Base metal: the growth of Magnitka’s shares doubled Viktor Rashnikov’s fortune in a year

Last year, his fortune was estimated at $3.8 billion in the Forbes’ rating of billionaires, and now his fortune is $7.8 billion.

Viktor Rashnikov, the wealthiest businessman of the Chelyabinsk Region and honorary citizen of Magnitogorsk, doubled his fortune last year. Last year he was listed by Forbes as worth $3.8 billion, but now his fortune is $7.8 billion. The Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK), the businessman’s main asset, tripled in value in one year to a record high of the past five years.

Rashnikov was born, grew up, studied and worked in Magnitogorsk for a long time. He started at MMK in 1967 as a fitter and finished as the head of the company in 2011. Today, the owner of 87.26% of MMK shares is the head of the plant’s board of directors, but he is not involved in operations.

The billionaire’s fortune increased not only due to the growth of his stock: for the past year, he received $154 mln in dividends from MMK. In the last 12 years, his net worth has grown by $3.2 billion due to dividends alone. Rashnikov has shared part of this money with his countrymen: in 2007, he built the Metallurg Arena hockey stadium in the center of Magnitogorsk for 7,500 fans, which meets all the requirements of the Continental Hockey League. The Metallurg hockey club team, whose president and main sponsor Rashnikov has been a member since 1999, plays its home games here.

The billionaire still maintains a Magnitogorsk residence permit and often appears in his hometown, but spends most of his time in Moscow or abroad. A few years ago, Rashnikov finished building a mansion on Rublevka in the village of Riita. In 2015, his “palace” made it to the pages of Architectural Digest, a leading international magazine about architecture and interior design. The villa on the Côte d’Azur appeared much earlier – in 2005, Rashnikov bought the famous Villa Nellcôte for €100 million, which was leased by The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards in 1971-1972.

Rashnikov also has a superyacht, another obligatory attribute of the Russian oligarch – built in 2014, the Ocean Victory, 140 m long, is ranked 9th in the list of the largest yachts in the world.

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