Gazprom Post
Around this time, he was building Interfin, acquiring some of the assets that are now part of OAO Metalloinvest Holding, and he joined Gazprom, which is Russia’s largest company. Usmanov has been the CEO of Gazprominvestholding since 2000. Even as he talks about limiting day-to-day involvement at his own companies to devote more time to philanthropy, Usmanov says he’ll keep his role at the Gazprom unit as long as his services are needed there.
Metalloinvest today operates two huge open-pit iron ore mines and steel mills that make it Russia’s sixth--largest producer of the metal. The company is privately owned through USM Holdings, based in the British Virgin Islands. In addition to Usmanov’s 60 percent stake, Vladimir Skoch, the father of one of his original partners, holds 30 percent of USM Holdings. The last 10 percent belongs to Farhad Moshiri, an Iranian-born investor who has worked with Usmanov for more than two decades. Moshiri is joint owner with Usmanov of a company that owns a share of the English Premier League soccer team Arsenal.
Usmanov’s Rules
Usmanov says one of his main rules in business is, “Your partner should be your friend.” It’s the only way you can trust that your money is safe, he says. Another rule: Never be inflexible in business negotiations but strive instead to find the good in what might seem like a bad outcome.
He doesn’t always get the outcome he wants. Usmanov hasn’t realized his aspiration to build Metalloinvest into a global commodities giant, a Russian version of BHP Billiton Ltd. What has come to fruition for Usmanov is the move into tech and telecom. He began by buying stakes in MegaFon, Russia’s second- largest mobile-phone operator, and Mail.ru. Milner became his partner in developing the technology investment portfolio.
Tech Holdings
It was Milner who appeared in public to discuss the initial Facebook investment, and he’s the better known of the two in Silicon Valley. But Usmanov has more money at stake. The 2009 Facebook holding was 80 percent Usmanov’s and 20 percent Milner’s, and Usmanov still controls about $1.5 billion of the company’s shares, as of August, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Through their shared investment vehicle, DST Group, Usmanov and Milner hold stakes in LinkedIn Corp., Zynga Inc. and Groupon Inc. Usmanov bought Apple Inc. shares this year.
Usmanov’s competitive fencing career ended at the Institute of International Relations in the 1970s as he devoted more time to studying. Still, he says the lessons of the sport stayed with him, including this one: “You always have to keep fighting until the battle is over.”
Last year, he saw a struggle for control of MegaFon through to the end. After feuding with rival shareholders -- Sweden’s TeliaSonera AB and Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman -- he bought them out. In November, the company raised $1.7 billion in an IPO, one of the biggest share sales for a Russian company last year.