Alisher Usmanov

Alisher Usmanov
Алишер Усманов
Usmanov in 2013
Born (1953-09-09) 9 September 1953 (age 71)
Chust, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Alma materMoscow Institute of International Relations
Known forShareholder of USM Holdings (49%)
President of Fédération Internationale d'Escrime
Spouse
(div. 2022)
Awards

Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov (Uzbek: Alisher Burxonovich Usmonov, Russian: Алишер Бурханович Усманов; born 9 September 1953) is a Russian-Uzbek oligarch.[1][2] He is sanctioned by the US, EU, UK, and Ukrainian governments. By 2024, Usmanov had an estimated net worth of $13.4 billion and was ranked number 144 among the world's wealthiest people.[3]

Usmanov made his wealth after the collapse of the Soviet Union, through metal and mining operations, and investments.[4][5] He is a shareholder of 49% of Metalloinvest, a Russian industrial conglomerate, which consolidated in 2006 JSC Metalloinvest's assets (Mikhailovsky GOK and Ural Steel) with those of Gazmetall JSC (Lebedinsky GOK and the Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant).[6]

He owns the Kommersant publishing house. He is also a co-owner of Russia's second-largest mobile telephone operator, MegaFon, and co-owner of Udokan copper which develops one of the largest copper deposits in the world. Usmanov eventually teamed up with Yuri Milner[7] and became the largest investor of Digital Sky Technologies ("DST"). On 16 September 2010, DST changed its name to "Mail.ru Group".[8] He also holds shares of a number of international technology companies.[9] He was the president of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime, the international governing body of the sport of fencing, from 2008 until 2022,[10][11] and again from 2024.[12]

On 28 February 2022, in reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union blacklisted Usmanov, imposing an EU-wide travel ban on him and freezing all his assets.[13] On 3 March, the United States imposed similar sanctions on him, with some exceptions for his companies.[14][15][16] Usmanov was named in the Official Journal of the European Union, the publication of record of the EU, as a "pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin [who is] one of Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs."[11] Usmanov denied these allegations and filed an appeal in the European Court of Justice in an attempt to lift the sanctions. On 7 February 2024, the appeal was dismissed.[17] However, the EU Council dropped the term “oligarch” from Usmanov’s sanctions reasoning. It now reads “a leading businessperson”.[18][19]

He spent six years in a Soviet prison in the 1980s on charges of fraud and embezzlement, but his conviction was later overturned. In 2000, he was eventually rehabilitated by the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan, which ruled that the case against him was trumped up and no crime had been committed.[20]

  1. ^ Storbeck, Olaf; Ivanova, Polina (17 June 2024). "Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov sues UBS over German probe". Financial Times. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  2. ^ "German prosecutors drop probe against Russian-Uzbek billionaire Usmanov". Reuters.
  3. ^ "Alisher Usmanov". Forbes. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  4. ^ Foy, Henry (3 January 2020). "Alisher Usmanov: 'I was never what you could call an oligarch'". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Alisher Usmanov". Forbes. 3 August 2007. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Metalloinvest History". metalloinvest.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  7. ^ Kremlin Cash Behind Billionaire's Twitter and Facebook Investments Archived 14 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine (The New York Times)
  8. ^ "Digital Sky Technologies ("DST") Changes Name to Mail.ru Group". Archived from the original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  9. ^ "USM Holdings – Internet". Usm-group.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  10. ^ Russian Capitalist Wiki contributors, "Alisher Usmanov" Archived 12 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Russian Capitalist Wiki. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  11. ^ a b "Oligarch Usmanov stands aside as FIE President in wake of EU sanctions". www.insidethegames.biz. 1 March 2022. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  12. ^ Billionaire Usmanov dismisses Ukrainian criticism over return as FIE chief, Reuters, 4 Dec 2024
  13. ^ Valentina Pop; Sam Fleming; Max Seddon (28 February 2022). "EU freezes assets of Russia's leading oligarchs and allies of Putin". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  14. ^ Nick Wadhams; Jennifer Jacobs (3 March 2022). "U.S. Sanctions Usmanov, Prigozhin, Tokarev, Other Russian Elites". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  15. ^ "US oligarch sanctions list exempts Usmanov's companies". www.intellinews.com. 4 March 2022. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Russians Bankrolling Putin and Russia-Backed Influence Actors". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  17. ^ "EU court dismisses Russian oligarch Usmanov's appeal against sanctions". Reuters. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  18. ^ Council Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 of 17 March 2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, 14 September 2024, retrieved 27 November 2024
  19. ^ "German court rules Forbes allegations against billionaire Usmanov used to justify EU sanctions are false". www.intellinews.com. 23 January 2024. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Russia's richest man is out to prove a point". Reuters. 28 September 2012. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.

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