Roman Abramovich, who came to public attention in Britain when he bought Chelsea in 2003, made his fortune in post-Soviet Russia. He became involved in oil export deals and in 1995 entered the ranks of the super-rich when with Boris Berezovsky he took over oil company Sibneft for a fraction of its market value. Abramovich gained increasing control over the business and got most of the money when it was sold in 2005 for £7.5bn. More recent acquisitions include stakes in Russian steelmaker Evraz Group and a piece of the UK mining company Highland Gold. Since buying Chelsea, in a deal worth £140m, he is thought to have invested £578m in the club. He has an interest in art and was revealed as the buyer of Lucian Freud’s Benefits Supervisor Sleeping (£17m) and Francis Bacon’s Triptych (£43m). He is 15th in the Forbes rich list, with £14.6bn.
