Roman Abramovich is a Russian billionaire, investor, politician and entrepreneur. He is the owner of the private investment company, Millhouse LLC and the Chelsea Football Club.
Success Story
Roman Abramovich was born on 24th October 1966 to a Jewish family in Taurage, Lithuania. Abromovic’s father, Arkady was a state office manager.
Roman Abramovich dabbled in a plethora of things before making it big. He started his career with the Soviet Army. He then worked as a street trader and opened a mechanic shop near a local factory. During the perestroika, Abramovich sold runner ducks from his apartment and even sold retreaded car tires. With opportunities for privatization thanks to the perestroika, Roman Abramovich legitimized his small business. He opened a doll making company with his first wife, Olga. He soon went on to invest in oil conglomeration, pig farms, and other businesses.
Between 1992 and 1995 he founded five different companies that produced consumer goods, acted as intermediaries and carried out resales. He finally settled for oil products. It was during this time that he was arrested for making fake agreements and theft of government property. The case was closed once proper compensation was met.
By the age of 30, Roman Abramovich was well-connected politically and developed close ties with the President, Boris Yeltsin. He was elected governor of Chukotka and even moved to a new apartment in the Kremlin on the insistence of the First family. Reports suggest that it was Abramovich who suggested Vladimir Putin’s name as a successor to Yeltsin. Abramovich had interviewed each candidate for the cabinet position, and Putin shared a close friendship with Abramovich.
2003 made Roman Abramovich a well-known figure in the world since he acquired the ownership of the companies that owned and controlled the Chelsea Football Club. Ken Bates, who previously owned Chelsea went on to buy Leeds United. Roman Abramovich made sure that Chelsea became a football club that shared the same leverage as clubs like Manchester United and Real Madrid. He even announced that they would build a new state-of-the-art training complex in Cobham for the team. Roman Abramovich in his second season, replaced Claudio Ranieri for Jose Mourinho as the manager for the team.
Chelsea ended their 2004-05 season as a league champion. This was their first victory in 50 years and their second one in the history of the football club. They have since then gone on to win the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and the Premier League.
Following his success with Chelsea, Roman Abramovich went on to procure CSKA which is a Russian football team. However, he had to forego the rights on the team since UEFA regulations don’t allow the same person to own more than one competing UEFA team. Roman Abramovich made his lawyer, Alexandere Garese his partner in CSKA and controlled the team through him.
Roman Abramovich – Wife and Children
Abramovich first married Olga Yurevan Lysova in 1987, but they divorced in 1990. He went on to marry stewardess, Irina Vyacheslavovna Maladina in 1991, but the marriage ended in 2007. Reports suggested that Roman Abramovich was cheating on Irina with Dasha Zhukova, who was the former girlfriend of Marat Safin and the daughter of Alexander Radkin Zhukov, who was a Russian oligarch. He went on to marry Zhukova in 2008.
Abramovich has five children from Irina and two children from Zhukova. It is believed that the divorce settlement of Abramovich with Irina for £5.5 billion, was the highest one on-record.
Roman Abramovich – Yachts
Abramovich has the most luxurious yachts in the world. He has a 162.5 meters Eclipse, which was once the largest privately owned yacht. The other yachts include Sussurro, Ecstasea and Luna His luxury yachts are referred to in media as ‘Abramovich’s Navy’
Aircrafts
Roman Abramovich also owns the Boeing 767-33A/ER. The aircraft was ordered by Hawaiian Airlines but was canceled, and Abramovich ended up purchasing it and refitted it according to his requirements. He is the proud owner of A Dassault Falcon 7X as well.
Roman Abramovich – Car Collection
Abramovich recently showed off his car collection at the Nürburgring race track in Germany, in 2016. Roman Abramovich hasn’t showcased his car collection before this and experts claim that his car collection would amount to a staggering £8.5 million. He raced his Ferrari along with his friend Viktor Kharitonin. He displayed his Ferrari 488 GT3 and the rare Pagani Zonda R. The car is extremely rare since only 15 of them had been made and was priced at £2.5million.
Roman Abramovich showed off his Bugatti Veyron Ferrari FXX, Lamborghini Reventon, Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3, and Aston Martin Vulcan to name a few of the cars that he displayed.
The Nürburgring race track is owned by Roman Abramovich’s friend, Viktor Kharitonin in 2014. The race track was closed to the public for the two-day event where Roman Abramovich displayed his car collection so that the two friends could race their cars without any disturbance.
Roman Abramovich – Net worth
Roman Abramovich has a net worth of $9.1 billion. He is the 13th richest billionaire in Russia and 139th richest person in the world.
