The combined fortune of the richest Russian businessmen has grown by $21.85 billion since the beginning of 2026, Bloomberg reports.
This follows data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index (BBI), which tracks the fortunes of the world’s 500 richest people. Andrey Melnichenko, co-founder of Eurochem and SUEK, has seen the biggest capital growth. According to Bloomberg, his fortune increased by $5.63 bln and reached $24.6 bln.
Significant growth of capital was shown by representatives of the raw materials and metallurgical sectors. The fortune of Leonid Mikhelson, the head of NOVATEK, increased by $4.15 bln to $27.8 bln, and Alexei Mordashov, the main shareholder of Severstal, increased his capital by $3.66 bln to $29.9 bln. Vladimir Potanin, owner of Interros Holding and president of Norilsk Nickel, has added $1.94 billion since the beginning of the year. His fortune is estimated by Bloomberg at $28.3 billion.
According to the current Billionaires Index rating, Mordashov remains the richest Russian on the agency’s list. The second place among the Russian participants of the rating is occupied by Potanin, the third – by Mikhelson. All three are among the world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs according to Bloomberg. Capital growth was also recorded for Gennady Timchenko, co-owner of NOVATEK and Sibur (+$2.16 billion, up to $16.4 billion), Senator Suleiman Kerimov (+$1.51 billion, up to $11.9 billion), businessman Mikhail Fridman (+$1.37 billion, up to $11.4 billion), Viktor Vekselberg (+$854 million, up to $11.4 billion), Andrey Guriev (+$1.1 billion, up to $10.2 billion), as well as a number of other Russian billionaires. At the same time, some of the rating participants experienced a decline in fortune.
The most significant losses were suffered by businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, whose capital decreased by $4.6 billion to $12 billion, and Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who lost $2.2 billion. His fortune is estimated by Bloomberg at $12.2 billion. Vladimir Lisin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NLMK, also lost his fortune. According to the agency, his capital decreased by $198 million and amounts to $23.5 billion. It should be noted that the Bloomberg Billionaires Index is updated daily and is calculated on the basis of the market value of assets, primarily stakes in public companies, as well as other available data on property and investments.
The current version of the rating includes about two dozen Russian entrepreneurs, and their aggregate fortune exceeds $300 billion. Taking into account the growth of assets of the majority of the list participants and losses of individual businessmen, the total increase in the wealth of the richest Russians since the beginning of the year has approached $22 bln.
