Alisher Usmanov is one of the most popular and richest Businessperson who was born on September 9, 1953 in Khust, Ukraine. Usmanov, a Muslim, was married to Jewish Irina Viner in 1992. Viner, who introduced Putin to Alina Kabaeva, is widely considered to be close to Putin. Usmanov studied banking at the Academy of Finance in 1997. Although Usmanov does not have biological children, his wife Irina Viner has a step-son. He is currently building 30 real estate properties and has since become a real-estate investmentist.
A former sabre fencer who fenced for the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, Usmanov invested in the promotion of fencing through his charity fund “For the Future of Fencing”, created in 2004, and was president of the Russian Fencing Federation from 2001 to 2009 and of the European Fencing Confederation from 2005 to 2009. He was elected president of the International Fencing Federation during the 2008 Paris Congress with 66 votes to 61 for incumbent president René Roch. He was re-elected at the 2012 Moscow congress with 127 votes.
Usmanov owns the Grade I listed Tudor mansion Sutton Place set in 120 hectares (300 acres) in Surrey, which he bought for £10 million in 2004. In 2012, it was claimed by businessman Boris Berezovsky that Usmanov was given Sutton Place as part of a business deal, a claim that Usmanov denied. In 2008, Usmanov bought Beechwood House, a Grade II listed Regency property in 4.5 ha (11 acres) of grounds in the London suburb of Highgate from the Qatari sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani for £48 million. Usmanov also owns a 12-hectare (30-acre) property in Moscow and a villa on the Italian island of Sardinia.
From 1990 to 1994 Usmanov was the Deputy General Director at Intercross JSC. In 1994 and 1998, he led Interfin Interbank Investment and Finance Company. From 1994 to 1995, he was the General Director at Moscow Aviation Industrial Enterprise. In 1995, he served as the First Deputy Chair of MAPO-Bank.
In August 1980, he was arrested and convicted of fraud and theft of socialist property in Uzbek SSR. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment. The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan vacated this conviction in July 2000, eleven years after the dissolution of Soviet Union. It ruled that “the original sentence was unjustified, that no crime was ever committed and that the evidence had been fabricated.” According to the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan there are also allegations that he was convicted of rape within the same year. The Uzbek government has denied that such a conviction was ever made.
According to presidential decree No. 365 of 17 March 2004, Usmanov was awarded with a Medal of Honor of Russia. In 2011, Usmanov received the Order of Friendship of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In 2013, he was awarded the Order for Service to the Fatherland IV class in recognition of his services to the state, as well as his community and charitable activities. In the same year, he was awarded a medal ‘For contribution to international cooperation’ by the Foreign Ministry of Russia. In 2014, Usmanov received the Order of Alexander Nevsky for his community and charitable activities.
