Vladimir Potanin Net Worth

What Is Vladimir Potanin's Net Worth?

Vladimir Potanin is a Russian billionaire oligarch who has a net worth of $30 billion. That makes Vladimir Potanin one of the richest people in Russia. At times, he has been the richest person in Russia. He amassed his fortune largely via Boris Yeltsin's loans-for-shares scheme in the '90s, through which he acquired the mining and smelting company, Norilsk Nickel. For a while, Potanin had a lucrative business partnership with Mikhail Prokhorov.

Net Worth Details

Vladimir Potanin owns a 37% percent stake in the publicly traded mining company Norilsk Nickel, which produces nearly 13% of the world's nickel as well as 44% of the world's palladium. Over the years, Potanin has earned more than $4 billion from dividends in the company and has made another $2 billion selling shares in buyback programs. He has also made $2 billion from selling his Rosbank stock. Vladimir was one of the biggest private investors in projects for the 2014 Sochi Olympics and was formerly in a business partnership with Mikhail Prokhorov.

Early Life and Education

Vladimir Potanin was born on January 3, 1961, in Moscow, Soviet Union. He is from a high-ranking communist family. As a teen, Vladimir went to the elite Moscow State Institute of International Relations, which was devoted to preparing students for service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Potanin graduated from the school in 1983 and went on to work with the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

Career Beginnings

Along with his business partner, Mikhail Prokhorov, in 1991, Potanin established the private Moscow-based company Interros. A few years later, he became the president of the newly created United Export-Import Bank. Vladimir continued to assert his financial power in post-Soviet Russia over the ensuing years. In 1995, he played a critical role in Boris Yeltsin's loans-for-shares scheme, which allowed the assets of Russian firms to be sold off below market prices. This system was central to the formation of the Russian oligarchy. Using the scheme, Potanin and Prokhorov purchased the mining and smelting company, Norilsk Nickel.

Among his other prominent positions, Vladimir served as the Russian Federation's First Deputy Prime Minister from 1996 to 1997. Following this, he became president and chairman of the board of directors of his company, Interros. In early 2003, Potanin took control of the National Council on Corporate Governance, which works to create new ethical and professional standards of corporate governance for Russian companies.

Business Disputes

Potanin and Prokhorov ended up going their separate ways in 2007, with Vladimir unhappy with his business partner's criminal courting of prostitutes. Potanin intended to buy Prokhorov's stake in Norilsk Nickel, but the deal was refused; instead, Prokhorov sold his stake to industrialist Oleg Deripaska. Heated business disputes over Norilsk Nickel continued over the following years, however, causing Roman Abramovich to step in as a peacemaker. Abramovich ended up buying 6.5% of the company, effectively balancing power between Potanin and Deripaska. Through the deal, Vladimir became Norilsk Nickel's new CEO.

Getty Images

Environmental Concerns

During Potanin's tenure as Norilsk Nickel CEO, the company has faced significant criticism for its destructive environmental impact. Due to the company's mining and smelting operations, the city of Norilsk is considered among the most polluted places on the planet. Vladimir later declared that the company leadership would work to solve the problem and that he would invest $17 billion over a span of seven years to modernize the facilities and reduce pollution. Despite this, ecological disaster has continued to plague the region, with a major oil spill occurring in May 2020.

Other Business Ventures

As a billionaire oligarch, Potanin has embarked on numerous business ventures. In 2007, he invested $2 billion in the development of a ski resort near Sochi, where the Winter Olympic Games were to be held in 2014. Vladimir also invested $500,000 in the creation of a leopard-breeding program in Russia's Mzymta Valley. Significantly, he was the first major Russian investor to purchase assets in Iran following the lifting of sanctions against the nation. Potanin bought shares of the firm Pomegranate, which holds shares in various Iranian internet companies. He also owns a stake in the pharmaceutical company Petrovax Pharm.

In his other business endeavors, Vladimir was elected chairman of the board of trustees of the State Hermitage Museum in 2003. He also served as a member of the board of trustees of New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, a position he left in early 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On the philanthropic side of things, Potanin runs the Vladimir Potanin Foundation. Moreover, he is the only Russian to have signed the Giving Pledge, a campaign for wealthy individuals to promise to donate at least half of their fortune to charity throughout their lifetimes.

( Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

Personal Life

Vladimir Potanin married his first wife, Natalia Potanina, in 1983. The couple had three children during their more than 30-year marriage before divorcing in 2014. In the immediate aftermath of that split, a Russian court awarded Natalia approximately $6.4 million, a figure her legal team later argued represented roughly 1% of the couple's total marital wealth.

In the years since, that original settlement has become the center of one of the most consequential divorce battles involving a Russian billionaire. Natalia, who later became a UK citizen, filed a new claim in London in 2018 seeking a significantly larger share of the fortune. As of 2026, she is pursuing a settlement of up to $5 billion, a case that could rank among the largest divorce awards ever attempted in British legal history. The dispute has been complicated by jurisdictional conflicts between UK and Russian courts, as well as the fact that much of Potanin's wealth is now held within Russia, potentially making any international ruling difficult to enforce.

Later in 2014, Potanin married his second wife, Ekaterina, with whom he has two children. He has generally kept his second family out of the public spotlight.

Outside of his business empire, Potanin is known for his affinity for ultra-luxury assets, particularly yachts. He has owned multiple vessels built by the Dutch shipyard Oceanco, including the 88-meter "Nirvana," which features amenities such as a swimming pool, gym, spa, and aquarium. Other yachts associated with him over the years include "Barbara" and "Anastasia," reflecting a long-standing pattern of high-end maritime acquisitions typical among the world's wealthiest industrialists.

Who's Richer?

Vladimir
Potanin

Compare!

Vladimir
Lisin