Dmitry Rybolovlev

Dmitry Evgenevich Rybolovlev
Dmitry Rybolovlev, 2012
Native name	Дмитрий Евгеньевич Рыболовлев
Born	22 November 1966 Perm, Russia Net Worth 9.1 Billion

Dmitry Yevgenyevich Rybolovlev (Russian: Дмитрий Евгеньевич Рыболовлев; Russian pronunciation: [ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɪvˈɡʲenʲɪʲɪtɕ rɨbɐˈlovlʲɪf], born 22 November 1966 in Perm) is a Russian businessman, investor, philanthropist and the owner of AS Monaco FC. Rybolovlev owned the potash producer Uralkali and recently started to invest into the French football club AS Monaco. His 24 year old daughter Ekaterina Rybolovleva is a well known socialite.

In 2010 he ranked #79 in Forbes' billionaire's list.^[1] In 2012, he was ranked #119 among Forbes billionaires, with a net worth of $9.1 billion.^[2]

Early life and education

Dmitry Rybolovlev was born in 1966 in Perm. Rybolovlev's parents were doctors and he himself graduated from the Perm Medical Institute as a cardiologist in 1990. He then started to work in the cardiology emergency service. During his student years, Rybolovlev married Elena, one of his fellow students, and in 1989 their first daughter Ekaterina was born. In the late 1980s Mikhail Gorbachev had started the perestroika that eventually led to the break-up of the Soviet Union and the great economic shocks that followed. During this time Rybolovlev entered the business world. Rybolovlev has said that, as a child growing up in the Soviet Union, he became inspired by the 1912 novel by Theodore Dreiser, "The Financier", which tells the story of a man who makes his first fortune in Philadelphia selling soap and then goes on to invest successfully in the stock market. ^[3]

Early business career

Rybolovlev’s first business project was a medical one: together with his father, Evgeny, he set up a company called Magnetics that offered a form of alternative medical treatment using magnetic fields that Evgeny had developed. However due to the collapse of the Soviet Unions centrally planned economy companies preferred to pay Rybolovlev’s firm with products at discounted prices rather than cash, forcing him to find buyers for these products. Often these resales of products yielded higher profits than his medicine business. According to Forbes Magazine, during this time Rybolovlev earned his first million dollars.

In 1992 Rybolovlev became the first businessman in the Perm region to obtain a Russian Ministry of Finance certificate entitling him to deal with securities, and in the same year opened an investment company. In 1994 Rybolovlev founded a bank, acquired shareholdings in several of Perm’s industrial enterprises and joined their boards.

In 1995, Rybolovlev sold most of his shareholdings and focused in enterprises operating in the potash industry, in particular, Uralkali.^[4]

Development of Uralkali

Over the next 15 years Rybolovlev focused on developing Uralkali and eventually built it into a major global enterprise.^[5] According to the Russian business newspaper Vedomosti, by 2000 he had consolidated his controlling interest in the company and begun to reform and develop it. He completely changed the management team and set as a priority the achievement of an increase in labor productivity. According to Forbes, from 2000 through 2007 labor productivity at Uralkali grew by 2.5 times.^[6]

According to Reuters in 2005 Uralkali and Belarusian potash producer Belaruskali combined their trade flows via a single trader: Belarusian Potash Company (BPC), of which Rybolovlev became chief executive.^[7] Over the next three years, potash prices increased more than fivefold. The price increase and the creation of BPC both had a transformational impact on Uralkali.^[8][9] In 2007 Uralkalis IPO on the London Stock Exchange coincided with the sharply rising global potash prices and was therefore described by the financial media as one of the most successful Russian IPOs ever.^[10]

Shortly before the IPO one of Uralkali's mines had been flooded. The Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda estimated that Uralkali lost several hundred million dollars. In 2008 the Russian government investigated the accident and a government commission determined that it had occurred for geological reasons. However in October 2008, Russian Vice Premier Igor Sechin ordered another investigation and suggested that the degree of the financial liability of Uralkali should be determined. Some foreign media, including the New York Times, speculated that a raider attack had been launched against Uralkali.^[11] Although some parallels were drawn with the Yukos case ultimately a framework for compensation was agreed upon and Rybolovlev retained ownership of Uralkali.^[12]

In June 2010, Rybolovlev sold a 53% shareholding in Uralkali to a group of Russian investors: Kaliha Finance Limited (Suleiman Kerimov, 25%), Aerellia Investments Limited (Alexander Nesis, 15%) and Becounioco Holdings Limited (Filaret Galchev, 13.2%).^[13] The transaction price was not disclosed, but was reported to be around USD 5.3 billion.

In December 2010, Uralkali announced plans to buy potash producer, Silvinit and form one of the world's largest potash producers.^[14] The merger was finalized in July 2011, Rybolovlev had already sold the remaining 10% of his shares of Uralkali to a company owned by Alexander Nesis in April 2011.

Investment in Bank of Cyprus

In September 2010, Rybolovlev bought a 9.7% stake in Cyprus largest bank Bank of Cyprus.^[15] Rybolovlev's investment in Bank of Cyprus followed a long business and personal association with the country, which has also included his decision to support the construction of the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Limassol.^[16]

On 25 March 2013 the EU Eurogroup agreed with the government of Cyprus that the Bank of Cyprus will take over the remnants of Laiki Bank. To finance the deal and save Bank of Cyprus from bankruptcy it was also decided that accounts over 100,000€ would suffer a haircut on their assets of about 90%. In exchange account holders would receive shares in the Bank of Cyprus, diluting Rybolovlev's stake in the bank.

Monaco Football Club

Dmitry Rybolovlev in Monaco

In December 2011, Rybolovlev acquired a 66% stake in Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco.^[17][18]

Rybolovlev’s purchase of the Club was agreed upon with Prince Albert of Monaco.^[19] At one time a leading club in both the French league and at European level, Monaco was struggling at the time and had been demoted to France’s Ligue 2. In May 2013, Monaco was promoted to Ligue 1 after securing the Ligue 2 title.In the summer of 2013 Monaco were one of the biggest spenders in Europe spending roughly 140 million pound of players like Falcao,James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho. Falcao joined for 52.8 million pound and Rodriguez and Moutinho for a combined fee of 61.6 million pound. Smaller signing's like Eric Abidal and Ricardo Carvalho on free transfers were signed to help Monaco achieve European football ^[20]

Etienne Franzi, the former President of the Club, was quoted in the French newspaper Nice Matin in December 2012, one year after Rybolovlev became President as saying: "Mr. Rybolovlev has fulfilled all the obligations he had taken during the handover."^[21] Similarly, the DNCG, the French football authority, also gave a positive endorsement of Rybolovlev's first year in charge, being quoted in the same Nice Matin article as saying: "Monaco has the right approach and is advancing in the right direction."

Speaking to Paris Match in November 2013, Rybolovlev revealed that, before acquiring his stake in ASM, he once considered purchasing Manchester United.^[22] However, he said that Monaco is a team with a long and glorious history, and also both a local and national club at the same time, and, in that respect, unique.

Philanthropy

Rybolovlev is an active philanthropist. He supported the re-building of the Oranienbaum palace in St. Petersburg; he supports the Russian Olympians Foundation and the restoration of the Zachatievsky Monastery in Moscow. Rybolovlev donated €17.5 million for the re-building of the Cathedral of Nativity of Theotokos in Moscow. He has also been involved in the restoration of the iconostasis of the Cathedral of Exaltation of the Cross recreated in Belogorsk Saint Nicolas Monastery.

Rybolovlev is also involved in the construction of the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in Limassol, which is designed by the Russian architect Alexei Vorontsov. The Church will have a size of 1050 m² and the building will accommodate a congregation of between 500 and 600 people. The estimated cost of the project is €5 million.^[23]

A further project in which Rybolovlev is involved is Les Arts Gstaad, which will see the construction of a new cultural centre dedicated to music, arts and literature in the eponymous Swiss town.^[24]

Challenges and controversies

Privatization and business could be very dangerous in Russia during the 1990s. It was a time of the disintegration of the state, weakened central government, economic recession and increasing crime. Therefore anyone who began to make significant amounts of money would usually come quickly to the attention of criminals and corrupt bureaucrats, and become a target for extortion, blackmail and physical attacks. Rybolovlev, who was at that time becoming successful, experienced this darker side of Russian business too. Concerned about the safety of his family he moved them to Switzerland, while he stayed in Russia to do business. According to local newspapers in Perm, including the likes of Zvezda, several attempts were made against his life.^[25]

According to Forbes, in May 1996 Rybolovlev initiated the adoption by a meeting of Uralkali shareholders of a resolution regarding the replacement of a trader because of discriminatory sales conditions. The very next day Rybolovlev was arrested on a charge of having ordered a contract killing. At the age of 29, he was to remain for the next 11 months in a Perm prison cell.^[26] Whilst in prison, Rybolovlev found a way to survive by drawing on his medical training and offering consultations to his fellow prisoners. ^[27]

The charges against Rybolovlev were based on the evidence of a gangster and killer who had organized the murder of a Perm enterprise director. Forbes Russia believes that the case against Rybolovlev was fabricated. In prison, Rybolovlev came under enormous pressure to sell his shares in Uralkali for a large sum of money and in exchange for his freedom. In a later interview to Forbes, he said that he had been prepared to remain in prison as long as 10 years – as far as he was concerned his stake in Uralkali was his property and he was unwilling to hand it over to anyone. The case eventually collapsed after investigators found the true culprits and,11 months after his arrest, Rybolovlev was released. In 1997 he was completely acquitted by courts of law at three levels, including the Presidium of the Supreme Court which is the highest judicial authority in Russia.^[28]

Property

Rybolovlev owns the Maison de L’Amitie in Florida, which he purchased from Donald Trump for USD 95 million. The Maison de l'Amitie has 18 bedrooms and a large number of halls, rooms and areas for various purposes as well as a winter garden and a swimming pool.^[29] In December 2011, Rybolovlev’s daughter Ekaterina purchased the most expensive apartment to have been bought at that time in New York for $88 million.^[30] The total area of the 10-room apartment, which overlooks Central Park, is 626 square meters.^[31]

In 2011 Rybololev reportedly bought a mansion from Will Smith on Kauai, Hawaii, for $20 million.^[32]

In April 2013, Ekaterina Rybolovleva was reported as the buyer of the Skorpios island in Greece, from Athina Onassis Roussel. The sale was completed for the amount of 100 million British pounds (GBP), or approximately 154 million dollars (USD). As reported by Reuters ^[33] and other media outlets, a company belonging to a trust acting in the interest of Ekaterina Rybolovleva, completed the purchase of a group of companies owned by Athina Onassis Roussel. Amongst the assets of this group were the Skorpios island and the islet of Sparti. Rybolovleva said she sees significant potential for further improvement of the islands using environmentally friendly technology and regards the acquisition as a long-term financial investment.

Awards and honours

In 2010 Rybolovlev was awarded the Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov I degree by Patriarch Kirill for funding the restoration of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in Moscow Zachatievsky Monastery.^[34]

Personal life

Rybolovlev has two daughters, Ekaterina, born in 1989, and Anna, born in 2001.^[35]

Ekaterina bought the Greek island of Skorpios, which once belonged to shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, for $153 million.^[36]

He is currently going through a divorce, which he rarely discusses in public. Rybolovlev made a rare public comment himself on the matter in an interview on June 3 in French newspaper L’Equipe, referring to the use of media smears: “I have done everything to secure the future of our two daughters and I am only defending their interests. I have every confidence in justice. But I would not be surprised if some false information appeared in the press. Blackmail is not acceptable to me.” ^[37] In April 2012, Rybolovlev's spokesman admitted that “He was not a model husband. Mr. Rybolovlev never denied the infidelities, but the wife knew about it for many years and passively accepted it.” ^[38]

Rybolovlev is a keen surfer and likes to partake in the activity whenever he has the opportunity to do so, particularly whenever he is in Hawaii.^[39]

In the Forbes list for 2012, published in early 2013, he was ranked 119 in the world with a fortune estimated at $9.1 billion^[40]

See also

• List of Russian billionaires

References

External links

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