xeun
04-05-2007, 03:40 AM
Roman Arkadievich Abramovich
“I have no Napoleonic dream. I'm just hard-working and pragmatic.” - Roman Abramovich
He his known to be a close associate of President Boris Yeltsin and family, Forbes magazine rated him as the 11th richest man in the world with a personal wealth estimated at $18.2 billion in Februrary 2006. Among other things, he owns two football clubs- Chelsea Football Club who has won the English premiership back to back in the last two seasons as well as CSKA Moscow Football Club, the first Russian club to win any European Trophy.
He also owns four superyachts with a fifth one rumored to be the world largest, being built for him. Roman Arkadievich is living the dream. He also owns his own private Boeing 767-300 known as "The Bandit" due to its paint scheme.
Roman Abramovich started life in the most unfortunate way, far from the stupendous wealth he has today.
He was born on October 24, 1966 in Saratov, USSR (Russia). He lost his mother at the tender age of 18 months while his father died when he was 4 years old in a construction accident.
He was raised by his paternal uncle in Komi and later by a second uncle in Moscow, both were very harsh and taught him how life is. Roman had a difficult childhood.
Abramovich attended the Industrial Institute in the city of Ukhta before being drafted into the Soviet Army.
Abramovich started his commercial activity in the late 1980s when Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms permitted the opening of small private businesses, known as co-operatives. In 1992-1995 Abramovich founded five companies that conducted resale and acted as intermediaries, eventually specializing in the trade of oil and oil products.
Abramovich obtained the majority of his wealth thanks to assets acquired cheaply during president Boris Yeltsin's program of privatizing state companies in the mid-90's. With the help of his then-partner Boris Berezovsky, he became the majority shareholder in Sibneft, a major oil company. He later acquired aluminium assets from private owners and merged them with the metals assets of Oleg Deripaska to form Russian Aluminium, the world's second-largest aluminium producer.
Abramovich and Berezovsky acquired half their shares in Sibneft through the so-called "loans for shares" program, in which the state mortgaged and later sold shares in several major enterprises to obtain loans for the government. The other half of the company was privatized through a series of auctions in the mid-1990s.
In 1999 Abramovich was elected to the State Duma as the representative for the impoverished Far East region of Chukotka. He started the charity Pole of Hope to help the people of Chukotka, especially children, and in December 2000 was elected governor of Chukotka, replacing the corrupt Alexander Nazarov. Since then he has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Chukotka, for example building a college, a hospital, a pre-school and hotels in Anadyr, renovating the airport, and funding new or renovated schools in many small towns and villages. He has also used Chukotka as a tax haven for Sibneft, though the company re-invested most of its tax savings in the region and has been exploring for oil there as part of the governor's drive to boost the local economy. Abramovich said that he would not run for governor again after his term of office expired in 2005,
In June 2003 he became the owner of the companies that control Chelsea Football Club in the United Kingdom. This immediately raised his profile in Britain where the tabloids noted the Russian connection by humorously dubbing the club Chelski. As soon as Abramovich took control, he poured massive investment into the club (estimated at GBP 440 million to January 2006), assuming the £80m debt burden and immediately making available substantial transfer funds.
The club also embarked on an ambitious programme of commercial development, with the aim of making it a worldwide brand. The result was near-instant success: Chelsea finished their first season after the takeover in 2nd place in the Premiership (from 4th the previous year). The following season they moved into first place and also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. They are now one of the dominant forces in English football.
In September 2005 Abramovich sold 72.663% of Sibneft to the Russian-government controlled Gazprom for $13.01 billion (€10.81 billion, £7.4 billion).
Of Jewish background, Abramovich is a firm supporter of Jewish causes, seen his funding of several projects in the Abramovich neighbourhood in Jerusalem, Israel and in Tel Aviv.
He is married to Irina and they have four children.
“I have no Napoleonic dream. I'm just hard-working and pragmatic.” - Roman Abramovich
He his known to be a close associate of President Boris Yeltsin and family, Forbes magazine rated him as the 11th richest man in the world with a personal wealth estimated at $18.2 billion in Februrary 2006. Among other things, he owns two football clubs- Chelsea Football Club who has won the English premiership back to back in the last two seasons as well as CSKA Moscow Football Club, the first Russian club to win any European Trophy.
He also owns four superyachts with a fifth one rumored to be the world largest, being built for him. Roman Arkadievich is living the dream. He also owns his own private Boeing 767-300 known as "The Bandit" due to its paint scheme.
Roman Abramovich started life in the most unfortunate way, far from the stupendous wealth he has today.
He was born on October 24, 1966 in Saratov, USSR (Russia). He lost his mother at the tender age of 18 months while his father died when he was 4 years old in a construction accident.
He was raised by his paternal uncle in Komi and later by a second uncle in Moscow, both were very harsh and taught him how life is. Roman had a difficult childhood.
Abramovich attended the Industrial Institute in the city of Ukhta before being drafted into the Soviet Army.
Abramovich started his commercial activity in the late 1980s when Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms permitted the opening of small private businesses, known as co-operatives. In 1992-1995 Abramovich founded five companies that conducted resale and acted as intermediaries, eventually specializing in the trade of oil and oil products.
Abramovich obtained the majority of his wealth thanks to assets acquired cheaply during president Boris Yeltsin's program of privatizing state companies in the mid-90's. With the help of his then-partner Boris Berezovsky, he became the majority shareholder in Sibneft, a major oil company. He later acquired aluminium assets from private owners and merged them with the metals assets of Oleg Deripaska to form Russian Aluminium, the world's second-largest aluminium producer.
Abramovich and Berezovsky acquired half their shares in Sibneft through the so-called "loans for shares" program, in which the state mortgaged and later sold shares in several major enterprises to obtain loans for the government. The other half of the company was privatized through a series of auctions in the mid-1990s.
In 1999 Abramovich was elected to the State Duma as the representative for the impoverished Far East region of Chukotka. He started the charity Pole of Hope to help the people of Chukotka, especially children, and in December 2000 was elected governor of Chukotka, replacing the corrupt Alexander Nazarov. Since then he has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Chukotka, for example building a college, a hospital, a pre-school and hotels in Anadyr, renovating the airport, and funding new or renovated schools in many small towns and villages. He has also used Chukotka as a tax haven for Sibneft, though the company re-invested most of its tax savings in the region and has been exploring for oil there as part of the governor's drive to boost the local economy. Abramovich said that he would not run for governor again after his term of office expired in 2005,
In June 2003 he became the owner of the companies that control Chelsea Football Club in the United Kingdom. This immediately raised his profile in Britain where the tabloids noted the Russian connection by humorously dubbing the club Chelski. As soon as Abramovich took control, he poured massive investment into the club (estimated at GBP 440 million to January 2006), assuming the £80m debt burden and immediately making available substantial transfer funds.
The club also embarked on an ambitious programme of commercial development, with the aim of making it a worldwide brand. The result was near-instant success: Chelsea finished their first season after the takeover in 2nd place in the Premiership (from 4th the previous year). The following season they moved into first place and also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. They are now one of the dominant forces in English football.
In September 2005 Abramovich sold 72.663% of Sibneft to the Russian-government controlled Gazprom for $13.01 billion (€10.81 billion, £7.4 billion).
Of Jewish background, Abramovich is a firm supporter of Jewish causes, seen his funding of several projects in the Abramovich neighbourhood in Jerusalem, Israel and in Tel Aviv.
He is married to Irina and they have four children.