Early Life
Len Blavatnik was born in Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, in 1957, to a Jewish family. His family moved to Yaroslavl, Russia, when he was a child. He studied at the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering but did not complete his coursework due to his family's request for emigration visas. In 1978, Blavatnik emigrated to the United States. He later received a master's degree in computer science from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Rise to Success
Blavatnik founded Access Industries in 1986, a privately held investment firm. Through Access Industries, he made early investments in the privatization of state-owned assets in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. A key deal involved acquiring a stake in the Russian oil company TNK-BP, from which he later sold his share for $7 billion in 2013. He acquired Warner Music Group in 2011 for $3.3 billion and took the company public in 2020.
Key Business Strategies
Blavatnik's business strategy involves identifying and investing in companies with strong potential, optimizing their value through financial backing and expertise. He diversified Access Industries' portfolio to include investments in various industries, including chemicals, media, telecommunications, and real estate.
Philanthropy
Blavatnik is a significant philanthropist through the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The foundation has contributed over $1.3 billion to various institutions worldwide, including universities like Yale, Harvard, and Oxford, as well as cultural institutions.
