Roman Abramovich - From an orphan boy to the richest king of the Chelsea empire in Russia

Roman Abramovich was born in 1966 in Russia, is a Russian-Jewish oil billionaire, the owner of Chelsea football club.

In March 2006, he was ranked by Forbes magazine as the richest person in Russia, second richest in the UK and 11th in the world with an estimated total fortune of 18.2 billion USD. But few people know that Roman Abramovich was an orphan with a poor childhood.

From an orphan boy to the richest billionaire in Russia

Roman Abramovich was born in 1966 in a poor family in the town of Saratov, southern Russia. Abramovich lost his mother when he was 18 months old, his father also died in an accident at a construction site when he was just 4 years old. Abramovich was raised by an uncle in Komi and later he was raised by his grandmother in Moscow. The young man dropped out of college to pursue the passion of an entrepreneur.

Struggling at an early age made young Abramovich appreciate money and learn to save. Entering college at the age of 16, Abramovich was called up to the army before graduating from the Ukhta Industrial Institute. It was the military environment that helped Roman discover and develop himself.

From 1987 to 1989 Roman Abramovich was a mechanic for the Mossepetsmontazh corporation. Abramovich was lucky that Russia began to open up to private business and reform tax policy in the late 1980s, just as he started his business. With all his savings from previous jobs, the young man opened a plastic toy company in his apartment and sold it for a minimum profit. Although the profit was small, Abramovich gradually revealed an excellent business sense. A few years passed, and the Russian businessman realized it was time to do something bigger.

In the period 1992-1995, thanks to understanding the market with sharp vision, Abramovich chose the right industry to invest in. He set up companies selling intermediate goods and made great bargains. From there, the businessman began to turn his gaze to oil. Abramovich made a fortune by seizing opportunities in the 1990s, when the Russian government began allowing the establishment of private enterprises. Also during this period, he opened five different oil companies.

In 1995, Abramovich met Boris Berezovsky, a businessman who already made a name for himself when he ran the state-owned car manufacturer Lada. The two cooperated to buy an operating stake in the oil group Sibneft for $ 100 million and became the main shareholder.

Sibneft's stock price skyrocketed, bringing a fortune to Abramovich and his associates. However, in 2000, Berezovsky had to leave his homeland to live in exile after being accused of fraud. He sold all his shares back to Abramovich, further cementing the "empire" of his old friend and enemy who later won him in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit. In 2005, Abramovich sold a 73% stake in Sibneft to state-owned gas group Gazprom for $13 billion.

Since 2003, the face of billionaire Roman Abramovich has become familiar all over the world, when he is often present in the English football stands. The Russian tycoon bought most of the companies that owned Chelsea football club, a very weak team at that time for $ 233 million. Chelsea is the sixth most valuable football team in the world and was valued at $2.6 billion by Forbes in 2019. Under his reign, the club flourished again and Abramovich was seen cheering on his team. in almost every game.

In 2018, Forbes estimated Roman Abramovich's fortune to be worth $11.5 billion, making him 140th on the list of the richest people on the planet. The Russian press reports that Abramovich has contributed more to Russian charities than anyone in history. Millions of dollars were spent on building schools and hospitals, while other billions of dollars were spent on social welfare and infrastructure in some Russian cities.

Russian billionaire is also known as a politician. In 1999, Abramovich was elected to the State Duma of Russia, representing the Chukotka region, a remote province in the east of the country. Here, he poured money into reform plans. From 2000 to 2008, Governor Abramovich spent nearly $1 billion on social welfare in Chukotka. The business environment has improved significantly, with many investors landing, many schools and hospitals being built.

The king of the Chelsea empire has a luxurious life

Once the richest person in Russia, billionaire Roman Abramovich owns a fortune worth about $11.6-14.1 billion, according to Forbes. His fortune peaked at $23.5 billion in 2008.

Abramovich has been married 3 times and has 7 children. In which, the first wife was Olga Yurevna Lysova from 1987 to 1990. After that, he had a 16-year marriage with Irina Malandina and had 4 daughters and 1 son. When the two married in 1991, Abramovich did not have a huge fortune, but when he divorced in 2007, he owned $18.7 billion.

Abramovich owns many properties around the world, including the $118.3 million mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens - the "billionaire neighborhood" in London, England. In 2009, he spent 90 million to buy a mansion located on an area of more than 28 hectares on the island of St. Barts, the Caribbean. A few years ago, Abramovich spent $96 million buying four homes on East 75th Street, Upper East Side, New York City with the intention of turning them into a super mansion. He also bought another one two blocks away. Abramovich also owns a luxury house Antibes, on the French Riviera.

Real estate shopping isn't Abramovich's only hobby. The owner of Chelsea Club (UK) owns a series of expensive jets, the most prominent one in the collection is the Boeing 767-33A ER with a rather strange nickname: the robber. The value of this plane is about 66 million pounds, equivalent to more than 1,900 billion VND. The Russian billionaire bought it in 2004, just a year after he bought Chelsea FC. The plane is currently parked at Stansted Airport in London (UK).

After being renovated, the Boeing 767-33A ER turned into a palace in the air. The highlight of Abramovich's Boeing 767-33A ER is the living room that can accommodate more than 30 people. The plane also has a kitchen, a bar, an office and a two-bed bedroom. The interior is made of precious metal and wood, the main gold color has created luxury. In particular, the private jet of billionaire Abramovich is equipped with a defense system similar to the US President's Air Force 1.

Accordingly, Abramovich's Boeing 767-33A ER possesses an anti-ballistic missile system designed to counter any missile aimed at the aircraft. The system is worth around £1.5 million. The Boeing 767-33A ER is just Abramovich's favorite jet, and he also has two other luxury options: the £55m Boeing 767-300 and the £60m 737-700. The technology is not as high as the 767-33A ER, but the two above are also luxury goods.

Next, Abramovich also owns a great yacht. The Eclipse (Twilight) he bought in 2010, 162.5 meters long, held the title of "largest private yacht in the world", until the Azzam, more than 173 meters long, launched in April. 2013. The cost of building the Eclipse is estimated at 340 million euros. The yacht can accommodate 30 guests and 70 crew members.

Eclipse can hold 1 million liters of fuel to travel about 6,000 miles (9,600 km) before needing to refuel. Eclipse is 9 floors high, the top floor has 2 helipads and 1 car garage. On the yacht there are many swimming pools, cinemas, gyms, spas, sauna massage rooms, conference rooms, hair salons and a small submarine that can dive 50 meters deep.

The lower floors are home to 24 guest cabins, each with a nearly 2 meter movie screen, a Jacuzzi, spa and dedicated security system. On average, Russian billionaires spend 40 million pounds a year to maintain and operate Eclipse.

Not only that, Abramovich's personal art collection includes works by famous artists such as Pablo Picasso, Lucian Freud, and Francis Bacon. In 2008, he spent $34 million on Freud's "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" painting and continued to spend $86.3 million on Francis Bacons' "Triptych, 1976" shortly after.

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