Leonard Blavatnik Biography

Len Blavatnik (, Leonid Valentinovich Blavatnik) (born June 14, 1957) is a Ukrainian-born American businessman. He has made his fortune through diversified investments, through Access Industries, in Russia, Europe, North and South America.

Origins

Born in modern-day Ukraine which at time was the Soviet Union, to a Jewish family, he attended University in Moscow. He emigrated from Russia to the U.S. in 1978, and received a masters in computer science from Columbia University and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1989. In the West, he is known as Len Blavatnik.

Career

In 1986, he founded Access Industries, an international industrial group, of which he is chairman and president. Access has long-term strategic holdings in Europe, North and South America. Initially, he moved into Russian investments, just after the fall of communism. He and a friend from university, Viktor Vekselberg, formed the Renova investment vehicle, and then the two joined with Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group to form the AAR venture. Access has diversified its portfolio to include investments in industries such as oil, coal, aluminum, petrochemicals and plastics, telecommunications, media, and real estate.

AAR gained a controlling stake in Russian oil company TNK through privatization auctions, then in 2003 a sold 50% stake to British Petroleum to form TNK-BP, one of Russia's largest oil companies, where Blavatnik served on the board of directors. On March 21, 2013, Rosneft completed its $55 billion acquisition of TNK-BP.

Blavatnik also has interests in UC Rusal, the world's largest aluminum producer, where he sits on the board.

On May 6, 2011, Warner Music Group announced its sale to Access for US$3.3 billion. On July 20, 2011, an Access affiliate acquired Warner Music Group for $3.3 billion.

Blavatnik is also a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Centre for International Business and Management at Cambridge University, a member of the board of Dean's Advisors at the Harvard Business School and a member of the academic board at Tel Aviv University.

Blavatnik, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Access companies have supported many cultural and philanthropic institutions over the past 15 years, including serving as the primary benefactors for numerous, major art and cultural exhibitions, including the British Museum, Tate Modern, Royal Opera House, National Portrait Gallery and Museum of Modern Art.

Since 2007, the Blavatnik Family Foundation has supported the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists together with the New York Academy of Sciences. The annual award recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding young scientists in life sciences, physical sciences and engineering and provides all finalists with a significant cash prize.

Access Industries bought petrochemicals and plastics manufacturer Basell Polyolefins from Royal Dutch Shell and BASF for $5.7 billion in August 2005.

On December 20, 2007, Basell completed its acquisition of the Lyondell Chemical Company for an enterprise value of approximately $19 billion. The resulting company, LyondellBasell Industries is the world's third largest chemical company based on net sales.

On January 6, 2009, the U.S. operations of LyondellBasell Industries filed for bankruptcy. On April 30, 2010, LyondellBasell emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a significantly improved financial position. As part of its exit financing, LyondellBasell raised $3.25 billion of first priority debt as well as $2.8 billion through the rights offering jointly underwritten by Access Industries, Apollo Management, and Ares Management. LyondellBasell stock has increased 103% in value since April 2010. Access currently owns approximately 14% of LyondellBasell.

In early 2010, Access Industries was reported as one of the handful of bidders for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

In 2010, Blavatnik sued JPMorgan Chase after losing $100 million after following Morgan's advice to buy mortgage securities of AAA credit rating in 2007. JPMorgan Chase was ordered to pay $50 million to Blavatnik on August 27, 2013.

Wealth

In the Sunday Times Rich List 2011, Blavatnik was listed as the sixth richest person in the UK with an estimated fortune of £6.2 billion.

In Forbes' The World's Billionaire's List of 2011, Blavatnik was listed in 80th place with an estimated fortune of $11.9 billion.

Philanthropy

Blavatnik sponsors a Colel Chabad food bank and warehouse in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel, which sends monthly food shipments to 5,000 poor families in 25 Israeli cities, and before Jewish holidays to 30,000 families in 73 Israeli cities, towns and villages.

In 2010, it was announced that Blavatnik and the Blavatnik Family Foundation would donate £75 million to the University of Oxford to establish a new school of government. The gift is one of the largest philanthropic gifts in the university's 900-year history. Blavatnik has also indicated the possibility of increasing his benefaction up to £100 million over time. The Blavatnik School of Government began accepting students in September 2012. The new permanent home of the school will be constructed on the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in Oxford. Architects of the buildings, which are scheduled to be finished by summer 2015, are the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. The first dean of the school is professor Ngaire Woods. In 2013, Harvard announced a $50 million donation from Blavatnik's foundation to sponsor life sciences entrepreneurship at the university.

Personal life

Blavatnik is married to Emily Blavatnik and has two children, a boy and a girl.

See also

• Kensington Palace Gardens

Reference and notes