Leonard Blavatnik was born on 14 June 1957, in Odessa Ukraine of Russian(Ukrainian)-Jewish descent, and is best known as an businessman/investor largely through his company Access Industries of which he is the chairman and president. In 2015 Forbes magazine ranked Blavatnik as the 41st richest person in the world.
Len Blavatnik Net Worth $20 Billion
So just how rich is Len Blavatnik? Forbes magazine estimates that Len’s net worth is currently over $20 billion, his wealth accumulated through his investments utilising his Access Industries international conglomerate.
Len Blavatnik’s tertiary education in Moscow was cut short by emigrating to the USA with his family in 1978. He subsequently graduated with a masters degree in computer science from Columbia University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1989.
Blavatnik began his career by investing in real estate in the USA. Then in 1986 he founded Access Industries, an international conglomerate company located in New York, of which he is chairman and president. Initially, he invested in Russian companies being privatised after the fall of communism in the 1990s. He and Viktor Vekselberg, formed the Renova investment vehicle, and then the two joined with Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group to form the AAR venture (Access, Alfa, Renova). These moves were of considerable benefit to Blavatnik’s net worth.
Access was keen to diversify over the years, and in 2005 bought petrochemicals and plastics manufacturer Basell Polyolefins from Royal Dutch Shell and BASF for $5.7 billion. Then in 2007 it acquired the Lyondell Chemical Company for an estimated value of $19 billion. The resulting company, LyondellBasell Industries then became the world’s eighth largest chemical company based on net sales. However, in 2009, the US operations of LyondellBasell Industries filed for bankruptcy, meaning that in 2010, LyondellBasell emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a significantly improved financial position. As part of its exit financing, LyondellBasell raised $3.25 billion of first priority debt as well as $2.8 billion through the rights offering jointly underwritten by Access Industries, Apollo Management, and Ares Management LyondellBasell stock has increased by more than 100% in value sincethen. Access currently owns approximately 14% of LyondellBasell.
AAR has subsequently gained a controlling stake in Russian oil company TNK through privatization auctions, forming TNK-BP, one of Russia’s largest oil companies; Blavatnik serves on the board of directors. Blavatnik also has interests in UC Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, where he also sits on the board. Of course, these deals added to Blavatnik’s net worth.
In 2011, Warner Music Group announced its sale to Access for US$3.3 billion. Additionally Access has long-term strategic holdings in Europe, North and South America. Moreover, Len Blavatnik is a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Centre for International Business and Management at Cambridge University, a member of the board of Dean’s Advisors at the Harvard Business School and a member of the academic board at Tel Aviv University.
In his private life, Blavatnik is married to Emily Appelson Blavatnik, and the couple have four children. As with many billionaires, Blavatnik is a generous philanthropist, with some favorite recipients for donations include the British Museum and Tate Modern in London, and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. In 2010 Blavatnik agreed to donate £75 million to set up a school of government at the University of Oxford in the U.K.
