Alexey Kuzmichev | |
---|---|
Born |
Kirov, Russia |
15 October 1962
Occupation | Businessman |
Net worth | $8.8 billion |
Spouse(s) | married |
Children | one son |
Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev or Kousmichoff (Russian: Алексей Викторович Кузьмичёв) is a Russian businessman. He is one of the founders of the LetterOne Group (LetterOne). Currently, as well as being a member of the Board of Directors of LetterOne, Mr. Kuzmichev holds various positions at Alfa Group Consortium including being a member of the Supervisory Board of Alfa Group Consortium. Kuzmichev is a graduate of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. He is one of the founders and controlling owners of investment conglomerate, Alfa Group. Kuzmichev indirectly controls about 10 percent of VimpelCom, the world's sixth-biggest mobile phone operator; 18 percent of Alfa-Bank, Russia's largest closely held bank; and 11 percent of X5 Retail Group. In March 2013, Kuzmichev sold his stake in energy venture TNK-BP to state-run oil company Rosneft for $2.5 billion. Forbes magazine rates Kuzmichev as the 138th world's richest person (2013) with a fortune estimated at $8.8 billion. According to Bloomberg’s Wealth Ranking Kuzmichev is the 148th richest person globally. Kuzmichev is married to Russian philanthropist Svetlana Kuzmicheva-Uspenskaya, founder and director of Project Perpetual. They have one son.
Kuzmichev was born in 1962 in Kirov, Russia. Between 1980 and 1982 he served in the army on the Soviet-Chinese border as a radio operator. During this time he joined the Communist party. In 1983, he enrolled in the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys where he met his future business partners, Mikhail Fridman and German Khan. In 1988 Kuzmichev, Fridman and Khan, along with Mikhail Alfimov, founded Alfa Photo, which specialized in the import of photo chemicals. Later, Kuzmichev convinced his partners to diversify into the export business. Thus in 1998 Alfa Eco was founded. This venture would become the basis of Alfa Group Consortium. (In 2005, Alfa Eco was rebranded as A1).
Alfa Group’s portfolio includes the largest commercial bank in Russia, Alfa-Bank, (with affiliates in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and the Netherlands/Amsterdam Trade Bank); international telecom company VimpelCom (the sixth largest mobile network operator in the world by subscribers as of April, 2012); as well as holding shares in Turkish telecommunications company Turkcell. Until April 2012, Alfa Group owned 25 percent of Russian cell phone operator MegaFon; it sold its share for $5.2 billion. Alfa also has stakes in Russian retailer X5 Retail Group,Rosvodokanal Group; and insurance company, Alfa-Strakhovanie Group. Kuzmichev owns over 18 percent of the consortium’s joint assets and is a member of the board of directors of Alfa Finance Holdings. The Group’s major transactions include TNK oil company privatization, which later became a part of TNK-BP venture, Russia’s third-largest oil producer. In March 2013 Alfa Group and its joint partners AAR Consortium sold 50 percent of TNK-BP to Russian oil company Rosneft.