Vladimir Lisin Net Worth & Biography

This is the biography and life story of Steel tycoon Vladimir Lisin, who as of this time, is considered to be Russia’s richest billionaire according to the Finans Magazine. This businessman has climbed from an entry position as a steel factory employee to the top of one of the world’s largest metal production companies – Novolipetsk Steel. Reports show that his fortune now worth at least $24 billion is nearly triple of what his predecessor and metal tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov is currently banking.

Lisin was born in the Russian town of Ivanovo in 1956. He earned a metal engineering degree at the Siberian Metallurgist Institute and later bagged economics and management degrees at a Russian business school in the 1970s and 1980s. After graduation, he started his career from an entry position to the role of a deputy chief at a steel company, which was later acquired by Mittal Steel. He is a professor of Engineering and Economic Sciences authoring more than a hundred scientific publications, including 15 books on the science of metallurgy. Throughout the 1990s, he joined the boards of different metallurgical associations and built up a handsome stock portfolio in the metal sector. He joined a group of tenacious traders known as the Trans-World Group in 1992, who won control of Russia’s aluminum and steel industry. When the group split in 2000, Lisin received 13 percent of the firm. However, Lisin wanted more than a piece of the steel empire – his ambition was the position of chairman. He acquired a further 50 percent of the Novolipetsk Steel stock from Monaco-based financiers Christopher and Richard Chandler, and George Soros. The remaining major shareholder was Vladimir Potanin, a fellow Russian oligarch who proved a tough competitor holding 34 percent of the firm. After an undisclosed agreement in 2002, the two businessmen swapped assets, with Potanin getting an 8 percent stake that Lisin had bought in Potanin’s Norilsk Nickel, after yielding his 34 percent stake in Novolipetsk.

Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) outperformed other Russian steel production companies by a wide margin in the previous years to hand Vlad the bulk of his multi-billion fortune.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born Vladimir Sergeyevich Lisin in Ivanovo, Russia, on the 7th of May, 1956.

In 1989, he graduated from the Central Research Institute with an MSc in Metal Engineering. The following year, he bagged a Diploma of the Higher commercial school under the order of the All-Union Academy of Foreign Trade of People’s Friendship Order.

Professional Life: Business Career

He started his career in 1975 when he got his first job, and eventually rose through the available positions to become section manager. He became shop manager in 1979 and was made deputy chief engineer in 1986.

Vladimir Lisin joined a group of traders who won control of his country’s steel and aluminum industry in 1992. When the partners decided to split in 2000, his share from their investment was 13 percent of the firm. With his eyes set on a bigger prize, he later achieved a controlling share.

Since 1993, he has been on the board of several leading Russian metal producers, including Sayansk, NLMK, MMK and Novokuznetsk Aluminum Plants. He has been on the board of directors of Novolipetsk Steel as a member as well.

Lisin served Zenit Bank as a member of its board of directors and currently sits on the board of directors of the Novolipetskii Metallurgical Combine. Novolipetsk is one of the biggest steel companies in Russia. Apart from steel, his business interests include transportation and logistics with significant stakes in Volga Shipping Company, North-Western Shipping Company, Tuapse Commercial Sea Port, and St Petersburg Sea Port.

Personal Life: Wife, Children, Private Interests

The Russian steel tycoon, Vladimir Lisin, is married with three children. He is known to be secretive and for being a man that shuns the media spotlight. Despite his nature of keeping a low profile, he hasn’t found it easy to keep his extravagant hobbies away from prying eyes.

His expensive habits, unlike other Russian wealthy people who splurge on mega-yachts, exotic sports cars, and real estate, is a bit humbler. He enjoys Cuban cigars, which can cost just a few hundred dollars. The billionaire enjoys hiking, game fishing, excellent grouse-shooting, and deer-stalking. Lisin who got fascinated with the sport of shooting as a 14-year-old boy, eventually became a Master of Shooting Sports of Russia. He is currently the President of the Russian Shooting Union, the country’s shooting sport federation that includes both Olympic and non-Olympic class of shotgun and rifle shooting. His appointment as the president of the European Shooting Confederation was arguably the highlight of 2009 for the industrialist who has built one of the biggest target shooting and clay pigeon shooting centers in Russia.

Vladimir Lisin Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

As it stands, Vladimir Lisin’s net worth is $24 billion. This Russian steel tycoon has, at various times, been the richest person of Russian heritage. If you’re wondering how he makes his money, his track record shows that the primary source of his wealth is Novolipetsk (NLMK), one of Russia’s largest steel companies that he leads as chairman.

Vladimir Lisin spends some of his riches on extravagant real estate and yachts. He used dividends from NLMK where he’s the majority shareholder to purchase United Cargo Logistics Holding. Furthermore, Vlad owns Freight One as well as VBTH and UCL Port. He is the owner of Aberuchill Castle which lies in Perthshire, Scotland. It was built in the 17th century. Additionally, the father of three maintains a residence in Barvikha near Moscow in addition to a house in Geneva.