He can be considered a prominent representative of our business elite, which, having once emigrated from Russia, does not lose touch with its native country, due to the fact that its commercial interests include transactions with domestic assets. It will not be a mistake to say that this person was at the right time in the right place, and most importantly, with the right amount of money that he earned overseas. Like other entrepreneurs of the new Russia, Blavatnik Leonard was able to cheaply buy strategic enterprises of the Soviet era and subsequently sell part of them several times more expensive. He left the other part of the plants to himself, since after modernization they could bring stable profits.
Of course, not everyone can know who Blavatnik Leonard is. This person has assets that are concentrated in a wide variety of industries, ranging from oil production in the Siberian region and ending with hotels in Argentina.
How did he manage to turn from an ordinary student of a metropolitan university, preparing transport engineers, into a major financial tycoon? Perhaps to achieve great heights in entrepreneurship a businessman received a diploma in the USA?
Childhood and youth
A brief biography will partially help to answer the above questions. Leonard Blavatnik is a native of the city of Yaroslavl. He was born on June 14, 1957. The father of the future billionaire was a research fellow at the Polytechnic University. The boy was sent to school with a mathematical bias. In his youth, Blavatnik Leonard visited a local children's film studio, where, together with his younger brother, he created an apparatus on which color films could be displayed. The know-how was subsequently used for a long time on regional state television.
Years of study
Having received a certificate of maturity, Blavatnik Leonard successfully passes entrance exams to the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers (MIIT), having initially chosen the Faculty of Automation and Computer Engineering.
It is in the walls of the above university that a young man first gets acquainted with his future business partner, Viktor Vekselberg. Vladimir Kremer studied with Blavatnik on the same course, with whom he also worked closely in the entrepreneurial field. But soon fate will temporarily divorce them in different directions. The future oligarch will not succeed in getting higher education at home.
Emigration
In 1978, fourth-year student Blavatnik Leonard leaves for permanent residence in the United States of America. Soon he will receive the citizenship of this country. It should be said that abroad, the young man also changed his name. In Russia everyone knew him as Leonid, but in the USA he became Leonard. The young man entered Columbia University, where he was subsequently given the status of “Master of Computer Science”. Rumors about Blavatnik's abilities began to spread rapidly, and soon the leadership of a chain of luxury clothing stores Macy’s invited the talented guy to take the post of director of the IT department. His responsibilities included ensuring the modernization of the enterprise information system. And Leonard (Leonid) Blavatnik brilliantly coped with the task. As a reward for his work, the young man received letter of recommendation to Harvard Business School, of which he later became a student. In parallel with his studies, he worked at the audit firm Arthur Andersen.
The first steps in entrepreneurship
In 1986, Leonid V. Blavatnik (Leonard Blavatnik) opens his first investment company under the name Access Industries. Fortune was supportive of the young man. A novice businessman invested in a logistics company, which has become a major entity in the freight market. Soon, a friend of Leonid's college student Vekselberg makes itself felt. It was he who invited Blavatnik to unite and establish a commercial enterprise, but already at home. Columbia University graduate liked the idea.
Business in Russia
In the early 90s, Blavatnik and Vekselberg create the Russian-American structure Renova. However, Leonid Valentinovich formally was not long the founder of the company, he preferred to exchange his share for other assets.
At the same time, Blavatnik initially had the idea of getting rich on investments in Russian companies, while at the same time participating in the privatization process. However, Vekselberg managed to convince the companion that such steps are fraught with great risk, and he agreed with him. It should be noted that Leonid Valentinovich had more connections overseas than the newly-made businessmen in Russia could not boast of in the 90s. That was what Blavatnik was profitable for Vekselberg. To increase profits, the partners decided to buy aluminum smelters.
Aluminum magnates
Back in 1989, Viktor Vekselberg's Komvek firm managed to make a profitable deal by selling a dead metal batch, the Irkutsk aluminum smelter had difficulty selling it.
In 1996, the largest structure was created - the Siberian-Ural Aluminum Company (SUAL). It was the board of directors of this legal entity that included Leonard Blavatnik. Subsequently, SUAL merged with Russian Aluminum, in which the businessman was also a member of the executive body. The Russal enterprise has become a priority in the business empire of Leonid Blavatnik: it was it that brought most of all profit.
Strengthening Entrepreneurship
However, the above company was not the only source of enrichment for the businessman. His other company, Access Industries, did not stop acquiring valuable assets for a minute.
In order to squeeze the maximum income out of this article, Leonard Blavatnik, whose biography contains many interesting and noteworthy facts, begins to negotiate with partners Viktor Vekselberg and Mikhail Fridman on how to participate in privatization together. So the AAR structure was created (Access, Alpha and Renova). With the help of it, the process of buying up cheap state assets has become even more impressive. In particular, most of the shares in the Tyumen Oil Company were acquired. In this commercial structure, the oligarch began to lead the executive body, and he remained in that capacity after the consolidation of the British Petroleum (BP) and TNK concerns. In the new commercial association TNK-BP, Blavatnik Leonard Valentinovich became the owner of 12.5% of the shares, and despite several major scandals of a corporate nature, this asset can be classified as valuable since it opened the door to the black gold market.
Search for new horizons
In 2003, the businessman, together with the trusted partner Vekselberg, established the Unified Trading Company (ETK), whose profile is to sell caustic soda to industrial structures of the Russian Federation. However, Leonard Blavatnik and his partner could not promote this business: the controlling authorities suddenly turned their eyes to the activities of their new enterprise, which was gradually turning into a monopolist. I had to abandon the prospects that the ETK had promised.
Having sold the structure, they acquired the securities of Sovlink, which specialized in the chemical industry market. But after some time they left the shareholders of this enterprise.Blavatnik showed interest in the banking structure of Alba Alliance, becoming one of its owners.
Change of priorities
Despite the conflict in JSC Rusal, consisting in the confrontation between Leonard Valentinovich and Oleg Deripaska, the borders of Blavatnik’s financial estate were expanding. And all this against the background of the fact that Vekselberg had to say goodbye to the chair of the chairman of the board of directors of the controversial company Russian Aluminum. Although aluminum assets were the main source of income for Blavatnik, the billionaire began to gradually change his business priorities. In particular, he invested in coal mining. However, this direction resonated with its traditional field of activity, so he seriously thought about how to radically change the direction of his business.
mass media
And after a while, the tycoon really finds a new niche. His investment focus will be on media assets. In many respects, the choice was influenced by the same business conflict with Oleg Deripaska, who did not miss the opportunity to speak on television or give an interview in the newspaper in order to sting his rival more painfully.
First of all, he became the owner of the British television company Top Up. Then the turn came to the Russian film studio Amedia. The latter was dealt with by the ex-director of today's VGTRK Alexander Akopov. He was familiar with Blavatnik since the 90s. Naturally, the producer was delighted when the oligarch offered investment in a film studio. They discussed in detail the terms of cooperation and signed the necessary papers. After this hobby, which the businessman adored in childhood, it took a long time to become a financial tycoon. He went headlong into the process of filmmaking, temporarily completely forgetting about aluminum, coal and oil. The businessman will even acquire for fabulous money ($ 3.3 billion) the world-famous Warner Music Group.
Currently, Leonid Valentinovich owns dozens of telecommunications and media companies that are located abroad. He successfully acquires them and sells them.
Size of financial condition
Currently, the material well-being of a graduate of Columbia University is estimated at 13 billion pounds. The results of the latest Forbes rating showed that Blavatnik’s financial empire costs about $ 16.3 billion, and it suffered less from the rest of the business from the economic crisis.
With his long-time partner Viktor Vekselberg, the tycoon still owns TNK-BP and Russian Aluminum in equal shares. However, for more than ten years, each of them has been guided exclusively by his own instinct about how best to increase money. The empires of Vekselberg and Blavatnik became so stable and strong that now they do not need each other's advice when it comes to investing.
Out of business
Is Leonard Blavatnik happy in his personal life? His wife - American Emily - gave birth to four children, so he took place not only as a successful entrepreneur, but also as a caring family man.
Interesting Facts
Earlier there were rumors that Leonard Blavatnik was buying up Hollywood. In particular, he made a profitable deal with the famous actor Mel Gibson, becoming 90% the owner of a large rental company Icon Film Distribution.
According to experts, last year Blavatnik was the richest resident of the British capital. The secret of his success lies in the fact that he invests in a variety of spheres of human activity.
The tycoon does not consider himself a public person, trying to communicate less with the press.
Conclusion
Of course, at present, the billionaire pays less time to his own business than before. It is possible that he is waiting for the right moment when the market conditions will become more optimistic.Recently, he has been increasingly involved in philanthropy, providing financial support to American universities and the Jewish community through the Blavatnik Family Foundation. In addition, he is a member of the Presidium of the Russian Jewish Congress.
Of course, in the business environment there are many who are critical of Blavatnik’s ability to make money. He started with a commodity business, where everything is based on the simple extraction of natural resources. Leonard Blavatnik did not have to apply any innovations or modern technologies. Some people think that it is precisely such a business model of behavior that a substantial part of Russian businessmen adhered to that led to a crisis in the commodity sector of the economy. However, one cannot ignore that over time, Leonid Valentinovich was able to change priorities, choosing for himself fundamentally new niches. In particular, journalists wrote that Blavatnik became interested in American biotechnology. To what extent this sphere will be successful for him, time will tell.
