Latest news with #ViktorVekselberg
Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Sir Leonard Blavatnik net worth — Sunday Times Rich List 2025
What is Sir Leonard Blavatnik's net worth? ▼ 25.725 billion£29.246 billion in 2024 Sir Leonard Blavatnik told The Sunday Times that he and the foundation that bears his name are 'determined to make a difference, whether in science, culture or the arts'. In recognition of his gift to the National Gallery, Room 34 was unveiled as the Blavatnik Family Foundation Room this month. Earlier this year, Blavatnik, 67, who has British and American citizenship, pumped a further £667 million into DAZN. Founded less than a decade ago, DAZN has already amassed a 20 million subscriber base. Yet the London-based media firm is yet to prove a financial hit, reporting a £1.1 billion loss. His streaming service has spent vast sums on buying up broadcasting rights to European football, boxing, top-tier basketball, motor racing and American football in the hope of building a 'Spotify of sport'. Blavatnik has plenty of resources to throw at DAZN. He built his fortune in Russia but sold the last of his assets there in 2013. Born in Odesa, when Ukraine was under Soviet control, he moved to a city north of Moscow as a child. At university in the Russian capital he met his former business partner and fellow Ukrainian Viktor Vekselberg, 68, who is now under western sanctions. During the 1980s they built up then offloaded large stakes in Russia's largest aluminium company and a leading oil company. Blavatnik settled in the US, where he studied at Harvard and Columbia universities. In 1986 he founded his investment operation Access Industries in New York. It has holdings worth $35 billion (£28.2 billion) in 30 countries, including a majority stake in Warner Music. Warner, which is partly listed on the New York stock market, is worth $14.4 billion. The shares have lost 20 per cent since of their value between February and the compilation of this year's Rich List — and largely explains Blavatnik's lower wealth this year. Access also owns 20.5 per cent of LyondellBasell, a publicly traded chemicals manufacturer and the world's largest producer of polypropylene, which is today worth almost $30 billion. Blavatnik's bet on Lyondell was described by Forbes as 'the greatest deal in Wall Street history'. His control of Warner Music and Access's funding of a succession of award-scooping films had made Blavatnik a fixture on the red carpet. He co-produced The Zone of Interest, which was named best international film at last year's Oscars. It focuses on the life of the Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife, Hedwig, who lived with their family in a home next to the concentration camp. An adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, currently showing on Broadway — and featuring Succession star Sarah Snook — was nominated for six Tony awards. Blavatnik is planning to invest hundreds of millions of pounds buying up media businesses and producing new TV shows, films and theatre in coming years. Danny Cohen, the former director of the BBC's TV output who is now president of Access Entertainment, says the group will consider large acquisitions in Hollywood. 'We'll spend a few hundred million if we can find the right things,' Cohen recently told the Financial Times. Access recently increased its investment in A24, the production house behind the hit film Everything Everywhere All at Onceand the recent Civil War. Access is also seeking to invest more in South Korea as the media and music scene there continues to grow fast. Blavatnik, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 for his services to philanthropy, has four children with his American wife, Emily Appelson. As well as their London home, they have properties in New York worth several hundred million dollars. He also owns hotels in Hollywood and Miami Beach, and the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat on the Côte d'Azur in France, plus the Ocean Club luxury resort in the Bahamas. Blavatnik spent £45 million on acquiring the Theatre Royal Haymarket in the West End of London and has given money to a range of cultural causes, including £50 million to Tate Modern and £10 million to the Courtauld Institute of Art. Explore the definitive guide to the wealth of the UK's richest people
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Russia abandons modernization of power plants due to lack of money, equipment, media reports
The Russian government has allowed several companies to abandon the modernization of over a dozen power plants across the country due to a lack of funding and equipment, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Feb. 14, citing an order published on the governmental website the day prior. Though Russian officials have largely dismissed the impact of Western sanctions imposed over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, warning signs about the state of Russia's economy continue to mount coming into 2025. Tatneft Thermal Power Plant in Nizhnekamensk was removed from the list of modernization projects, and its renovation was postponed until 2027. Avtozavodskaya and Quadra combined heat and power plants, located in Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh oblasts, respectively, were also excluded. Reasons for the decision included rising equipment prices, which would threaten the company's financial stability, and the recognition that the project was not profitable due to the cost of turbines, according to the document. Russia's Territorial Generation Company No. 2 , which supplies Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kostroma, Novgorod, and Yaroslavl oblasts, was allowed not to renovate its power plants in Kostroma and Yaroslavl due to financing difficulties. The company originally planned to obtain funds for the projects from Russia's Alfa Bank but was unable to agree on loans, the news agency reported. The Russian government approved the modernization project's abandonment of the Nevinnomysskaya Condensing Power Plant in Stavropol Krai, the cost of which had reportedky risen by 454%. Russia's Siberian Generating Company was also relieved of requirements to modernize four power plants in Siberia. The company will have to pay about 2 billion rubles ($22 million) for the projects to be phased out. The Second Generation Company of the Wholesale Electricity Market, owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom, was also released from its obligations to renovate its power plant in the city of Surgut due to a 16-month delay in equipment deliveries. Billionaire Viktor Vekselberg's T Plus was also allowed not to modernize the plants he owned in Izhevsk and Samara. The combined effect of sanctions and inflation is beginning to threaten the Russian economy in various sectors, including automotive, aviation, and retail. This development comes amid a growing push by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to launch negotiations in Ukraine as soon as possible, though Moscow has shown little interest in peace talks. Read also: Russia buys acceptance with cash, plunging economy into uncertainty We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
