Norilsk Nickel’s owner Vladimir Potanin and many others saw massive gains
The combined net worth of Russia’s wealthiest businessmen rose by more than $24.5 billion in the first half of 2025, according to data published on Monday by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The index, which tracks the daily fortunes of the world’s 500 richest individuals, updates based on fluctuations in the share prices of companies tied to them.
Vladimir Potanin, who owns a significant stake in the mining giant Norilsk Nickel, has led the ranking once again as the richest Russian businessman on the list. Since the start of the year, he recorded the largest individual gain among Russian billionaires, increasing his fortune by $3.85 billion to a total of $31.7 billion, data showed.
Vagit Alekperov, founder of Russia’s second-largest oil company Lukoil, came in second. He has reportedly earned nearly $1.5 billion, bringing his net worth to $26.8 billion.
Alexey Mordashov, the chairman of steel giant Severstal, was ranked the third-richest Russian businessman. He has earned $1.4 billion since the beginning of the year, increasing his fortune to $24.7 billion.
Mordashhov was followed by Vladimir Lisin, the majority shareholder of Russia’s NLMK steel company, who took fourth place on the index. Lisin was the biggest Russian loser during the period. The estimated value of his fortune fell 1.72 billion to $24.1 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Leonid Mikhelson, co-owner of Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer Novatek, took fourth place in the index, with a total of $23.7 billion. His net worth has grown by $1.31 billion.
Meanwhile, Alisher Usmanov, a major shareholder in iron ore producer Metalloinvest and co-owner of telecom operator MegaFon, followed Potanin closely in terms of gains, with his wealth rising $3.17 billion since the start of the year. His net worth stood at $16.4 billion as of July 1, Bloomberg reported.
Russia’s wealthiest woman, Tatiana Kim, the founder and chief executive of the country’s largest e-commerce platform, Wildberries, lost $345 million and ranked 20th among Russian billionaires with a net worth of $7.03 billion, just ahead of Aleksandr Abramov, co-founder of Evraz, the fourth-largest steelmaker in Russia, who rounded out the list with $6.88 billion.
