#176

Mikhail Fridman

Source of wealth: Oil, banking, telecom

62 years male Energy 🇷🇺 RU

Net Worth

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Earnings per second

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The scale of their wealth

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Health

The price of life

Let's compare Mikhail Fridman's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country

Mikhail Fridman could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 7.4 years.

But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country

On the other end, Mikhail Fridman could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 3.3 years.

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Education

Buying the future

Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country

Mikhail Fridman could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 4.8 years.

And yes, we can also compare it with a rich country

But they couldn't just cover the cost of a poor country; Luxembourg is considered the country with the highest per capita investment in education in the world, and Mikhail Fridman could pay for it entirely for 6.6 years.

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Research

The monopoly on progress

Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country

Mikhail Fridman could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 27.6 years.

And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide

But even if we compare the total wealth of Mikhail Fridman with Israel, the country that invests the most per capita in research in the world, they could cover the total cost of the system for 0.6 years.

While billions of people struggle to access basic healthcare, education, and research, a single individual could fund entire national systems for centuries.

Gold

Everyday luxuries

Mikhail Fridman's fortune is equivalent to 112 tons of gold. It's hard to process, since we don't usually keep a handful of gold bars in our piggy banks.

A standard gold ring usually weighs between 4 and 7 grams. Let's say this one weighs 5 grams. It's usually 18 karats.

Based on today's gold price (excluding the jeweler's commission, shipping, or anything else), that ring would be worth $546.86.

Mikhail Fridman could buy 29,951,349 gold rings. That's a lot of fingers and way too many gifts!!

And if you're struggling to visualize that many rings, it would take 5 trucks to transport them. Although Mikhail Fridman will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.

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Biography

Mikhail Fridman, cofounder of Alfa Bank, Russia's largest non-state bank, was hit with sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Soon after, Fridman (who also has Israeli citizenship) stepped down from his Luxembourg holding company, LetterOne, and reduced his shareholding.

Fridman's properties in London, including the $100 million Victorian-era Athlone House estate, have been frozen by the U.K.

A Ukraine native, Fridman and his college buddies German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev started commodities trader Alfa-Eco in 1989.

Thanks to Kremlin connections, Fridman and his partners were able to create a joint venture with British Petroleum, TNK-BP, in 2003.

In 2013 he got $5.1 billion in cash when the trio and partners sold their TNK-BP stakes for $14 billion

In August 2023, Ukraine opened a criminal case against Fridman related to fraud charges stemming from Alfa Bank Ukraine. In December he was put on the international wanted list.