Roman Abramovich

Early life

Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich was born on 24 October 1966 in Saratov, then part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union. His mother, Irina (1939‑1967), was a music teacher who died of sepsis following a botched illegal abortion when Abramovich was one year old. His father, Aaron Abramovich Leibovich (1937‑1969), worked in the economic council of the Komi ASSR and was crushed to death when a crane collapsed on him when Roman was three years old. Both parents were of Jewish descent. Roman's maternal grandparents were Ukrainian Jews Vasily Mikhailenko, who converted to Judaism, and Faina Borisovna Grutman. Early in the Second World War, just before the Nazi invasion, Abramovich's mother, then aged three, fled with her family to Saratov from Kyiv. Some of their relatives who remained in Kyiv were among the 33,771 Jews murdered by the Einsatzgruppen in September 1941 at Babi Yar. Roman's paternal grandparents, Nachman Leibovich and Toybe (Tatyana) Stepanovna Abramovich, were Belarusian Jews. They lived in Belarus and, after the Russian Revolution, moved to Tauragė, Lithuania, where the family name took the Lithuanian spelling Abramavičius. In 1940, during the occupation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union (USSR), shortly before Operation Barbarossa, the Soviets carried out the "clearing of the anti‑Soviet, criminal and socially dangerous element", with entire families being sent to gulags in Siberia. Abramovich's grandfather, Nachman Leibovich, was a merchant and branded a "capitalist"; he was deported to an NKVD camp in the settlement of Resheti, Krasnoyarsk Territory, where he died in 1942. The father, mother and children – Leib, Abram and Aron (Arkady) – were held in separate gulags. In late 1969, having lost both parents, Abramovich was taken in as an orphan by his maternal aunt Lyudmila and her husband, Uncle Leib, in Ukhta, Komi Republic, near the Arctic Circle in northern Russia, where winter temperatures fall to −30 °C. Together with their cousins Natalya and Ida, the family of five shared a three‑room flat; his aunt and uncle slept on the sofa. His uncle Leib was the director of supplies at a local factory. Abramovich was described by one neighbour as a "polite and quiet boy, not rowdy like the others". Despite the harsh climate and the family's lack of money, he has said that his childhood was not unhappy, because "as a child you cannot tell the difference". Nevertheless, he always harboured a desire to leave Ukhta, which he considered "too small". At the age of eight, he attended School No 2 in Ukhta, but the following year he went to live with another uncle near Moscow, returning to Ukhta only for his final year of school. Abramovich left school at sixteen, worked as a mechanic and served in the Soviet Army in an artillery unit in Kirzhach. His monthly pay of 7 roubles was not enough, so he persuaded several military drivers to siphon off a few litres of petrol from their tanks on a regular basis, offeri

Sanctions & controversy

Abramovich is one of many Russian oligarchs named in the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, CAATSA, signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2017. He is one of the Navalny 35. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, in March 2022, as a result of his alleged ties to Vladimir Putin and his investments in Russia, Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK, Canada, Australia, the European Union, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Ukraine. In December 2022, under its Special Economic Measures Act seizure and forfeiture mechanism, Canada filed court proceedings to freeze US$26 million in a bank account of Granite Capital Holdings Ltd, which was linked to Abramovich. In December 2023, Abramovich lost his legal challenge to overturn the EU sanctions, when the Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed his lawsuit. Jersey froze $7 billion of his assets and searched his residences as part of an investigation into suspected money laundering and sanctions breaches. In 2025, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council denied an attempt by Abramovich to unfreeze the assets. The £2.5 billion in proceeds from the sale of Chelsea was frozen. Abramovich has promised to use these funds to support victims of the war in Ukraine but wants flexibility on exactly how it would be spent. The UK government has threatened legal action to ensure the money is used to support humanitarian aid in Ukraine. In March 2026, authorities in Jersey began investigating the funds amount to "the proceeds of crime". In April 2026, Abramovich filed suit in the European Court of Human Rights claiming that the freeze on his assets is "unfair and abusive" after years of no decision on the use of the funds.

In 2004, Abramovich, through a former company was one of several Russians accused of using a US$4.8 billion (€3.4 billion) loan from the IMF as personal slush fund; however, an audit sponsored by the IMF determined that all of the IMF funds had been used appropriately. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) sued Abramovich, Eugene Shvidler, and others over a £9 million (US$14.9 million/€10.6 million) loan owned by Runicom, which went bankrupt in 2003. By 2018, the amount due was $46 million, including interest and costs. The parties settled on undisclosed terms.

Personal life

Abramovich is described by those close to him as naturally secretive, reserved, calculating, and highly efficient. He often dresses simply. He is described as shy and rarely makes eye contact.

Abramovich has been married and divorced three times. In December 1987, following a brief stint in the Soviet Army, he married Olga Yurevna Lysova; they divorced in 1990. In October 1991, he married a former Russian Aeroflot stewardess, Irina Malandina. They have five children; Ilya, Arina, Sofia, Arkadiy, and Anna. His eldest daughter Anna is a graduate of Columbia University and lives in New York City, and his daughter Sofia is a professional equestrian who lives in London after graduating from Royal Holloway, University of London. She owns 30 horses, many valued at over $500,000 each. She has publicly criticised Putin for the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In October 2006, reports circulated that Irina was seeking a divorce; the reports were denied. However, they divorced in Russia in March 2007, with a reported settlement of US$300 million (€213 million). In 2008, Abramovich married Dasha Zhukova, daughter of Russian oligarch Alexander Zhukov, and they have two children, a son, Aaron Alexander, and a daughter, Leah Lou. In August 2017, the couple announced that they would separate; their divorce was finalised in 2019.

Career

After Mikhail Gorbachev allowed for greater openness to entrepreneurship under perestroika, Abramovich began selling plastic ducks from a stall in Moscow, eventually moving to perfumes and deodorants. He and his first wife, Olga, set up a company making dolls. He started and liquidated at least 20 companies in various sectors. Within a few years, his wealth spread from oil trading to pig farms. He also traded in timber, sugar, food stuffs, and other products. In June 1992, aged 25, Abramovich was arrested and briefly imprisoned on charges of theft of government property for allegedly stealing 55 tankers of diesel fuel, worth 3.8 million rubles, from the Ukhta Oil Refinery. Abramovich allegedly used forged documents to intercept a train carrying the fuel in Moscow and redirect the shipment to a military base, where the diesel was then sold. Despite the seriousness of the charges, Abramovich was not ultimately prosecuted. Lawyers later claimed the incident was a misunderstanding, and the case was dropped after the oil refinery was compensated for its losses.

In 1999, Abramovich was elected to the State Duma as the representative for the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, an impoverished region in the Russian Far East. He started the charity Pole of Hope to help the people of Chukotka, especially children, and in December 2000, was elected Governor of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, replacing Aleksandr Nazarov. As governor, Abramovich spent approximately £1.5 billion of his own money to build schools, hospitals and infrastructure in Chukotka through his charity the Pole of Hope. Abramovich was awarded the Order of Honour for his contribution to the economic development of the region by a decree signed by the President of Russia. Abramovich tried to resign in 2007 but agreed to stay on at the request of Vladimir Putin. In early July 2008, to spend more time in the West, and because he felt that his job as governor was completed, Abramovich resigned as governor of Chukotka, although his various charitable activities in the region continued. The average salaries in Chukotka increased from about US$165 (€117/£100) per month in 2000 to US$826 (€588/£500) per month in 2006.

The fortune

After privatisation, the "aluminium wars" led to murders of smelting plant managers, metals traders, and journalists as groups battled for control of the industry. Abramovich was initially hesitant to enter into the aluminium business, claiming that "every three days someone was murdered in that business". In early 2000, due to the wars, a major strike action, and the rise of Vladimir Putin, David and Simon Reuben sold their aluminium assets to Roman Abramovich in a $575 million deal. In February 2000, Abramovich met with aluminium oligarchs Iskander Makhmudov, Oleg Deripaska, and Lev Chernoi with a proposal to consolidate the aluminium business in Russia and end the wars, with a major investment by Abramovich. At a meeting at the Balchug Kempinski in Moscow that lasted until 5:00AM, the companies all agreed to merge and form Rusal. Along with SUAL Group, the two companies controlled 90% of the Russian aluminum market. In two transactions in 2004, Abramovich sold his 50% stake in Rusal to Deripaska for £1.8 billion, making him the richest person in the world under the age of 40.

In 2001, Abramovich set up Millhouse Capital as an entity to own his investments; it is also part-owned by Eugene Shvidler. Through Millhouse, he owned Prodo group, which invested in meat processing plants. In 2003, he sold a 37.5% stake in RusPromAvto. In 2006, Millhouse acquired 41% of Evraz for £1.6 billion. In December 2007, Millhouse LLC, Abramovich's investment vehicle, acquired a 40% stake in Highland Gold for $400 million. In July 2020, the stake was sold to Vladislav Sviblov for $560 million. In August 2001, companies linked to Abramovich acquired 29.3% of Aeroflot for $120 million. He sold the stake in 2003. In February 2013, Abramovich acquired Four Winds Plaza, a new prime office and residential complex on Tverskaya Street in Moscow for $370 million. Later that year, he paid around $750 million for White Gardens, an office complex with 64,000 square meters of rentable space near Moscow Belorussky railway station. Abramovich was a major investor in Renaissance Insurance. In February 2022, Abramovich acquired the Hotel Kristall in Gelendzhik, on the Black Sea. In 2023, a company controlled by Abramovich invested $140,000 in Kiana Analytics, a real-time location services startup based in Sunnyvale, California. From 2015 to 2021, Abramovich was a limited partner and invested $63 million in venture capital funds managed by Target Global. Startups in which the funds invested include Cazoo and Revolut.

Abramovich has invested $120 million in 20 Israeli high-tech start-ups ranging from medicine and renewable energy, to social media. Abramovich invested over $30 million in StoreDot, founded by Doron Myersdorf, including $10 million invested in June 2014. In April 2015, Abramovich invested $15 million in Israeli music sharing start-up Music Messenger, founded by OD Kobo. Other investors included David Guetta, Nicki Minaj, Tiësto, Avicii, will.i.am, Benny Andersson, a

Yachts & assets

In 2001, Abramovich purchased the Château de la Croë in Antibes. He spent €100 million on a restoration, completed in 2008, adding a rooftop swimming pool, gym, and home cinema. In September 2009, Abramovich paid $90 million for a 70-acre estate on Saint Barthélemy. He also is the likely owner of another property on the island. In 2011, Abramovich spent £5 million on a New Years Eve party at the property that featured performances by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Toots Hibbert and 300 guests including George Lucas, Martha Stewart, Marc Jacobs, and Jimmy Buffett. In September 2011, Abramovich bought 16 Kensington Palace Gardens in London, a 15-bedroom mansion, for £90 million. He expanded the property to include an underground swimming pool. In 2012, he paid £28 million for a six-story house in Eaton Square, Belgravia from Lily Safra. Abramovich owns the Varsano boutique hotel in the Neve Tzedek neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, Israel, which he bought for 100 million NIS in 2015 from Gal Gadot's husband Yaron "Jaron" Varsano and his brother Guy Varsano, with plans to convert it to a residence. In early 2018, Abramovich purchased four townhouses in the Upper East Side of Manhattan: 9, 11, 13 and 15 East 75th Street, paying $78 million for the first three houses and $29 million for the fourth. He planned to combine them into a megamansion that would measure 1,800 m2 (19,400 sq ft). However, he sold them to his ex-wife Dasha Zhukova for $91.4 million later that year. In August 2018, Abramovich bought a triplex penthouse apartment in Chelsea, London for £30 million. In January 2020, Abramovich purchased a property in Herzliya Pituah, Israel, for a record 226 million NIS. As of 2022, he owned the Wildcat Ridge house, a 14,300-square-foot (1,330 m2), 11-bedroom, 12-bath mansion on 200 acres near Snowmass Village, Colorado. He purchased it in 2008 for $36.375 million. In September 2023, Abramovich allegedly bought a 2,000 square foot mansion on 96 hectares in Üsküdar, Istanbul, formerly owned by Adnan Oktar, for $18 million, with plans to renovate it and build a helipad. Abramovich has denied purchasing property in Turkey, although he is often seen there. Turkey has not sanctioned Russian entities.

Abramovich maintains a fleet of yachts colloquially known as "Abramovich's Navy":

Current boats Eclipse (162.5 m (533 ft)) – Built in Germany by Blohm + Voss, she was launched in September 2009. Abramovich took delivery of the yacht in 2010. The yacht's interior and exterior were designed by Terence Disdale. Eclipse is believed to have cost Abramovich around US$400 million and was the world's largest privately owned yacht until 2013 when it was overtaken by 180 m (590 ft) Azzam. It includes at least two swimming pools, a cinema, two helicopter landing-pads, several on-board tenders, and a submarine that can be launched and dive to a depth of 49 m (160 ft). She is also equipped with armour plating surrounding the bridge and Abramovich's master suite, as well as bul