Len Blavatnik

Sir Leonard Valentinovich Blavatnik ( Ukrainian: Леонард Валентинович Блаватник; born June 14, 1957) is a Soviet/Ukrainian-born British-American businessman and philanthropist. As of April 2025, ''Forbes'' estimated his net worth at $26.5 billion, ranking him the 75th-richest person in the world. In 2017, Blavatnik received a knighthood for services to philanthropy.

Blavatnik made his initial fortune, alongside other Russian oligarchs, in the privatization of state-owned aluminum and oil assets after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He owns most of Warner Music Group and has stakes in several publicly traded assets via his privately held Access Industries.

Early life and education

Blavatnik was born in Odesa in 1957, then in the Ukrainian SSR and part of the Soviet Union, to a Jewish family."Russian-born U.S. billionaire offers to buy Ma'ariv"
haaretz.com; accessed February 23, 2015. His parents moved to Yaroslavl, a Russian city north of Moscow, when he was a child. He attended Moscow State University of Railway Engineering but did not complete his coursework due to the family's request for emigration visas. At the University of Railway Engineering, he became close friends with Viktor Vekselberg, another Ukrainian Jew. Vekselberg would later go on to found Renova Group.

Blavatnik's family emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States of America in 1978 and, in 1981, he received a master's degree in computer science from the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1989.

Career

Access Industries

In 1986, Blavatnik founded the holding company, Access Industries. The New York-based business controls 21% of LyondellBasell, the world's largest producer of polypropylene. Through Access Industries, Blavatnik owns most of Warner Music Group and has stakes in several publicly traded assets.

Natural resources sector

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Blavatnik bought up former state assets in Russia that were privatized by the government. Blavatnik began his business career by accumulating shares in aluminum smelters. He did this via his holding company, Access Industries. He has been described as a victor in Russia's "aluminum wars". Blavatnik made his wealth through the acquisition of these commodities.

One of his investments, Sual, later became part of United Company Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer. Blavatnik was a board member of Rusal from 2007 to 2016. The company also invested in regional electricity generating stations, which it used to supply power to its energy-intensive aluminium businesses. In a 2002 interview, Blavatnik told Bloomberg he was even considering creating his own railways. He and a friend from university, Viktor Vekselberg, formed the Renova investment vehicle.Yenikeyeff, Shamil
"BP, Russian billionaires, and the Kremlin: a Power Triangle that never was"
''Oxford Energy Comment'', November 23, 2011; retrieved March 3, 2015.

Blavatnik and Vekselberg initially obtained a stake in the Irkutsk Aluminum Plant. They accumulated smelters and plants until their company Sual had become the second-largest aluminum firm in Russia. In 1996, they obtained a coal mine in Kazakhstan.

In 1997, Blavatnik Access Industries united with Viktor Vekselberg's Renova Corp and Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group, to form a company AAR (Alfa, Access, Renova). Blavatnik's key role within the group was to act as a connection to western businesses such as British Petroleum. Fridman, who was very well-connected politically, had been a member of Boris Yeltsin's inner circle in the mid-1990s.

The first order of business for AAR was to buy 40 per cent of a struggling oil producer Tyumen Oil (TNK), one of few remaining state-owned oil companies, for $800 million. Tyumen Oil was auctioned off with criteria that exactly matched the profile of AAR. AAR far outbid its competitors but reportedly paid just a quarter of the agreed sum. TNK then went on an acquisition spree, focusing on the oil company Sidanco, which was part-owned by the U.K. oil giant, British Petroleum (BP). In 1999, TNK acquired Sidanco's best assets via bankruptcy proceedings.

BP later sued TNK in New York courts, claiming that the Sidanco assets were acquired illegally. The 1999 lawsuit was resolved in 2003 when British Petroleum acquired TNK for $8 billion, forming TNK-BP, one of the largest oil companies in Russia. The deal, labelled in the press as "Russia's deal of the decade", gave BP unprecedented access to vital Russian oil and gas. It was the first time that a foreign company was in control of a major producer in Russia's energy heartland. The deal also made Len Blavatnik, Mikhail Fridman, German Khan and Viktor Vekselberg, who controlled half of TNK-BP, billions of dollars. At the time, Fridman told the press: "Any business should be sold if you're offered the right price. If you don't, the market will punish you. Or God. Or maybe they are the same thing." At the time of the purchase, Blavatnik, a U.S. citizen, was living in New York.

In 2013, the Russian oil company Rosneft paid AAR $28 billion in cash for its 50% stake in TNK-BP. AAR's original investment had been $8 billion of assets. Up to that point, AAR had taken $19 billion in dividends from the joint venture. The sale represented the liquidation of the majority of Blavatnik's Russian assets.

In 1999, Blavatnik's TNK company obtained Chernogorneft at auction for at $180 million, even though the company had produced $1.2 billion worth of oil the year before. In 2022, Blavatnik sold his stake in Russian aluminum producer United Co. Rusal International PJSC, divesting his last major asset in the country, according to Bloomberg News.

Petrochemicals and oil

In August 2005, Access Industries bought petrochemicals and plastics manufacturer Basell Polyolefins from Royal Dutch Shell and BASF for $5.7 billion. 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 then became the world's eighth 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 21% of LyondellBasell.

Entertainment

In early 2010, Access Industries was reported as one of a handful of bidders for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. On May 6, 2011, Warner Music Group announced its sale to Access for US$3.3 billion.Wilkerson, David B.
"Warner Music to be sold in $3.3 billion cash deal"
''MarketWatch'', May 6, 2011; retrieved May 6, 2011. On July 20, 2011, an Access affiliate acquired Warner Music Group for $3.3 billion. Though WMG was the World's third largest record company and considered a "trophy asset", it was also laden down with debt and struggling to find an answer to online music piracy.

In May 2020, Warner Music announced it would proceed with an initial public offering that valued the company at $13.3 billion. The company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in June 2020. At which point, Blavatnik sold $1.9 billion of shares.

In 2012, Access Industries made a €100 million investment in Deezer, the music streaming service.

In 2014, Access acquired Perform Group for £702 million. Its rivals included Germany's Sportsman Media Group and IMG of the U.S.

In 2016, Blavatnik launched Access Entertainment, which bought James Packer's stake in RatPac Entertainment and a 24.9% stake in Bad Wolf in 2017.

In 2017, Blavatnik was named as possible purchaser of the publisher Time Inc.. He prepared the bid with Edgar "Ed" Bronfman Jr, the former chief executive of Warner Music. In March 2017, Bronfman and Blavatnik walked away from the deal, citing valuation issues.

In April 2018, it was reported that Blavatnik was a front runner in the bidding to purchase Britain's third oldest theatre, the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Sources reported that the bid was around £40 million. Blavatnik's Access Entertainment finalized its purchase of the Theatre Royal Haymarket in June 2018.

Blavatnik also owns AI Film, the independent film and production company that backed Lee Daniels’ film '' The Butler'' and the summer 2015 release '' Mr. Holmes''. He was an early investor in Rocket Internet and Beats Music, helped finance fashion designer Tory Burch, and, in 2013, paid $115 million for wireless spectrum in Norway.

Blavatnik has been the owner of DAZN Group since 2014, when Access Industries increased its stake in the company from 42.5% to 77%.

DAZN

DAZN (pronounced "da zone") has been described as the "Netflix of sports". The company is part of Perform Group, a U.K. based sports media company owned by Len Blavatnik's Access Industries.

DAZN specialise in buying rights to broadcast sports including football, boxing and Formula 1 motor racing, outside of their domestic markets. The sports streaming service is available in Japan, Germany and Canada.

In May 2018, DAZN signed an eight-year, $1 billion deal with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing to stream fights on a new U.S. subscription service.

In June 2018, DAZN paid €600 million for domestic screening rights for Italian Serie A football matches in a three-year deal. The deal was believed to involve 2.5 billion euros ($3 billion) of payments over its three-season lifespan

In October 2018, DAZN signed the largest commercial deal in history with a single athlete when they paid Mexican boxer Saul "Canelo" Alvarez $365 million for the rights to screen 11 fights.

DAZN's last set of published results, for the year to 2019, showed a loss of more than $1.3 billion for continuing and discontinued operations. The company, which is dependent on subscriptions, saw revenue take a hit when the COVID-19 pandemic brought an abrupt halt to live sports. Shortly after the outbreak of the pandemic, DAZN was forced to tell European football leagues that it would not pay for games that had been put on hold. Chief Executive Officer Simon Denyer explained: "With revenues dropping and investment not available, we can only survive by making some hard decisions."

In late 2020, DAZN unveiled a slate of original documentary programming featuring global sporting icons such as Ronaldo and British boxer Anthony Joshua.

In February 2022, Blavatnik agreed a $4.3 billion recapitalisation of DAZN. The ''Financial Times'' reported that this would enable the company to target new revenue streams in betting.

Telecommunications

Access Industries purchased the mobile phone technology company Acision from the IT Group Logica for £265 million in 2007. As of 2018, Access Industries owned 60% of Ice Group, Norway's third largest telecoms company.

Blavatnik Archive

Blavatnik founded the Blavatnik Archive in 2005 to support primary source-based scholarship and education by preserving and disseminating materials that contribute to the study of 20th century Jewish and world history.

Group chat to change U.S. public opinion on Gaza war

Blavatnik was a member of a WhatsApp group chat that existed from November 2023 until early May 2024 involving some of the United States' most powerful business leaders with the stated goals of "chang ngthe narrative" in favor of Israel and "help ngwin the war" on U.S. public opinion following Hamas's October 7th attack on Israel. Members of the group chat discussed how they received private briefings by, and worked closely with, members of the Israeli government. Blavatnik and other members also participated in a video call in April 2024 with New York City Mayor, Eric Adams in an effort to, according to reporting by The Washington Post, "pressure Columbia’s president and trustees to permit the mayor to send police to the campus". They also discussed making political donations to Adams; Blavatnik himself solicited donations from others in the group. Blavatnik's spokesperson told the Washington Post that he donated $2,100 to Adams's campaign in April 2024.

Controversies and disputes

Claim against JP Morgan Chase

In 2010, Blavatnik sued JPMorgan Chase after losing $100 million by allegedly following Morgan's advice three years earlier to buy mortgage securities with AAA credit ratings. In 2013, the New York State Supreme Court ordered JPMorgan Chase to pay Blavatnik $50 million in damages.

At the time, Blavatnik told ''The New York Times'': "The small guy can't get anywhere with suits like this. I am a wealthy man. I will spend whatever it takes."

Sanctions during Russo-Ukraine War

In the wake of sanctions targeting Russian oligarchs during the Russo-Ukrainian War, media attention debated Blavatnik's status as a Russian oligarch, and his corresponding connection to Vladimir Putin. Some outlets have suggested Blavatnik has been involved in reputation laundering through his philanthropic projects, and that he maintains close connections to Viktor Vekselberg, an oligarch sanctioned by the US government. Blavatnik denies connections to Putin, and has attempted to avoid the label of oligarch. In December 2023, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed personal sanctions against Blavatnik.

Protests at Tate Modern

In 2024, protests were held outside the Tate Modern art gallery after Blavatnik was alleged to have been involved in cancelling a news program critical of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Wealth

Blavatnik made his initial fortune, alongside other Russian oligarchs, in the privatization of state-owned aluminum and oil assets after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

As of April 2025, ''Forbes'' estimated his net worth at $26.5 billion, ranking him the 75th-richest person in the world.

Donations

Political donations

In 2011, Blavatnik donated to both US President Barack Obama and his Republican Party rival, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.Special counsel probing flow of Russian-American money to Trump political funds
. ABC News. September 26, 2017.

Blavatnik, who is closely associated with Russian oligarchs such as Viktor Vekselberg and Oleg Deripaska, is one of the largest donors to the Republican Party and, in 2015–2016, donated a total of $7.35 million to six Republican political candidates, including South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Arizona Senator John McCain. In February 2016, Blavatnik donated over $1 million to an anti-Donald Trump GOP group. He also donated $1 million to the committee for the 2017 inauguration of Donald Trump. In August 2017, political scientist Bo Rothstein resigned from the Blavatnik School of Government out of opposition to Blavatnik's politics.

Blavatnik and his American wife, Emily, also donated to Democratic Party candidates Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, and Hillary Clinton.

In 2017 two senior Trump administration officials went on record as being lobbyists for Blavatnik's Access Industries.

Since April 2016, Blavatnik has contributed $383,000 to the Republican National Committee and $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund. These donations included $12,000 directed to Trump's legal fund. However, he did not give directly to the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Between 2015 and 2017, Blavatnik contributed $3.5 million to Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell's super PAC.

Blavatnik donated $5,200 to the Pete Buttigieg 2020 presidential campaign and $5,600 to the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign.

Philanthropy

Blavatnik has been described by the ''Financial Times'' as "one of the world's most generous philanthropists" and by ''The Times'' as "Britain's arts philanthropist-in-chief".

Educational institutions supported by Blavatnik have included Yale University, Harvard University, and Oxford University. In 2011, Blavatnik donated more than £50 million to the Tate Modern gallery in London – the largest donation in the gallery's history. In 2017, the gallery named its new extension the Blavatnik Building.

His donations have faced criticism, such as from journalist Ann Marlowe, who have described them as influence-buying and whitewashing, although some have disagreed that the donations deserve criticism.

Board memberships

Blavatnik is a member of the Board of Trustees at Carnegie Hall, a member of the Board of Directors at 92NY and a member of the Board of Directors at the Center for Jewish History. He is also a member of the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Board of Governors at Tel Aviv University.

Honours

In 2013, Blavatnik was made chevalier of the French Legion d'Honneur.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to philanthropy.

Personal life

Blavatnik is married to Emily Appelson Blavatnik. The couple have four children.

He owns a Grade II listed building on "the most expensive street in the world", Kensington Palace Gardens (number 15), which is valued at £200 million. He acquired the property in 2004. Other residents on the street include Israeli and Russian ambassadors. He also has a residence in Manhattan valued at more than $250 million.

Blavatnik was also a longtime friend and former business partner of Ukrainian-born Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.

Blavatnik holds British and American citizenship.

See also

* Kensington Palace Gardens
* Sunday Times Rich List 2017

Notes and references

;Notes

;References

External links

Len Blavatnik
- ''Forbes'' profile
LyondellBasell Corporate WebsiteThe New York Academy of Sciences' Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blavatnik, Leonard
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