The list of the world's richest businessmen has been announced. Azerbaijani-born billionaires are also included in the list.
According to Modern.az, based on the ranking, Vahid Alakbarov is ranked 81st among the world's richest businessmen, with a fortune of 29.5 billion dollars. Vahid Alakbarov's path to success began as a simple worker. He first worked on an oil platform in the Caspian Sea, then rose to the position of deputy minister in the institution that led the oil industry during the Soviet era. In 1991, he founded Lukoil by merging three large oil fields. Today, the company is one of Russia's largest independent oil producers. Alakbarov led this company for many years and owned approximately 30 percent of it. In 2014, Lukoil was subjected to US sanctions. In 2022, after sanctions were imposed by Great Britain, Alakbarov resigned as president of the company. In the same year, he transferred his stake in the Heesen Yachts factory in the Netherlands to a fund.
God Nisanov and Zarah Iliev are ranked 837th and 838th, respectively. Each of them has a fortune of 5.1 billion dollars.
God Nisanov and Zarah Iliev are considered among the largest real estate owners in Moscow, the capital of Russia. The partners, who moved from Azerbaijan, have built large shopping centers, hotels, and residential complexes here. Their total real estate portfolio is approximately 14 million square meters. The entrepreneurs have created a large wholesale center - “Food City” - in Moscow and own a number of large commercial facilities around the city. Zarah Iliev is also a co-owner of the famous “Radisson Royal Moscow” hotel. This hotel was used as one of FIFA's main headquarters during the 2018 World Cup.
Farhad Akhmedov is ranked 2386th on the list, with a fortune of 1.7 billion dollars. Farhad Akhmedov started his business activities in London by selling furs. In 1987, he founded a company that supplied equipment for the gas industry. Later, he strengthened his position in the energy sector by acquiring a stake in “Nortgas”, a company operating in Siberia. F. Akhmedov, who became one of the main shareholders in the company in 1998, sold this stake for 1.4 billion dollars in 2012. His name came to the fore more often due to a long-running court dispute with his ex-wife in Great Britain. Although the court ruled that he should pay 454 million pounds sterling, this dispute ended with an agreement only in 2021. In 2022, he was also sanctioned by the European Union and Great Britain. In the summer of that year, his luxury yacht named “Luna” was frozen in Germany. However, in September 2023, the European Union lifted sanctions against Akhmedov.
