German Khan
Russian businessman; co-founder of Alfa Group and LetterOne
| German Khan
| |
|---|---|
| Image | .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]
| 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
- ↑ 1.00 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.
- ↑ 2.0 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.
- ↑ 3.0 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.
- ↑ 4.0 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.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 11 November 2026 13:04 UTC, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Matrix Chambers, High Court awards remedies in Data Protection Act claim Matrix Chambers, 8 July 2020, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.