Leonid Mikhelson (Russian: Леонид Михельсон; born August 11, 1955 in Kaspiysk) is a Russian businessman, CEO, chairman and major shareholder of the Russian gas company Novatek.
According to Forbes, his personal fortune was estimated at US$18.2 billion as of 2017.
Biography
Born to a Jewish family, Mikhelson began his career as an engineer after graduating with a degree in Industrial Civil Engineering from the Samara Institute of Civil Engineering in 1977. He started working as a foreman at a construction and assembling company in the Tyumen area of Siberia. One of his initial projects was work on the Urengoi-Chelyabinsk gas pipeline. In 1985, he was appointed as Chief Engineer of Ryazantruboprovodstroy. In 1987, he became General Director of Kuibishevtruboprovodstroy. In 1991, Kuibishevtruboprovodstroy was one of the first companies to undergo privatization after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Mikhelson continued as Managing Director at the company, which has been renamed NOVA, until October 1994. He then became General Director of its holding company, Novafinivest, which later became known as NOVATEK. From 2008 until 2010 Mikhelson was Chairman of the Board of Directors for OAO Stroytransgas and OOO Art Finance. He currently holds the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of ZAO SIBUR and serves on the Supervisory Board of OAO Russian Regional Development Bank.
SIBUR is a gas processing and petrochemicals company operating 26 production sites across Russia with headquarters in Moscow. Mikhelson owns 57.5% interest in Sibur, as well as 25% of Novatek.
He also owns the megayacht Pacific.
Russian billionaire Leonid Mikhelson is a major player in the company Novatek. Novatek is the biggest independent producer of natural gas in Russia and Mikhelson is the Chairman and CEO. In 1987 he started running the company and turned it around. Instead of focusing on construction, he turned his attention to obtaining permissions to produce oil and gas. He holds a 25 percent stake in the company and is also the biggest shareholder at First United Bank. In early 2013, his personal net worth was at an estimated $15.4 billion.
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