Len Blavatnik Net Worth, Biography and Career

Len Blavatnik Net Worth $32 Billion

British-American businessman Len Blavatnik is best known for being the founder and chairman of Access Industries. The Ukraine-born investor currently occupies the 15^th spot on Business Insider’s list of the richest people on earth with a net worth of more than 30 billion dollars.

A self-made billionaire, Blavatnik’s wealth has ballooned in recent years courtesy of his privately held industrial company, Access Industries, which has major investments in chemicals, entertainment, and real estate globally.

His wealth skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic to £7.2 billion and made him the richest man in Britain once more according to The Sunday Times rich list. He has made recent profits from glamorous businesses such as sports streaming provider Dazn and record label Warner Music.

But the original source of the billionaire entrepreneur’s wealth was energy and metals companies established around the breakup of the Soviet Union. Blavatnik, born in Odessa, in Soviet Ukraine, studied in Moscow before emigrating to the United States with his family in 1978. He founded a privately held industrial group based in America in 1986 and named it Access Industries.

Blavatnik became a United States citizen in 1984 and a citizen of the United Kingdom in 2010. Here’s a look at how he became one of the world’s most-valued persons and most vaunted business mogul.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born Leonid Valentinovich Blavatnik to a Jewish family on June 14, 1957, in Odessa, Soviet Ukraine. He started studying at Moscow State University of Railway Engineering but abandoned his coursework due to the family’s wish as they sought emigration visas.

In 1978, he moved with his family from the Soviet Union to the United States where he attended Columbia University and earned a master’s degree in computer science before completing his MBA at Harvard Business School in 1989.

Professional Life: Entrepreneurial Career, Investments

Blavatnik founded Access Industries in 1986 as an international conglomerate located in New York. He is the chairman and president of the company which has long-term holdings and investments in Europe, Asia, and North and South America.

Together with a friend from college, Viktor Vekselberg, Blavatnik formed the Renova investment vehicle, and then both investors collaborated with Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group to establish the AAR venture.

Access has since diversified its portfolio into a myriad of investments that include real estate, petrochemicals and plastics, oil, entertainment, telecommunications, media, coal, and aluminum.

The company acquired bought petrochemicals and plastics manufacturer Basell Polyolefins from BASF and Royal Dutch Shell for $5.7 billion in August 2005. In December 2007, Basell completed its acquisition of Lyondell Chemicals for an enterprise value of $19 billion.

Achievements: Awards & Honors

Len Blavatnik was appointed chevalier of the French Legion d’Honneur in 2013. Four years after that, the Queen of England knighted him for his services to philanthropy.

Personal Life: Wife, Children, Private Interests

Mr. Blavatnik is married to Emily Appelson Blavatnik, and together, they have four children.

He owns an exquisite building on “the most expensive street in the world”, Kensington Palace Gardens, which is valued at £200 million. He acquired the property in 2004. He also has a home in Manhattan in New York City valued at over $250 million.

Furthermore, he is a big supporter of former US President Donald Trump and a friend of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is also a friend and business partner of Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a few more Russia-associated oligarchs facing Western sanctions for support of totalitarian regimes and criminal activities.

His donation of 75 million Euros led to the founding of the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government. He also donated $50 million to Harvard.

Len Blavatnik Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

We do not know his salary/income statistics at the moment because none of those details have been provided publicly by either the businessman or his team. However, His net worth, which is currently estimated at 32 billion dollars has been amassed after many years of strategic investments in many businesses across many industries.

The Ukrainian-American businessman has business investments in coal, oil, real estate, and more. He also serves on the board of several companies and reputed universities. Mr. Blavatnik is the owner of Warner Music Group which he acquired in 2011 for $3.3 billion.

He sits on the board and has interests in UC Rusal, one of the world’s largest aluminum producers. He holds a 19 percent stake in the Houston-based chemical company LyondellBasell and is known to be a minority owner in United Company Rusal, Russia’s largest producer of aluminum.

Mr. Blavatnik’s real estate and art collection are currently valued at $1.7 billion. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index listed him as the wealthiest man in the United Kingdom and as the 35th wealthiest person in the world as of 2022.