Patokh Chodiev Net Worth

What is Patokh Chodiev's Net Worth?

Patokh Chodiev is a Belgian-Uzbek businessman, mining magnate, investor, author, and philanthropist who has a net worth of $1.2 billion.

Patokh Chodiev is best known as one of the co-founders of Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, better known as ENRC, and its successor company, Eurasian Resources Group, or ERG. Along with Alexander Mashkevich and Alijan Ibragimov, Chodiev was part of the powerful Kazakhstan-based business partnership often referred to as "the Trio." Together, the three men built one of the most important mining and natural resources empires to emerge from the post-Soviet privatization era.

Chodiev's fortune comes primarily from his ownership stake in ERG, a diversified natural resources group with interests in ferrochrome, iron ore, aluminum, copper, cobalt, coal, power, logistics, and related industrial businesses. His wealth has fluctuated significantly over the years because ERG is privately held and tied closely to commodity prices, leverage, global mining valuations, and the complicated history of ENRC's public listing and privatization.

Early Life and Education

Patokh Chodiev was born Fattah Kayumovich Chodiev on April 15, 1953, in Jizzakh, in what was then the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. He later became a Belgian citizen while building most of his business career around Kazakhstan and other former Soviet markets.

Chodiev attended the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, widely known as MGIMO, one of the Soviet Union's most elite schools for diplomacy and international affairs. He graduated with a degree in international law and Japanese and later earned a PhD in political science. His Japanese-language skills helped shape the first phase of his professional life.

Diplomatic Career and Japan

After graduating from MGIMO, Chodiev entered the diplomatic service and was posted to Tokyo. He specialized in Soviet-Japanese commercial relations and spent more than a decade connected to business, trade, and diplomacy between Japan and the Soviet Union.

That background gave him a rare combination of language skills, international contacts, and commercial experience before the collapse of the Soviet system. When the Soviet Union began opening and then breaking apart, Chodiev was well positioned to move from diplomacy into business.

The Trio and ENRC

Chodiev's fortune was built with Alexander Mashkevich and Alijan Ibragimov. The three men became known as "the Trio" because of their shared control over major mining, metals, energy, banking, and insurance assets in Kazakhstan.

Their core company, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, grew out of Kazakhstan's vast Soviet-era industrial base. Kazakhstan inherited enormous reserves of minerals and metals, along with mines, smelters, power facilities, transportation assets, and industrial plants. Chodiev and his partners consolidated stakes in some of the country's most important natural resources businesses during the 1990s and 2000s.

ENRC became a major producer of ferrochrome, iron ore, alumina, aluminum, coal, and other commodities. The company also expanded into Africa, including copper and cobalt assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As global demand for metals surged, ENRC became one of the most valuable companies associated with Kazakhstan's resource boom.

London IPO and Privatization

In 2007, ENRC listed on the London Stock Exchange. The IPO turned the company into a major international mining stock and gave Chodiev and his partners a public-market valuation for their stakes. ENRC later joined the FTSE 100, symbolizing the arrival of Kazakhstan's post-Soviet industrial billionaires on one of the world's most prestigious financial exchanges.

The public-company period was turbulent. ENRC faced criticism over governance, boardroom conflict, market volatility, and a long-running UK Serious Fraud Office investigation into allegations related to mining contracts in Africa. ENRC denied wrongdoing. The company was taken private in 2013 by its founding shareholders and the Kazakh government in a multibillion-dollar buyout. In 2023, the SFO dropped its investigation, saying there was insufficient admissible evidence to prosecute.

After the privatization, the business continued as Eurasian Resources Group, headquartered in Luxembourg. ERG remained one of Kazakhstan's most important industrial companies and a significant producer of strategic metals. Reuters later reported that ERG had attracted outside interest because of its copper, cobalt, aluminum, iron ore, gallium history, and potential role in Kazakhstan's rare-earth and critical-minerals ambitions.

(Valeriy Levitin/AFP via Getty Images)

Net Worth

Patokh Chodiev's $1.2 billion net worth is based primarily on his stake in ERG and related private investments. His fortune was higher during the commodity boom years, when ENRC's public-market valuation made the Trio among the wealthiest businessmen connected to Kazakhstan. Forbes previously listed him with a fortune around $2 billion in the mid-2000s.

Today, his wealth is harder to value because ERG is privately held. A stake in a private mining company can swing dramatically depending on commodity prices, debt, political risk, asset sales, and buyer interest. Chodiev's net worth is therefore best understood as a conservative estimate tied to his remaining ERG ownership and long-running industrial interests.

Philanthropy

Chodiev founded the International Chodiev Foundation, which supports education, social welfare, cultural projects, and international exchange. Much of his philanthropy has focused on Russia, Central Asia, Japan-related cultural programs, and access to education for young people.

His foundation highlights his long-standing interest in Japan, where he began his career as a diplomat. Chodiev has supported cultural diplomacy projects, including Japanese arts initiatives, and has received honors connected to his philanthropic and cultural work. In 2020, he was awarded Japan's Order of the Rising Sun in recognition of his contribution to cultural and economic relations.

Personal Life

Patokh Chodiev is married and has three children: one son and two daughters. He speaks Uzbek, Russian, Japanese, and English.

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