Leonid Mikhelson
Russian businessman; founder, largest shareholder and chairman of the management board of the gas producer Novatek; major shareholder in Sibur
| Leonid Mikhelson
| |
|---|---|
| Image | .jpg) Leonid Mikhelson |
| Born | 1955 |
| Nationality | Russia |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founder and head of Novatek; major shareholder in Sibur; founder of the V–A–C Foundation |
| Education | Kuybyshev Engineering and Construction Institute |
Leonid Viktorovich Mikhelson (born 1955) is a Russian businessman. He founded the natural gas producer Novatek, chairs its management board and is its largest shareholder. He is also a major shareholder in the petrochemicals group Sibur.[1][2][3][4] The United Kingdom sanctioned him in April 2022.[4] He co-founded the V–A–C arts foundation, which in 2021 opened the GES-2 House of Culture in a former Moscow power station.[5][6] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Leonid Mikhelson and family 81st in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$28.3 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Gas, chemicals.[1][7] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Leonid Mikhelson and family 88th, at US$28.3 billion.[8]
Early life and education
Forbes gives his year of birth as 1955 and lists an engineering degree from the Kuybyshev Engineering and Construction Institute. It says he began his career as a foreman for a construction company building a gas pipeline in the Tyumen region.[1]
Career
Forbes describes Mikhelson as the founder and chairman of Novatek.[1] Novatek's Russian-language annual report for 2024 is signed by him as Председатель Правления (chairman of the management board). It names Alexander Natalenko as chairman of the board of directors.[2] The same report describes Arctic LNG 2 as Novatek's second large-scale liquefied natural gas project.[2]
According to Forbes, in 2017 Mikhelson bought a 17% stake in Sibur from Kirill Shamalov, raising his holding to 48%. Forbes says he now holds just over 30%, after Sibur merged with the Tatarstan-based TAIF Group in 2021.[1]
Interfax reported in March 2022 that Mikhelson had taken direct ownership of a 14.3925% stake in Novatek. The stake had previously been held by SWGI Growth Fund Limited, a Cyprus-based fund he controls. Interfax put his total stake at 24.76%, making him the largest shareholder, ahead of Gennady Timchenko (23.49%), TotalEnergies (19.4%) and Gazprom (9.99%).[3]
Sanctions
The UK designated Mikhelson on 6 April 2022 under its Russia sanctions regulations. The measures are an asset freeze and a travel ban, transport sanctions on ships and aircraft he owns or operates, trust-services sanctions (added on 21 March 2023) and director disqualification (added on 9 April 2025). The UK's statement of reasons cites his directorships and major shareholdings in Novatek and Sibur, which it says work in sectors of strategic significance to the Russian government.[4]
In the United States, Novatek has been on OFAC's Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List since 12 September 2014. On 2 November 2023 the State Department designated LLC Arctic LNG 2, the operator of Novatek's flagship Arctic LNG 2 project.[9] These US measures apply to the companies; no US designation of Mikhelson personally was found in the sources checked.
Wealth
Forbes lists the fortune as "Leonid Mikhelson & family", with gas and chemicals as the source.[1][7]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 21 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2006. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.[8][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 292 | 2.5 |
| 2007 | 194 | 4.3 |
| 2008 | 214 | 4.7 |
| 2009 | 285 | 2.4 |
| 2010 | 189 | 4.4 |
| 2011 | 99 | 9.1 |
| 2012 | 72 | 11.9 |
| 2013 | 47 | 15.4 |
| 2014 | 57 | 15.6 |
| 2015 | 105 | 11.7 |
| 2016 | 60 | 14.4 |
| 2017 | 46 | 18.4 |
| 2018 | 64 | 18.0 |
| 2019 | 32 | 24.0 |
| 2020 | 48 | 17.1 |
| 2021 | 66 | 24.9 |
| 2022 | 130 | 14.0 |
| 2023 | 72 | 21.6 |
| 2024 | 66 | 27.4 |
| 2025 | 66 | 28.4 |
| 2026 | 88 | 28.3 |
Philanthropy and the arts
Mikhelson and the curator Teresa Iarocci Mavica co-founded the V–A–C Foundation in 2009.[5] Forbes says he collects art and has sponsored museum exhibitions in Russia and the US through a fund named after his daughter.[1] The foundation's GES-2 House of Culture opened on 4 December 2021. It occupies a former power station on Moscow's Bolotnaya Embankment, opposite the Kremlin, and was renovated by Renzo Piano Building Workshop.[6][5] The Art Newspaper reported that Mavica had put the cost at about US$300 million in 2018. At a 2019 news conference Mikhelson said only that the "frightening figure in my mind has doubled".[5] Forbes puts his spending on the project at more than US$470 million.[1]
Political activity
No elected offices, party donations or lobbying registrations were found for Mikhelson in the sources checked.
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
Russian national. Founder and largest shareholder of Novatek, major shareholder in Sibur, and founder of a Moscow arts venue opposite the Kremlin.[3][4][5]
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
His home government is Russia's (see above). The UK sanctioned him on 6 April 2022, citing Novatek's and Sibur's sectors of strategic significance to the Russian government.[4]
Other international links
Cyprus: until March 2022 part of his Novatek stake was held through the Cyprus-based SWGI Growth Fund.[3] France (company-level): TotalEnergies holds 19.4% of Novatek.[3] United States (company-level): Novatek has been on the US sectoral sanctions list since 2014, and Arctic LNG 2 was designated in 2023.[9] Italy: The Art Newspaper describes V–A–C running a Venice programme alongside its Moscow one.[5]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Leonid Mikhelson & family (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/leonid-mikhelson/) Forbes, live record, read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 ПАО «НОВАТЭК» (PAO Novatek), Годовой отчёт публичного акционерного общества «НОВАТЭК» за 2024 год (Annual report of PAO Novatek for 2024) ПАО «НОВАТЭК», preliminarily approved 11 March 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Interfax, Mikhelson transfers around 14% stake in Novatek to direct ownership, eliminates Cyprus 'layer' Interfax, 21 March 2022, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation / Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, UK Sanctions List entry: MIKHELSON Leonid Viktorovich (RUS1126) GOV.UK UK Sanctions List, designated 6 April 2022; last updated 9 April 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Sophia Kishkovsky, 'Frightening' price tag and soap opera drama: Moscow's GES-2 House of Culture opens opposite Kremlin The Art Newspaper, 3 December 2021, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 V–A–C Foundation, About Us V–A–C, undated (read 21 October 2026), accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 US Department of State, Office of the Spokesperson, Taking Additional Sweeping Measures Against Russia (fact sheet) US Department of State (2021–2025 archive site), 2 November 2023, accessed 21 October 2026.