Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a public figure, entrepreneur and businessman. This is the ex-owner of the largest and most profitable oil company, Yukos. He was convicted of large-scale fraud and tax refusal. He spent over 10 years in prison.
Bank "Menatep"
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was born on June 20, 1963 in a simple family of workers from Moscow. Parents worked as chemical engineers, lived very poorly. Since Mikhail was fond of chemistry and experiments since childhood, he was sent to study at a specialized school with in-depth study of chemistry and mathematics.
After receiving the certificate, the young man entered the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology. D. I. Mendeleev. Khodorkovsky was an excellent student and was the best student in the faculty. And in his free time he worked as a carpenter in a housing cooperative. In 1986 he graduated with honors from the institute, received the specialty of an engineer-technologist.
But since the profession of an engineer brought in a rather meager income, Khodorkovsky thought about small business. Together with his friends, he created a profitable business project: the Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity of Youth, which began to bring the young man his first decent income. Further, Mikhail meets Alexei Golubovich, who was a relative of an official in the State Bank of the USSR.
This acquaintance allowed Golubovich and Khodorkovsky to join forces and create a commercial bank for scientific and technological progress, Menatep. Mikhail became the chairman of the board of this organization. Khodorkovsky Bank was the first to receive a license from the State Bank of the USSR for its activities. This allowed him to carry out many operations. Menatep worked with the Tax Service, the Ministry of Finance and Rosvooruzheniye.
Since 1992, Khodorkovsky and his partners have decided to change the strategy of the bank's work. Now the organization worked only with large clients who carried out multiple financial transactions and received services to resolve issues in government bodies.
At the same time, Mikhail Khodorkovsky left the post of head of Menatep, but still unofficially managed the bank's activities. The businessman decided to take such a step for a reason, the fact is that he received the position of chairman of the Investment Fund for Industry and the Fuel and Energy Complex, and then became deputy minister. This was already a job in the civil service. Thus, Khodorkovsky's career took on a different direction: the oil business.
Additionally, in order to work with industrial enterprises, Khodorkovsky, on the basis of the Menatep bank, created the Rosprom organization, which actively bought and resold various companies. For example, the Apatit plant was acquired, which was later renamed to PhosAgro. This enterprise became the largest plant for the production of mineral fertilizers, its owners were Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev.
Yukos
In 1995, Mikhail Khodorkovsky suggested that Oleg Soskovets, the first prime minister of the Russian Federation, exchange 45% of Menatep's shares for the Yukos oil refining company. An auction was held, after which the bank became the owner of almost half of the oil giant's promotional package.
Later, Khodorkovsky and his 5 partners bought out another 33% of Yukos shares for $ 300 million, becoming the owners of 78%. Then Mikhail initiated another auction, as a result of which 90% of the shares were already owned by Bank Menatep.
Since YUKOS was in a state of bankruptcy at the time of the purchase, it took Mikhail Khodorkovsky 6 years to bring the oil refining company into the leaders of the world energy market. The capital of YUKOS now totals over $ 40 million.
It all ended in 2003, when the tax service became interested in the activities of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the YUKOS company. The oligarch was arrested right at the airport in Novosibirsk and escorted into custody. Khodorkovsky was accused not only of tax evasion, but also of embezzlement of state funds on a large scale. The activities of YUKOS were stopped, the shares and accounts of the oil company were arrested by the Russian prosecutor's office.
As a result, several court hearings were held, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was found guilty. The court sentenced him to 10 years and 10 months in prison. On December 20, 2013, the former oil tycoon was pardoned by Vladimir Putin and released. Immediately Khodorkovsky left for Berlin, where he was able to reunite with his family.
He now lives in Switzerland, where he was able to obtain a residence permit. Khodorkovsky is not going to return to Russia, but he is actively involved in the political life of the country.
Income
At the time of Yukos's activities, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was the only Russian oligarch. In 2004, the fortune of the oil tycoon was estimated at $ 15.2 billion. At this time, Mikhail was already under investigation. In 2005, he was again included in the Forbes list, this time the publication estimated his assets at $ 2 billion. In the same year, Khodorkovsky urgently transferred his share to Leonid Nevzlin, a business partner in Bank Menatep.
In 2015, the Forbes publication again included Mikhail Khodorkovsky in its rating of the richest people in Russia. There was already a fortune of $ 500 million. The magazine noted that the former head of YUKOS is now receiving money from the activities of Quadrum Global. This fund is owned by all the former holders of the YUKOS shareholding: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev, Mikhail Brudno, Vladimir Dubov.
