Alexey Mordashov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Severstal, attends the Congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow, Russia March 18, 2025. REUTERS
MOSCOW, April 23 (Reuters) – Russian billionaires increased their wealth by 11% to a record $696.5 billion over the past year despite the war in Ukraine and the toughest Western sanctions ever imposed on a major economy, Forbes Russia, reported.
Russia’s richest men are all linked to the vast reserves of natural resources that Russia has exported to global markets for decades – and their wealth has risen as disruptions to trade flows have boosted commodity prices – although Forbes noted that there were no new names at the top of the list.
Forbes ranked Alexei Mordashov, general director of investment firm Severgroup, as Russia’s richest billionaire, with a fortune of $37 billion that was up $8.4 billion from last year’s ranking.
Vladimir Potanin, chief of Interros and metals producer Nornickel with a fortune of $29.7 billion, was ranked by Forbes as the second richest in Russia.
Vagit Alekperov, former chief of Lukoil was ranked third with a fortune of $29.5 billion, and Leonid Mikhelson, CEO of Novatek and his family were ranked fourth with a fortune of $28.3 billion, Forbes said.
Once considered to be some of the richest men on the planet, the wealth of Russia’s billionaires, many of whom made vast fortunes in the chaos that followed the Soviet Union’s collapse, is now far smaller than the top U.S. technology titans.
Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Tom Hogue
