Difference between revisions of "German Khan"

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(Replace withdrawn Charity Commission link with archive.org copy)
(Expanded and updated profile with sourced sections; earlier text retained)
 
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{{short description|'''Russian businessman; co-founder of Alfa Group and LetterOne'''}}
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{{Infobox person
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| name = German Khan
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| image = German Khan (Wikimedia Commons).jpg
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| caption = Khan in 2012
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| birth_date = {{Start date|1961|10|24}} (Forbes)
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| nationality = Russian; Israeli citizen (Forbes)
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| residence = Moscow (Forbes)
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| occupation = Businessman
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| known_for = Alfa Group; LetterOne; TNK-BP
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| education = Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (Forbes)
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}}
  
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'''German Khan''' (born 24 October 1961) is a Russian businessman, born in Ukraine according to Forbes. With [[Mikhail Fridman]] and Alexei Kuzmichev he co-founded Alfa Group and the Luxembourg-based investment firm LetterOne.<ref name="fp_german_khan">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/german-khan.json Forbes profile record for German Khan (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/german-khan/)] ''Forbes'', live record, read 11 November 2026, accessed 11 November 2026.</ref> The EU and the UK sanctioned him in 2022. His challenges to the EU listing were dismissed by the General Court in 2023 and 2025, and his appeal by the Court of Justice in November 2026.<ref name="fp_german_khan" /><ref name="gc23">General Court of the European Union, [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/731/oj/eng Case T-333/22: Judgment of the General Court of 29 November 2023 — Khan v Council] ''Official Journal of the European Union (EUR-Lex)'', 29 November 2023, accessed 11 November 2026.</ref><ref name="ae25">Agence Europe, [https://agenceurope.eu/en/bulletin/article/13653/28/eu-general-court-dismisses-appeal-of-russian-businessman-challenging-his-inclusion-among-persons-sanctioned-by-eu EU General Court dismisses appeal of Russian businessman challenging his inclusion among persons sanctioned by EU] ''Agence Europe'', 4 June 2025, accessed 11 November 2026.</ref><ref name="cj26">Court of Justice of the European Union, [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62025CJ0530 Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 5 November 2026, German Khan v Council of the European Union, Case C-530/25 P] ''EUR-Lex'', 5 November 2026, accessed 11 November 2026.</ref> On 11 November 2026 the [[Forbes]] Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Khan 324th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$10.9 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as oil, banking, telecom.<ref name="fp_german_khan" /><ref name="ForbesRTB">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/rtb/0/position/true.json?fields=rank,uri,personName,finalWorth,source,countryOfCitizenship,state,city,industries&limit=400 Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed] ''Forbes'', live; downloaded 11 November 2026 13:04 UTC, accessed 11 November 2026.</ref> In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Khan 304th, at US$10.6 billion.<ref name="ForbesAnnual">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/billionaires/2026/position/true.json 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 11 November 2026.</ref>
  
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== Alfa Group and TNK-BP ==
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[[Forbes]] says Khan and his college friends Fridman and Kuzmichev have been partners since 1989, when they started the commodities trader Alfa-Eco. Khan is also a co-founder of Alfa Bank, which Forbes calls the largest non-state bank in Russia, and which it says was later hit with US sanctions.<ref name="fp_german_khan" /> In 2003 Alfa Group's Tyumen Oil merged with BP's Russian assets to form TNK-BP. Ten years later the partners sold their 25% stake for US$14 billion.<ref name="fp_german_khan" /> Forbes reports that Khan wanted to emigrate to Israel in the late 1980s, but that Fridman persuaded him to start a business in Moscow instead.<ref name="fp_german_khan" />
  
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== Sanctions ==
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[[Forbes]] says Khan, Fridman, [[Petr Aven]] and Kuzmichev were all sanctioned by the EU and the UK in February and March 2022. Khan stepped down from LetterOne's board in March 2022 and moved back to Moscow from London that summer.<ref name="fp_german_khan" /> The EU listed him by Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/429 of 15 March 2022.<ref name="gc23" /> Agence Europe reported that the Council's grounds were that his activities gave active material and financial support to Russian decision-makers, and that the listing was renewed in 2024 and 2025.<ref name="ae25" />
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Khan's first annulment action (T-333/22) was dismissed by the General Court on 29 November 2023, with costs.<ref name="gc23" /> A second action (T-289/23), against the later renewals, was dismissed on 4 June 2025. The court found that the Council had provided sufficient concrete, precise and concordant evidence.<ref name="ae25" /> On 5 November 2026 the Court of Justice dismissed his appeal against the 2025 judgment and ordered him to pay the Council's costs. It upheld the General Court's finding that the Council had current evidence that he continued to manage Russia-based assets.<ref name="cj26" />
  
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== Steele dossier litigation ==
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Khan, Aven and Fridman sued Orbis Business Intelligence, the company that produced the 2016 'Steele dossier', under the Data Protection Act 1998 over the contents of 'Memorandum 112'.<ref name="mx20">Matrix Chambers, [https://www.matrixlaw.co.uk/judgments/high-court-awards-remedies-in-data-protection-act-claim/ High Court awards remedies in Data Protection Act claim] ''Matrix Chambers'', 8 July 2020, accessed 11 November 2026.</ref> In July 2020 the High Court ordered Orbis to rectify its records and awarded £18,000 each to the first and second claimants, Aven and Fridman.<ref name="mx20" /> [[Forbes]] says that Khan and Fridman also brought defamation suits over the dossier, against BuzzFeed and the research firm Fusion GPS. It adds that in August 2018 the libel claims against Steele and Fusion were dismissed.<ref name="fp_german_khan" />
  
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==See also==
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== Wealth history ==
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*[[The Sunday Times Rich List 2022]]
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[[Forbes]] has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 23 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2004. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.<ref name="ForbesAnnual" /><ref name="fp_german_khan" />
  
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==Historic charity trusteeships (archived register snapshots)==
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{| class="wikitable sortable"
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|+ Forbes estimates by list year
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! Year !! World's Billionaires rank !! Net worth (US$ bn)
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|-
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| 2004 || 406 || 1.4
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|-
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| 2005 || 306 || 2.1
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|-
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| 2006 || 94 || 6.1
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|-
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| 2007 || 86 || 8.0
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|-
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| 2008 || 54 || 13.9
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|-
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| 2009 || 132 || 4.0
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|-
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| 2010 || 83 || 8.2
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|-
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| 2011 || 92 || 9.6
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|-
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| 2012 || 105 || 8.5
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|-
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| 2013 || 103 || 10.5
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|-
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| 2014 || 100 || 11.3
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|-
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| 2015 || 133 || 9.5
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|-
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| 2016 || 128 || 8.7
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|-
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| 2017 || 138 || 9.3
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|-
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| 2018 || 152 || 9.8
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|-
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| 2019 || 140 || 9.7
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|-
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| 2020 || 160 || 8.5
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|-
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| 2021 || 224 || 10.1
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|-
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| 2022 || 296 || 7.8
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|-
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| 2023 || 249 || 8.2
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|-
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| 2024 || 298 || 8.5
 +
|-
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| 2025 || 289 || 9.6
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|-
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| 2026 || 304 || 10.6
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|}
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== International and political links ==
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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."
 +
 
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=== Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements) ===
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[[Forbes]] describes Khan as an Israeli citizen.<ref name="fp_german_khan" />
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=== Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups ===
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No documented involvement found in sources checked.
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=== Jewish communal charities ===
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No documented involvement found in sources checked.
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=== Gulf states ===
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No documented involvement found in sources checked.
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=== China ===
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No documented involvement found in sources checked.
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=== Russia ===
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Khan co-founded Alfa Group and Alfa Bank, and [[Forbes]] says he moved back to Moscow in 2022.<ref name="fp_german_khan" />
 +
 
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=== India ===
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No documented involvement found in sources checked.
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 +
=== Palestinian or Arab causes ===
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No documented involvement found in sources checked.
 +
 
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=== Home government ===
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No documented involvement found in sources checked.
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 +
=== Other international links ===
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Khan was born in Ukraine, according to [[Forbes]]. He has been under EU and UK sanctions since 2022.<ref name="fp_german_khan" />
 +
 
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== Earlier Powerbase text (retained) ==
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===Historic charity trusteeships (archived register snapshots)===
 
''Identification (20 October 2026):'' The Charity Commission stated in 2022 that [[Petr Aven]], [[Mikhail Fridman]] and German Khan, three of the four founding trustees of [[Genesis Philanthropy Group]], had been designated under UK financial sanctions relating to Russia, and that the register had been amended to show that they had ceased to be trustees<ref name="JCB-CCGenesis">Charity Commission, [https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-investigates-charity-over-sanctioned-trustees "Regulator investigates charity over sanctioned trustees"], GOV.UK, 18 March 2022 (page since withdrawn); [https://web.archive.org/web/20220318140202/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-investigates-charity-over-sanctioned-trustees archived] by the Wayback Machine on 18 March 2022.</ref>.
 
''Identification (20 October 2026):'' The Charity Commission stated in 2022 that [[Petr Aven]], [[Mikhail Fridman]] and German Khan, three of the four founding trustees of [[Genesis Philanthropy Group]], had been designated under UK financial sanctions relating to Russia, and that the register had been amended to show that they had ceased to be trustees<ref name="JCB-CCGenesis">Charity Commission, [https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-investigates-charity-over-sanctioned-trustees "Regulator investigates charity over sanctioned trustees"], GOV.UK, 18 March 2022 (page since withdrawn); [https://web.archive.org/web/20220318140202/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-investigates-charity-over-sanctioned-trustees archived] by the Wayback Machine on 18 March 2022.</ref>.
  
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| [[Genesis Philanthropy Group]] || 1180696 || 3 January 2019 || 3 January 2019 || 1 || <ref name="JCB-ARC1180696_1">UK Government Web Archive, [https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20190103024915/http://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1180696&subid=0 Genesis Philanthropy Group – register entry (3 January 2019)], archived snapshot of the Charity Commission register dated 3 January 2019, accessed 14 October 2026.</ref>
 
| [[Genesis Philanthropy Group]] || 1180696 || 3 January 2019 || 3 January 2019 || 1 || <ref name="JCB-ARC1180696_1">UK Government Web Archive, [https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20190103024915/http://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1180696&subid=0 Genesis Philanthropy Group – register entry (3 January 2019)], archived snapshot of the Charity Commission register dated 3 January 2019, accessed 14 October 2026.</ref>
 
|}
 
|}
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== See also ==
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* [[Mikhail Fridman]]
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* [[Genesis Philanthropy Group]]
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* [[The Sunday Times Rich List 2022]]
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
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[[Category:Businesspeople|Khan, German]]
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[[Category:Living people|Khan, German]]
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[[Category:Russian billionaires|Khan, German]]
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[[Category:Oil Industry|Khan, German]]
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[[Category:Finance|Khan, German]]

Latest revision as of 14:30, 11 November 2026

Russian businessman; co-founder of Alfa Group and LetterOne

German Khan

Image German Khan (Wikimedia Commons).jpg
Khan in 2012
Born 24 October 1961 (Forbes)
Nationality Russian; Israeli citizen (Forbes)
Residence Moscow (Forbes)
Occupation Businessman
Known for Alfa Group; LetterOne; TNK-BP
Education Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (Forbes)

German Khan (born 24 October 1961) is a Russian businessman, born in Ukraine according to Forbes. With Mikhail Fridman and Alexei Kuzmichev he co-founded Alfa Group and the Luxembourg-based investment firm LetterOne.[1] The EU and the UK sanctioned him in 2022. His challenges to the EU listing were dismissed by the General Court in 2023 and 2025, and his appeal by the Court of Justice in November 2026.[1][2][3][4] On 11 November 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Khan 324th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$10.9 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as oil, banking, telecom.[1][5] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Khan 304th, at US$10.6 billion.[6]

Alfa Group and TNK-BP

Forbes says Khan and his college friends Fridman and Kuzmichev have been partners since 1989, when they started the commodities trader Alfa-Eco. Khan is also a co-founder of Alfa Bank, which Forbes calls the largest non-state bank in Russia, and which it says was later hit with US sanctions.[1] In 2003 Alfa Group's Tyumen Oil merged with BP's Russian assets to form TNK-BP. Ten years later the partners sold their 25% stake for US$14 billion.[1] Forbes reports that Khan wanted to emigrate to Israel in the late 1980s, but that Fridman persuaded him to start a business in Moscow instead.[1]

Sanctions

Forbes says Khan, Fridman, Petr Aven and Kuzmichev were all sanctioned by the EU and the UK in February and March 2022. Khan stepped down from LetterOne's board in March 2022 and moved back to Moscow from London that summer.[1] The EU listed him by Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/429 of 15 March 2022.[2] Agence Europe reported that the Council's grounds were that his activities gave active material and financial support to Russian decision-makers, and that the listing was renewed in 2024 and 2025.[3] Khan's first annulment action (T-333/22) was dismissed by the General Court on 29 November 2023, with costs.[2] A second action (T-289/23), against the later renewals, was dismissed on 4 June 2025. The court found that the Council had provided sufficient concrete, precise and concordant evidence.[3] On 5 November 2026 the Court of Justice dismissed his appeal against the 2025 judgment and ordered him to pay the Council's costs. It upheld the General Court's finding that the Council had current evidence that he continued to manage Russia-based assets.[4]

Steele dossier litigation

Khan, Aven and Fridman sued Orbis Business Intelligence, the company that produced the 2016 'Steele dossier', under the Data Protection Act 1998 over the contents of 'Memorandum 112'.[7] In July 2020 the High Court ordered Orbis to rectify its records and awarded £18,000 each to the first and second claimants, Aven and Fridman.[7] Forbes says that Khan and Fridman also brought defamation suits over the dossier, against BuzzFeed and the research firm Fusion GPS. It adds that in August 2018 the libel claims against Steele and Fusion were dismissed.[1]

Wealth history

Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 23 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2004. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.[6][1]

Forbes estimates by list year
Year World's Billionaires rank Net worth (US$ bn)
2004 406 1.4
2005 306 2.1
2006 94 6.1
2007 86 8.0
2008 54 13.9
2009 132 4.0
2010 83 8.2
2011 92 9.6
2012 105 8.5
2013 103 10.5
2014 100 11.3
2015 133 9.5
2016 128 8.7
2017 138 9.3
2018 152 9.8
2019 140 9.7
2020 160 8.5
2021 224 10.1
2022 296 7.8
2023 249 8.2
2024 298 8.5
2025 289 9.6
2026 304 10.6

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)

Forbes describes Khan as an Israeli citizen.[1]

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

Khan co-founded Alfa Group and Alfa Bank, and Forbes says he moved back to Moscow in 2022.[1]

India

No documented involvement found in sources checked.

Palestinian or Arab causes

No documented involvement found in sources checked.

Home government

No documented involvement found in sources checked.

Other international links

Khan was born in Ukraine, according to Forbes. He has been under EU and UK sanctions since 2022.[1]

Earlier Powerbase text (retained)

Historic charity trusteeships (archived register snapshots)

Identification (20 October 2026): The Charity Commission stated in 2022 that Petr Aven, Mikhail Fridman and German Khan, three of the four founding trustees of Genesis Philanthropy Group, had been designated under UK financial sanctions relating to Russia, and that the register had been amended to show that they had ceased to be trustees[8].

First and last archived snapshot of the Charity Commission register listing this name; these are not actual appointment or resignation dates.

Charity Charity number First seen Last seen Snapshots Source
Genesis Philanthropy Group 1180696 3 January 2019 3 January 2019 1 [9]


See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Forbes, Forbes profile record for German Khan (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/german-khan/) Forbes, live record, read 11 November 2026, accessed 11 November 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 General Court of the European Union, Case T-333/22: Judgment of the General Court of 29 November 2023 — Khan v Council Official Journal of the European Union (EUR-Lex), 29 November 2023, accessed 11 November 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Agence Europe, EU General Court dismisses appeal of Russian businessman challenging his inclusion among persons sanctioned by EU Agence Europe, 4 June 2025, accessed 11 November 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Court of Justice of the European Union, Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 5 November 2026, German Khan v Council of the European Union, Case C-530/25 P EUR-Lex, 5 November 2026, accessed 11 November 2026.
  5. ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 11 November 2026 13:04 UTC, accessed 11 November 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 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 11 November 2026.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Matrix Chambers, High Court awards remedies in Data Protection Act claim Matrix Chambers, 8 July 2020, accessed 11 November 2026.
  8. ↑ Charity Commission, "Regulator investigates charity over sanctioned trustees", GOV.UK, 18 March 2022 (page since withdrawn); archived by the Wayback Machine on 18 March 2022.
  9. ↑ UK Government Web Archive, Genesis Philanthropy Group – register entry (3 January 2019), archived snapshot of the Charity Commission register dated 3 January 2019, accessed 14 October 2026.
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