Drea Knufken
This self-made global metals czar caught the fat-cat bug when he teamed up with Vladimir Potanin to buy nickel mining and smelting company MMC Norilsk Nickel, now the world’s biggest nickel and palladium producer. The duo eventually built up Interros, a conglomerate that included not only Norilsk Nickel, but leading Russian bank Rosbank, Russia’s biggest media company, Prof-Media; a real estate investment and development company, and the ski resort development company that will build a resort for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
After getting caught up in a prostitution scandal, Prokhorov unloaded his 25% stake in the company to fellow oligarch Oleg Deripaska two years ago, gaining a stake in Deripaska’s Rusal, the world’s biggest aluminum company, and some cash, in exchange.
Prokhorov and Potanin split up Interros as well; Prokhorov now runs the conglomerate Onexim, which absorbed from Interros a majority stake in Polyus Gold, Russia’s biggest gold mining company, as well as the real estate developer, and Rosbank. Onexim also runs an insurance company, a media company, and three energy companies. Prokhorov also owns 80% of the New Jersey Nets, as part of a New York real estate development deal. Yet another of Prokhorov’s projects involves “designing a city car of a new type”—much better than the Lada, we hope.
