Leonard Blavatnik
| Leonard Blavatnik | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 14, 1957 Odessa, Ukraine, Soviet Union |
| Residence | London, England, UK |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Education |
Moscow State University of Railway Engineering Columbia University (M.S.) Harvard University (M.B.A.) |
| Occupation | Founder of Access Industries |
| Net worth |
 US$15.3 billion (March 2016) |
| Spouse(s) | Emily Appelson |
| Children | 4 |
| Website | http://www.accessindustries.com |
Leonard "Len" Blavatnik (Russian: Леонид Валентинович Блаватник, Leonid Valentinovich Blavatnik; born June 14, 1957) is a Ukraine-born American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He made his fortune through business via diversified investments in myriad companies through his conglomerate company, Access Industries. In 2015, he was named Britain's richest man with an estimated net worth of £17.1 billion as of April 2015.
Blavatnik was born in Odessa to a Jewish family. He attended Moscow State University of Railway Engineering, but did not complete his coursework due to the family's request for emigration visas. His family emigrated to the United States in 1978, and he received a masters in computer science from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1989.
In 1986, Blavatnik founded Access Industries, an international conglomerate company located in New York, of which he is chairman and president. Access has long-term holdings in Europe and North and South America. Initially, he moved into Russian investments, just after the fall of communism. He and a friend from university, Viktor Vekselberg, formed the Renova investment vehicle, and then the two joined with Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group to form the AAR venture. Access has since diversified its portfolio to include investments in industries such as oil, entertainment, coal, aluminum, petrochemicals and plastics, telecommunications, media, and real estate.
In August 2005, Access Industries bought petrochemicals and plastics manufacturer Basell Polyolefins from Royal Dutch Shell and BASF for $5.7 billion. On December 20, 2007, Basell completed its acquisition of the Lyondell Chemical Company for an enterprise value of approximately $19 billion. The resulting company, LyondellBasell Industries then became the world's eighth largest chemical company based on net sales. On January 6, 2009, the U.S. operations of LyondellBasell Industries filed for bankruptcy. On April 30, 2010, LyondellBasell emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a significantly improved financial position. As part of its exit financing, LyondellBasell raised $3.25 billion of first priority debt as well as $2.8 billion through the rights offering jointly underwritten by Access Industries, Apollo Management, and Ares Management. LyondellBasell stock has increased 103% in value since April 2010. Access currently owns approximately 14% of LyondellBasell. In early 2010, Access Industries was reported as one of the handful of bidders for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
...
Wikipedia