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Alisher Usmanov

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Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov (Russian: Алишер Бурханович Усманов), (born 9 September 1953, Chust, Namangan Province, Uzbekistan) is a convicted criminal and billionaire Russian oligarch.

According to the 2007 edition of Forbes magazine, the Uzbek-born oligarch is Russia's 18th richest man, with a fortune estimated at $5.5 billion (£2.75bn), and the world's joint-142nd richest person.[1] He has accrued his wealth from mining, lumber and investment.[2] Usmanov is married with two children[2] and is a graduate of Moscow's elite state university. He is the majority shareholder of Metalloinvest, a Russian industrial conglomerate. He is known in business circles as "the hard man of Russia".[3] He spent six years in jail during 1980s for various crimes committed in the USSR.[4]

Usmanov is a major shareholder in Arsenal Football Club, following in the footsteps of fellow Russian Roman Abramovich who owns Chelsea.[5]

Early life and education

Alisher Usmanov was born in the city of Chust in 1953. His father was a state prosecutor from Tashkent. He attended the Moscow State Institute for International Relations, where he did his major in International Law in 1976. In 1997, he attended the Academy of Finance where he did his specialisation in Banking.

Business profile

Usmanov's business profile is diverse and includes a list of steel, iron ore, natural gas and media companies.

Usmanov owns Gallagher Holdings and is the co-owner of the Oskol steel plant, Lebedinsky iron-ore mine combines and Mikhalovsky GOK (an ore mining and processing plant).[2] He also owns the Ural steel industrial complex and Ormeto-YUMZ (a mechanical-engineering corporation).[citation needed] He has stakes in the Nosta steel company, Moldavia Metal, Olenegorsk iron-ore company, Australian Medusa mining, and the stock company Tulachermet.[citation needed]

MetalloinvestHolding was created by him along with his partner Vasiliy Anisimov to manage his assets in the metal industry.[citation needed] It comprises of Mikhalovsky GOK, Moldavia Metal, Ural steel industrial complex and Ormeto-YUMZ. Gazmetall comprises Oskol electro-metallurgical plants and Lebedinski mining-processing combines. His combined holdings make him one of the top 10 steelmakers in Russia.[citation needed] He is a director of Gazprominvestholding, a subsidiary of Russia's state-owned gas company Gazprom.[3]

In August 2006, he bought the Kommersant newspaper from Badri Patarkatsishvili, a Georgian businessman who is believed to be close to Boris Berezovsky, a former Russian oligarch and also the former owner of Kommersant.[2] The deal was finalised at $200 million. He also bought the Russian MUZ-TV and also has 50 per cent stake in 7TV.[citation needed]

Arsenal F.C.

Usmanov moved into the football arena in August 2007 by acquiring a 14.58% stake in the English team Arsenal Football Club. This despite his apparent support for Manchester United.[citation needed] He and his business partner Farhad Moshiri bought the stake in the club owned by former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein for £75 million.[6] David Dein was appointed as head of their investment vehicle Red & White Holdings, which becomes the largest shareholder in the club outside of members of the board of directors. On 18 September 2007 it was announced that Red & White Holdings had increased its shareholding to 21%, making it the second largest shareholder in the club behind Danny Fiszman on 24%.[7]

Other activities

On 17 September 2007, Usmanov paid more than £20 million for for an art collection owned by the late Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, days before it was to be auctioned by Sotheby's in London. He intended to give all of the artwork to the the Russian state.[8] However, there are reports that Usmanov has no intention of giving the collection to the state and but keeping the collection for himself.[9]

On 2 September 2007, Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, referred to Alisher Usmanov's conviction for various crimes – of fraud, corruption and theft of state property – in the former USSR, for which he had been jailed for six years during the 1980s, as well as making further allegations of criminal activity.[4] Usmanov's lawyers claim he was a political prisoner pardoned under Mikhail Gorbachev's administration,[4] though Murray claims the pardon was actually the work of Uzbek President Islom Karimov and that in Murray's words: "He was in no sense a political prisoner, but a gangster and racketeer who rightly did six years in jail."[10] The article was subsequently removed by Murray's web host under pressure from Usmanov's legal team,[10] who also contacted independent Arsenal blogs and websites warning them to remove any references to Murray's allegations, and any reproduction of Craig Murray's weblog posting.[4].

The move to remove Murray's posting led to other blogs reproducing the article. On 20 September 2007, Bloggerheads.com, the weblog of Tim Ireland was taken down for reproducing Murray's article. The removal of the host server also caused the loss of other blogs belonging to the MP Boris Johnson, councillor Bob Piper and Clive Summerfield – none of which themselves had reproduced the article.[11] However, this move by Usmanov to manipulate his image in the eyes of the public has only served to unify various blogs against him.[11]

On 25 September 2007 Clive Summerfield and Councillor Bob Piper were interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live about the controversy. [12]

References

  1. ^ "The World's Billionaires". 2007-08-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |works= ignored (help)
  2. ^ a b c d "Alisher Usmanov". Forbes. 2007-08-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b "Hard man of Russia who made his pile through steel". Guardian Unlimited. 2007-08-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d "Usmanov aims legal arsenal at bloggers". The Guardian. 2007-09-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Usmanov Gunning for Bigger Arsenal Share". St Petersburg Times. 4 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-18. Usmanov's purchase of nearly 15 percent in the club Thursday — the second investment by a Kremlin-friendly oligarch in a leading English Premier League team after Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 — received a mixed reaction from the club's fans and the British media, with some fearing a Russian takeover.
  6. ^ "Russian buys Dein's Arsenal stake". BBC News. 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-08-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Usmanov increases Arsenal stake". BBC News. 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2007-09-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Billionaire buys entire auction". BBC News. 2007-09-17. Retrieved 2007-09-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070918/79274074.html
  10. ^ a b "Craig Murray censored for attacking Alisher Usmanov, potential Arsenal chairman". UK Indymedia. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  11. ^ a b "Public Service Announcement". Chicken Yoghurt. Retrieved 2007-09-20.
  12. ^ "BBC Radio Interview with Councillor Bob Piper and Clive Summerfield". Wardman Wire. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
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