Abramovich, Roman Arkadyevich, is a Russian oligarch, businessman, philanthropist, and politician. Outside of Russia, he is best known as the former owner of Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and the primary owner of the private investment firm Millhouse LLC.
From 2000 to 2008, he served as the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug’s governor. According to Forbes, Abramovich had a net worth of $14.5 billion in 2021, making him the wealthiest person in Portugal, the second-richest person in Israel, and the eleventh-richest person in Russia.
In the years that followed the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, Abramovich amassed wealth by purchasing state-owned Russian assets at rates much below market value under Russia’s contentious loans-for-shares privatization program. Putin, the president of Russia, and Abramovich are said to get along well.
Roman Abramovich Net Worth 2022
According to Forbes, Abramovich’s net worth was $7.6 billion in March 2016, ranking him as the world’s 155th wealthiest person. He was recognized as the second-richest person in the United Kingdom before the 2008 financial crisis.
According to The Times’ early 2009 story, the worldwide economic crisis cost him £3 billion of his $11.7 billion wealth.
In the summer of 2020, Abramovich sold Highland Gold to Vladislav Sviblov. On March 5, 2021, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $14.5 billion, ranking him 113th on the Forbes 2020 list of billionaires.
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Roman Abramovich’s Early Life
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich was born in Saratov on October 24, 1966. (present-day Saratov, Russia). As a child, his Jewish ancestors died. Irina, his mother, died when Abramovich was a year old.
His father, Aaron Abramovich Leibovich (1937–1969), left when he was 3. Roman’s maternal grandparents were Vasily Mikhailenko and Faina Borisovna Grutman. Roman’s grandma escaped Ukraine for Saratov when World War II began.
Irina was 3. Roman’s grandparents, Nachman and Toybe (Tatyana) Leibovich, were Jewish Belarusians. Their Lithuanian name is Abramaviius, and they lived in Belarus before the revolution.
1940: the Soviet Union conquers Lithuania. Before the Nazi invasion, the Soviets sent entire families to Siberia to eliminate anti-Soviet, criminal, and socially destructive elements.
Abramovich’s grandparents were separated while deported. Leib, Abram, and Aron (Arkady) were in separate cars. Deportees died in camps. Abramovich’s grandfather was one. Nachman Leibovich died at a Resheti NKVD camp in 1942.
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After losing his parents by age 4, Abramovich was reared by relatives in the northern Russian Komi Republic. Abramovich is the head of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia and a trustee of the Moscow Jewish Museum.
Abramovich planted 25,000 new and renovated trees to honor Lithuania’s Holocaust victims. He also created Seed a Memory, a virtual memorial to Lithuanian Jewry that allows people to memorialize their ancestors by naming a tree and placing their names in the monument.
Roman Abramovich’s Business Career
Abramovich established a business in the military. From street vendors to factory technicians. After graduating from Moscow’s Gubkin Institute of Oil and Gas, Abramovich worked for Rubicon.
Perestroika in the Soviet Union in 1988 gave Abramovich the chance to renew his prior enterprise. Olga, his first wife, made dolls.
His wealth grew swiftly from oil to pig farms. He’s traded food, sugar, and timber. In 1992, he was jailed for stealing government property.
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Roman Abramovich’s Political Career
Abramovich was elected to the State Duma in 1999 as the representative for the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, a poor region in Russia’s the Far East. He founded the charity Pole of Hope to assist the people of Chukotka, particularly children and was elected governor of Chukotka in December 2000, succeeding Aleksandr Nazarov.
From 2000 to 2008, Abramovich was the governor of Chukotka. During his tenure, the region’s living standards improved, schools and housing were restored, and new investors were attracted. He is thought to have invested more than US$1.3 billion (€925 million) in the region.
Abramovich was awarded the Order of Honour by a decree signed by Russia’s President for his “significant contribution to the economic development of the autonomous district [of Chukotka].”
President Dmitry Medvedev accepted Abramovich’s request to resign as governor of Chukotka in early July 2008, though his various charitable activities in the region would continue. Between 2000 and 2006, the average monthly salary in Chukotka increased from around US$165 (€117/£100) in 2000 to US$826 (€588/£500) in 2006.
Roman Abramovich’s Personal Life
Abramovich has three marriages and three divorces. Following a brief stint in the Soviet Army, he married Olga Yurevna Lysova in December 1987; they divorced in 1990. He married Irina Malandina, a former Russian Aeroflot stewardess, in October 1991.
Ilya, Arina, Sofia, Arkadiy, and Anna are their five children. His eldest daughter, Anna, is a Columbia University graduate who lives in New York City, and his daughter Sofia, who graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London, is a professional equestrian who lives in London.
Following reports of Abramovich’s close relationship with Dasha Zhukova, daughter of a prominent Russian oligarch, Alexander Zhukov, the News of the World reported on October 15, 2006, that Irina had hired two top UK divorce lawyers.
The Abramoviches responded that neither had sought legal advice at that time. They divorced in Russia in March 2007, however, for a reported US$300 million (€213 million).
Abramovich married Zhukova in 2008, and they have two children: Aaron Alexander, a son, and Leah Lou, a daughter. The couple announced their separation in August 2017, and their divorce was finalized in 2018.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Did Roman Abramovich Decide to Sell Chelsea?
Until acquiring Chelsea in 2003, almost no one in football had heard of Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich. Yet, he became the most successful and controversial Premier League owner of the last two decades before being forced to sell the club by the UK government due to his ties to Vladimir Putin.
Where does Roman Abramovich rank in the rich list?
Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea, has dropped to position 28 in the Sunday Times Rich List. In 2021, the Russian oligarch ranked eighth in wealth in the United Kingdom.
What Amount of Money Has Roman Abramovich Lost?
A Jersey court froze more than $7 billion in Roman Abramovich assets, roughly half of the Russian billionaire’s publicly estimated wealth.