Bloomberg: Russian billionaires lose combined $5 billion in wealth in 2026

The combined net worth of Russia's richest businesspeople has declined by approximately $5.02 billion since the beginning of 2026, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the fortunes of the world's 500 wealthiest individuals based partly on changes in the value of publicly traded companies.

The steepest decline was recorded by businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, whose fortune fell by $5.66 billion to $10.9 billion. Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov saw his wealth decrease by $1.86 billion to $12.5 billion.

Other notable losses included Vladimir Potanin, president of Nornickel, whose net worth fell by $3.44 billion to $23 billion; Vladimir Lisin, chairman of NLMK, down $1.16 billion to $22.6 billion; and Vagit Alekperov, founder of Lukoil, whose fortune declined by $1.41 billion to $21.2 billion.

Despite the overall decline, several Russian billionaires posted gains during the same period. Alexey Mordashov, founder of Severstal, recorded the largest increase, with his net worth rising by $1.79 billion to $28.1 billion. He was followed by Leonid Mikhelson, CEO of Novatek, whose wealth increased by $1.48 billion to $25.2 billion, and Andrei Melnichenko, founder of EuroChem and SUEK, whose fortune grew by $1.18 billion to $20.1 billion.

Other billionaires whose wealth increased this year include Gennady Timchenko, up $1.15 billion to $15.4 billion; Iskander Makhmudov, founder of UMMC, whose fortune rose by $700 million to $8.58 billion; Viktor Vekselberg, up $3.57 billion to $10.6 billion; Tatiana Kim, whose wealth increased by $418 million to $8.3 billion; Suleiman Kerimov, up $358 million to $10.8 billion; Dmitry Rybolovlev, whose fortune grew by $247 million to $10 billion; and Mikhail Fridman, whose net worth rose by $162 million to $10.2 billion.

Bloomberg has published the Bloomberg Billionaires Index since 2012, providing daily estimates of the wealth of the world's 500 richest individuals based on publicly available financial data and market movements.

By Sabina Mammadli