Rinat Akhmetov Net Worth, Biography, Business, Wife and Kids

Rinat Akhmetov Net Worth   $8 Billion

Russian oligarch and businessperson Rinat Akhmetov is considered the wealthiest person in Ukraine. Apart from being the founder and President of the successful firm System Capital Management (SCM), Mr. Akhmetov is also the owner and president of the Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk.

It was in 2000 that he started SCM and since 2009, he has been the sole administrator of the group. Under his management and leadership, SCM emerged to be the biggest industrial and financial firm in Ukraine.

SCM currently owns more than 100 businesses across different industries such as real estate, power generation, banking, media, telecommunications, insurance, metal, and mining. Akhmetov has also maintained a presence in his country’s political scene.

In the past, he was reported to be the unofficial financier and leader of the political party, “Party of Regions”. He was elected as one of the members of Verkhovna Rada after the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election and was reelected during the 2007 parliamentary election. More details follow below.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov in Donetsk, Ukrainian SSR, on September 21, 1966, to a working-class family. He is a practicing Sunni Muslim and an ethnic Volga Tatar.

His mother, Nyakiya Nasredinovna, was employed as a shop assistant, while his father, Leonid Akhmetov, worked as a coal miner. His older brother, named Igor, also worked in the coal mines but had to resign due to health complications.

Akhmetov attended Donetsk National University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 2001.

Professional Life: Business career

Details regarding Akhmetov’s beginnings have always been controversial. It has been alleged that he obtained his wealth through dubious means after the fall of communism in Ukraine. According to the businessman through interviews, he made his fortune earlier on by making risky business investments which later paid off.

He acted as an assistant to Akhat Bragin in the 1980s. Law enforcement agencies regarded Akhat as a powerful crime boss who allegedly ran an illegal cloth trading business.

By the early 1990s, Akhmetov started acquiring property in parts of Ukraine allegedly by means of extortion with the help of Volodymyr Malyshev, a Lieutenant-General at The Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Department in Donetsk Oblast.

In October 1995, Bragin, president of the Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk, along with six of his bodyguards, was killed in a mysterious bombing at the team’s stadium during a football match. Some rumors associate Akhmetov with that incident. Following the assassinations, Akhmetov is reported to have “inherited a huge financial empire from Bragin”.

In the year 2000, Akhmetov started his company System Capital Management Group (SCM) which stands today as the largest diversified industrial and financial group in Ukraine. At this time, the structure of the SCM Group includes over 500 companies employing about 200,000 people.

The company mainly focuses on the following areas of interest and activities; telecommunications, banking and insurance, power generation, metallurgy and coal mining, and others. In various periods, Mr. Akhmetov controlled from 90 percent to 100 percent of the shares of SCM and has been the company’s sole proprietor since 2009.

According to recently provided information, the main assets of Rinat Akhmetov, include the following companies: System Capital Management Group Holdings, FC Shakhtar Donetsk (sport), HarvEast Holding (agriculture), Portinvest, Lemtrans, Transinvest holding (transport business).

UMG Investments (investments), Corum Group (mechanical engineering), ESTA Holding (real estate), Ukrtelecom (telecommunications), Media Group Ukraine (media), First Ukrainian International Bank (finance), DTEK (energy industry), and Metinvest (mining and metallurgical business).

Mr. Rinat Akhmetov has been noted for his association with the Party of Regions political party as a financier and unofficial leader. He was elected as one of the members of Verkhovna Rada after the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election and was reelected during the 2007 parliamentary election.

United States diplomatic cables revealed that the businessman posted $2 million bail for the release of three members of the Party of Regions in 2007, including former Sumy Governor Volodymyr Shcherban, who was arrested on charges of election rigging, abuse of office, extortion, and tax evasion.

Personal Life: Wife, Children, Private Interests

Rinat Akhmetov is happily married to Liliya Nikolaievna Smirnova. They have two sons together, Damir (born in 1988) and Almir (born in 1997).

This businessman is the owner of the most expensive penthouse in London. It is said that he originally purchased it for roughly $213 million as a portfolio investment and proceeded to spend another reported $120 million to fix them up. The property, was, in May 2013, transferred from his company, SCM, to himself.

Philanthropy

Since 2006, Rinat Akhmetov has been identified as one of the leading philanthropists of Ukraine. Various sources claim that he is among the first names on any list in terms of the amount of funds allotted to charity. The SCM corporate charitable foundation Development of Ukraine was established in 2005 on the initiative of Mr. Akhmetov.

It became known as the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation in 2018. The organization primarily focuses on modern education, dynamic culture, targeted assistance, family, and healthcare.

The fund has been separated from the company since 2008 and operates as a personal charitable foundation of the businessman while maintaining a partnership with SCM. It has been observed that the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation is one of the most popular charitable organizations in Ukraine.

Rinat Akhmetov Net Worth: Salary, Assets, Income Sources

The Ukrainian billionaire businessman and politician, Rinat Akhmetov, is currently entitled to a net worth of 8 billion dollars, earning him a reputation as the richest person in Ukraine. Born in Donetsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, he attended Donetsk National University and graduated with a degree in Economics.

Mr. Akhmetov’s rise to billionaire status is completely shrouded in mystery, with many reports suggesting that he engaged in criminal activities during the early years of his business career in order to achieve his rise to financial dominance.

However, Rinat has suggested and proven that he made the majority of his wealth through various legitimate businesses, particularly through his company System Capital Management.

The dedicated businessman currently controls 60 percent of coal and energy production in Ukraine through DTEK his subsidiary. He is also the majority owner of Shakhtar Donetsk, the Ukrainian football club.