Roman Abramovich is known as one of Russia’s most famous oligarchs. He was born in 1966 in Saratov, Russia. He became an orphan at the age of three after his mother died of blood poisoning, and his father died in a construction crane accident. Abramovich was raised by relatives in Komi, Russia. He has described his childhood as happy, despite living in poverty.

#1 Dropping out of School

At the age of 16, he dropped out of school and worked as a mechanic in the Red Army and then transitioned to sales. He sold plastic toys, perfumes, and deodorant. He became friends with Boris Berezovsky around 1993 and the two registered an offshore company with five subsidiaries. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the pair acquired the oil company Sibneft from the Russian government in 1995.

#2 Winning The Aluminum Wars

In the 1990s Abramovich broke into the aluminum industry after it was privatized. During the “aluminum wars,” where oligarchs were fighting for control of the aluminum industry, and several murders of metals traders, journalists, and smelting plant managers, He came out as one of the most powerful aluminum controllers.  

#3 Entering Politics

He began to be involved in politics in the mid-1990s as an ally of President Boris Yeltsin. He had an apartment in the Kremlin. He backed Vladimir Putin after President Yeltsin resigned in 1999. Unlike other Russian oligarchs, he wasn’t sent to prison or exiled by Putin. Instead, he was elected governor of the Chukotka region in 2000. He was a popular governor because he invested around £925 million of his own money into social services. He stepped down from the governor position in 2008.

#4 Buying Chelsea

Abramovich purchased West London’s football club, Chelsea, for £140 Million. Of the acquisition, he told the Financial Times, “My whole philosophy in life is to bring in professional teams. In Chukotka, I have professional teams on the ground and I will do this here too.” During Abramovich’s ownership, Chelsea was the most successful team in England, equal to Manchester United.

#5 Managing Chelsea

He initially hired Jose Mourinho as team manager, before a succession of high turnover. The team won 18 trophies including five FA Cups, five Premier Leagues, one FIFA Club World Cup, and two Champions Leagues among others. In 2010, the team earned its first-ever league and FA Double Cup. He also spent £165.1 Million purchasing players from Portugal, poaching from Benfica and Porto.

#6 Football Passion

He was known to be present at every home game and visit the players after the games.  He sued HarperCollins Publishing House for libel over Putin’s People by Catherine Belton to refute the claims that Putin ordered him to purchase Chelsea. He also revamped the Stadium of Stamford Bridge to increase the capacity to 60,000. The suit was settled out of court. Due to his close ties to the Kremlin, he sold the club when the UK government froze his assets in 2022. He was disqualified as a director of Chelsea by the Premier League in March of 2022.

#7 Russian Invasion

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Ukrainian magnates asked Abramovich to function as an informal envoy to Putin. He played a large role in releasing foreign prisoners of war from Russian captivity including Aiden Aslin. He is named in the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and was also sanctioned by the UK. Many countries sanctioned him over concerns that his steel could be used to produce Russian tanks.

#8 Current Wealth

Abramovich is currently worth $9.85 Billion USD. To honor his Lithuanian Jewish roots, he planted and rehabilitated 25,000 trees to honor Lithuanian Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. He is currently a trustee of the Moscow Jewish Museum and the Chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia.

#9 Leading Polluter

The Conversation reports that Roman Abramovich was one of the world’s largest polluting billionaires responsible for “at least 33,859 metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2018- more than two-thirds from his yacht.” He made most of his fortune trading oil and gas. He owns approximately 1/4th of Russia’s coal mines, which represents 1.5GT of carbon emissions.

#10 Israeli Support

Abramovich controls companies that have donated millions of dollars to Elad, an Israeli settler organization that claims stolen Palestinian land in Gaza and the West Bank. Bank statements are reported to indicate that he is the largest donor to this organization. He owns a hotel in Tel Aviv and donated $30 Million to Tel Aviv University and more.

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