Roman Abramovitch

Born into a Jewish family, Roman Abramovich’s mother died of septicaemia when he was only eighteen months. His father died when he was four years old and then he is grown with his uncles. He continued his studies when he enters into Soviet army then he joined the prestigious Institute of the Oil and Gas in Moscow, which he leaves to introduce himself into business.

His career began in 1987 as mechanic in a construction company in Moscow. Then he takes many advantages from Gorbachev’s Perestroika, in order to start his own business. He started with a cooperative, called Uyut specialized in the manufacture of toys. The Berlin wall’s fallen, followed by economy’s liberalizations, gives an important opportunity to Roman Abramovich. In fact he began a new activity, as trader, buying oil from local producer, at low domestic prices, for resale abroad.

The turning point of his career was the meeting with Boris Berezovsky because through his contacts, Roman will make a spectacular career.

President Yeltsin’s decree in 1995 proclaimed that the creation of major player in Russian oil sector. The Russian president launched a wave of privatizations, Berezovsky and Abramovich pressed Yeltsin in order to encourage him to merge several large public oil companies, in exchange for a promise that the oligarchs will support the campaign of his party with their media and financial assets.

The two men acquire Sibneft and in the end of 1995, Abramovich owned 73% of shares, after acquisition of Berezovsky’s stake.

In 1999, Abramovich was elected at Duma (Russian parliament) as delegate of Chukotka, an impoverished region in north-eastern of Russia. The election allows him to benefit from parliamentary immunity and escape from Russian tax authorities.

On 24 December 2000, he was elected governor of Chukotka, and invested $1 billion in this region, in order to build or renovate local infrastructures.

In June 2003, he became the owner of the companies, which control Chelsea football club, in England. Passionate about football, he invested lot of money to cover club’s debts and to buy important players. Also the results arrive such as English league, won in the second year, and at European level (several times in the last four in Champions league).

In September 2005 Roman Abramovich sold his stake in Sibneft to Gazprom for $ 13 billion. In May 2006, through his holding company Millhouse Capital, he bought 41% of Evraz, one of the first three groups in Russian steelmakers sectors. In late 2006, he acquired the American steel group Oregon Steel, via Evraz, for €1.8 billion. This transaction is subject of an investigation by the U.S. Treasury in particular for economic protectionism’s reasons.

Roman Abramovich is ranked second richest man in the UK, according to Forbes; his fortune was estimated in 2010 at $ 11.2 billion.

He is also very influential on the Russian national team of football, in particular concerning the coach and invested €30 million to build training center for the Team, including six football fields, several tennis courts, swimming pool and gym.

In March 2007, he was in the Forbes’ ranking as the first capital in Russia, and the sixteenth in the world. He was the youngest among the 25 largest world’s wealth. In 2011, he was the 53rd place in the same ranking, with a fortune estimated at $13.4 billion.