Blavatnik Leonard (Leonard Blavatnik)

An American businessman who emigrated to the United States from the USSR. Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Access Industries group, founded by him in 1986. According to experts, he earned the main assets precisely working in Russia thanks to his friendship with Viktor Vekselberg and Mikhail Fridman. Blavatnik is known for not communicating much with the press.

Aktivs

Most of Blavatnik's wealth for May 2023 is related to assets located in the United States and Europe. His holding group Access Industries owns:

• a majority stake in Warner Music and
• 20% stake in LyondellBasell,
• by DAZN Group.

He is ranked 38th on the list of the richest people in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Biography

Leonid Valentinovich Blavatnik (Leonard "Len" Blavatnik) was born on June 14, 1957 in Ukraine (according to other sources, in Moscow) into a wealthy Jewish family.

Blavatnik entered the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers (MIIT) at the Faculty of Automation and Computer Engineering, where one of his fellow students was Viktor Vekselberg.

In 1978 (according to other sources, in 1979), he left the institute in his fourth year and emigrated with his parents to the United States. Blavatnik quickly managed to get used to a new place: he continued his studies at Columbia University in New York, where he received a master's degree in computer science.

1981: US citizenship, name change

In 1981, Blavatnik received US citizenship, changing his name to Leonard.

1985: Harvard Business School student and job at Arthur Andersen

A turning point in Blavatnik's life was an invitation to work in the Macy's chain of stores, where he was offered to modernize the information services system. The young specialist coped well with this task and, when one day one of the directors of the company decided to thank him, Blavatnik asked him for a recommendation at the Harvard Business School, where he eventually entered.

Before completing his studies, Blavatnik worked for the audit company Arthur Andersen and went into business, founding a freight transportation company in the United States.

1986: Creation of Access Industries

In 1986, he created the investment company Access Industries, becoming its president and chairman of the board of directors. Access Industries' first big business was a logistics company that carried cargo across America.

1989: Delivery of computers to the USSR with Vekselberg

In 1987, Blavatnik at an oil exhibition met with Vekselberg, who was then still working at the Design Bureau for sucker-rod pumps, but was going to engage in commerce. Vekselberg and Blavatnik agreed on a joint venture, which was created two years later and was engaged in the supply of computer equipment to the USSR.

In 1989, Blavatnik graduated from Harvard Business School with an MBA.

1990: Foundation with Vekselberg of Renova: export of raw materials

In 1990, Blavatnik, together with Vekselberg, became the founders of the joint investment company Renova"," which was initially engaged in the export of Russian raw materials. Blavatnik was for some time a co-owner of Renova, but sold his stake in exchange for a stake in joint assets. According to Vekselberg, Blavatnik refused to invest money in Russian assets for a long time.

1994: Unsuccessful investment in Vladimir Tractor Plant

In 1994, Access Industries acquired a controlling stake in the Vladimir Tractor Plant, but was unable to get the plant out of the crisis and sold the asset.

1996

Participation in the creation of SUAL

In 1996, Access Industries participated in the creation of the Siberian-Ural Aluminum Company (SUAL). Blavatnik was a member of the board of directors of the company and owned 47.5 percent of the company's shares, and after its merger with Russian Aluminum, he joined the board of directors of Rusal.

Start of business activity in Kazakhstan

Since 1996, Blavatnik has been developing his business in Kazakhstan. He organizes PR Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the USA, sponsors his visits.

1997: Purchase of a stake in TNK

Since 1997, Access Industries, together with Vekselberg's Renova and Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group, acquired a 40% stake in the Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) from the state. After the 1998 crisis, AAR's shareholder group (Access/Alfa/Renova) acquired another 50 percent of TNK. Blavatnik was a member of the board of directors of the company and retained this post, formed in 2003 on a parity basis with BP company TNK-BP, and Access Industries became the owner of 12.5 percent of the shares in the new oil company. In 2008, Blavatnik took part in the TNK-BP shareholder conflict, which led to the dismissal of Robert Dudley as director of the company. The press called the purchase of TNK one of Blavatnik's most profitable investments.

1998: Plan to establish a fuel and energy company in Kazakhstan

Since 1998, Blavatnik has been preparing options for a strategic partnership between Access Industries and RAO UES. In 1999, Anatoly Chubais, being in Kazakhstan, announced the possible creation of a fuel and energy company in Pavlodar region with the participation of three power plants, RAO UES and Access Industries.

2003: Creation of a "Unified Trading Company"

In 2003, Vekselberg and Blavatnik became the creators of the United Trading Company (ETK), which managed to obtain monopoly rights to sell caustic soda to Russian industrial enterprises, but the Ministry of Antimonopoly Policy of the Russian Federation became interested in ETK activities, and Blavatnik and Vekselberg sold ETK.

From 2002 to 2005, Blavatnik, together with Vekselberg, were one of the co-owners of the financial group, which included Alba Alliance Bank and Sovlink. In 2005, they ceded Sovlinka's chemical assets to their partners in exchange for the company's investment business and Alba Alliance Bank.

2004: Successful deal with stake in Svyazinvest, purchase of mansion in London

Blavatnik was a shareholder and board member of the consulting firm Eurasia Group and Swedish telecommunications company Svenska Bredbandsbolaget AB. Blavatnik also owned a stake in the Russian telecommunications company Svyazinvest"." In 2004, Access Industries bought 25 percent and one share of the company from George Soros for 625 million, and dollars two years later they sold them to OJSC "" Comstar-OTS for $1.3 billion. Soros subsequently admitted that the sale of Svyazinvest shares to Blavatnik was his most unsuccessful career deal.

Blavatnik is known for property investment, having purchased one of the most expensive mansions in the English capital for £41m in 2004.

2006: Buying hotels in France

In 2006, Blavatnik became the owner of the famous French Hotel Vendome and Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat.

2007

Participation in the consolidation of assets and the creation of UC Rusal

In 2007, Vekselberg, Blavatnik and their junior partners agreed to merge SUAL with Oleg Deripaska's Rusal and the alumina industries of Swiss Glencore in exchange for a stake in the emerging combined company UC Rusal.

Buying up real estate in the United States

In 2007-2009, Blavatnik was actively involved in buying up cheaper real estate in the United States: in Manhattan alone, he owned real estate worth more than $100 million, and in 2007 acquired a plot of land in Hollywood worth $625 million.

In 2007, Forbes magazine estimated Blavatnik's fortune at $7.2 billion, in 2008 the businessman's fortune increased to 11 billion.

2009: Reduced fortune to $4 billion, court with JP Morgan Chase

In 2009, according to experts, as a result of the global economic crisis, his fortune decreased to $4 billion. It was reported that Blavatnik lost about one hundred million dollars due to the mismanagement of his investments by JP Morgan Chase. L. Blavatnik in 2009 filed a lawsuit against JP Morgan demanding a refund of $100 million. According to the results of the trial in 2013, he managed to return $50 million^[1].

2011

Conflict with Deripaska in Rusal

In December 2011, the media wrote about the conflict between SUAL Blavatnik and Viktor Vekselberg and the largest shareholder of Rusal, En + Oleg Deripaska. One of its reasons was the conclusion by Rusal of a large contract with the Glencore trader, contrary to the veto imposed by SUAL (SUAL had the right to veto as the owner of 15.8 percent of Rusal's shares). In March 2012, Vekselberg, due to disagreements with the management of the company, resigned as chairman and member of the board of directors of Rusal. In April of the same year, SUAL filed a lawsuit with the London Arbitration Court demanding to cancel the deal with Glencore and compensate SUAL for the losses caused.

The assets of Access Industries included the Bogatyr coal mine in Kazakhstan, one of the largest chemical producers LyondellBasell Industries, the British television company Top Up TV, Amedia (the largest Russian manufacturer of television series) and the Israeli company Rochester Gas & Electric.

Warner Music Group purchase for $3 billion

Blavatnik has long collaborated with the chief executive of one of Warner Music's largest record companies in the world, Edgar Bronfman Jr. and his father, and served on WMG's board of directors from 2004 to 2008. Blavatnik has long owned a stake in Warner Music Group, and in 2011 bought it all for 3.3 billion. dollars Access received funding from Credit Suisse and UBS, which were also consultants to the deal^[2]

Company CEO Edgar Bronfman is considered his close friend. In 2007, Bronfman sold him his Manhattan townhouse for $50 million^[3].

2016: US campaign support

In the United States, by 2016, Blavatnik was invested in the election campaigns of Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Scot Walker, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Andrew Cuomo, John Kasik^[4].

2022: Sale of stake in United Co. Rusal International

In May 2023 , it became known that Blavatnik sold his stake in the Russian aluminum producer United Co. Rusal International, having disposed of its last major asset in the country, where it made its fortune of $33.5 billion .

Blavatnik sold shares in the second half of 2022, according to sources. His stake in Rusal was about 1.2 billion shares, the market value of which at the end of 2022 was about $610 million.

Charity

Blavatnik is active in philanthropy through his Blavatnik Family Foundation, donating money to American educational institutions and the American Jewish community.

Blavatnik also served on the board of directors of the Institute of Management at the University of Cambridge and Tel Aviv University, was a member of the board of trustees of the Harvard Business School and a member of the boards of directors and deputy chairman of the board of the Kennan Institute for the Study of Russia at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Family

Blavatnik is married, his wife's name is Emily. Blavatnik's younger brother Alex is vice chairman of Access Industries.

Favorite movie

The press called Blavatnik's favorite film the 1983 film "Swap Places," in which Eddie Murphy played the main role.