was named Alpha. In July of the same year, Friedman's personal earnings amounted to 10,000 rubles. A year later, friends founded the Soviet-Swiss joint venture Alfa-Eco, on the basis of which the Alfa Group was created. Initially, the company had six founders: Fridman himself, Oleg Kiselev (at that time a teacher at MISiS), German Khan, Mikhail Bezelyansky, Andrey Shelukhin and Alexei Kuzmichev. Later they were joined by Petr Aven and Andrey Kosogov. Kiselev withdrew from the founders back in 1992, and Shelukhin and Bezelyansky in 2000.
In 1991, Fridman, in parallel with Alfa-Eco, registered Alfa-Bank, which in 1997, together with Access / Renova Leonard Blavatnik (No. ". In 2003, British BP and TNK shareholders merged their Russian assets and created a joint company, TNK-BP. The purchase of other assets of Alfa, in particular VimpelCom, was carried out by the Alfa-Eco group, later renamed A1. Later, a special company, Altimo, was created for the telecommunications assets.
After selling his stake (25% stake) in TNK-BP in 2013 for $14 billion, Fridman and his partners set up an investment company in Luxembourg, LetterOne, which invested the proceeds from the sale outside of Russia. The main assets of LetterOne are the German oil and gas company DEA, which is soon to merge with Wintershall from the BASF group, the English chain of health food stores Holland & Barrett, VEON (former Vympelcom, 56.2%) and the Turkish telecommunications company Turkcell (13.22%). In Russia, Alfa Group retains Alfa Bank, AlfaStrakhovanie insurance company, X5 Retail Group (47.9%) and A1.
Friedman has Israeli citizenship. He visits the Promised Land for Jewish holidays, and lives mainly in London, since 2015 he has been a resident of the UK. So far, he lives in a rented apartment: bought in 2016 for 65 million pounds, the mansion Athlone House will have to be restored and rebuilt for a long time.
First business As a student, he sold scarce theater tickets, created the Strawberry Glade club in the MISiS hostel in Belyaevo, arranged meetings, concerts and discos. In 1988, together with friends from MISiS, he organized the Courier cooperative, which was engaged in the delivery of products to the population. He earned his first big money cleaning windows.
Capital The main owner of the LetterOne Holdings group (the German oil and gas company DEA, VEON - 56.2%, Turkcell - 13.22%) and the assets of the Alfa Group consortium (Alfa Bank - 90.1%, "", - 47.9 %).
Number Alfa Group received $14 billion in March 2013 from the sale of its stake in TNK-BP to Rosneft.
Event By mid-2019, the merger of two German companies, DEA and Wintershall, should be completed. As a result, the largest independent oil and gas company in Europe will be created. L1 will receive a 33% stake in Wintershall DEA, BASF (owner of Wintershall) - 67%.
Deals In 2017, LetterOne acquired the British health food chain Holland & Barrett for £1.77 billion, and Pamplona Capital Management (which invests LetterOne's funds) acquired the American healthcare company Parexel for $5 billion.
Venture In February 2016, LetterOne invested $200 million in the Uber taxi service.
Plans L1 plans to fully buy out the second largest retail chain in Spain, DIA. So far, L1 owns 29% of the retailer's shares.
Brands"Beeline", "Pyaterochka", "Crossroads", "Borjomi".
Charity Alfa-Bank finances the Life Line charity foundation, which helps children with serious illnesses. Friedman is a co-founder of the Genesis Philanthropy Group, a charitable foundation that develops and strengthens Jewish identity among Russian-speaking Jews around the world. Genesis sponsored the creation of a new film (trilogy) by Leonid Parfenov "Russian Jews".
Hobby He is fond of cinema, music, chess. Fan of extreme travel on off-road vehicles. In 2015 he traveled to Iran. Most of the billionaire's constant companions, including members of the Forbes list, were afraid to keep him company at that time.
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15.01.2020 17:35
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