Abramovich was born in the Soviet Union to a poor Jewish family, his grandparents were Jews from Belarus, his maternal grandfather was of Ukrainian descent, and his maternal grandmother was also Jewish. At the age of 1, Abu's mother died of a miscarriage and when he was 4, his father also died in an accident at a construction site. Orphaned, Abramovich was raised by his uncle. Later, according to the memories of some adults at that time, Abu was always very polite and sociable, and was known as a fairly reasonable child.
There is no exact version of the information about Abu's studies, and the most commonly used claim is that he received a higher education at the Moscow Oil and Gas Institute. In addition, he served in the military and has a record of selling stolen gasoline to officers to profit from it.
Later, Abu married his first wife Olga, and the two thousand ruble gifts given to them by his father-in-law were spent on the black market by the very business-minded Abu to buy perfume and toothpaste and then sell them to earn the difference.
In 1988 he and Olga started a doll company, which was a quick success. In the few years since, his business has gone from refining and raising pigs to hiring bodyguards. By the early 1990s, he had founded and sold at least 20 companies.
With Gorbachev coming to power, the shackles of Privatization in the Soviet Union were removed, and the nimble-minded Abramovich had a greater use. Whether it is legal or illegal, there is no taboo for him.
In the early 1990s, he used fake documents to steal a train filled with 55 diesel tankers and make a fortune. Although later investigated, the charges against him were quickly dropped. What Abu used to balance everything, the answer is not difficult to guess.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the vigorous promotion of the "privatization process" of the Russian Federation, Abramovich's business became bigger and bigger, and the more money was made. In 1995, he and Berezovsky, an aide to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, each paid $100 million each to take control of the state-owned Siberian Oil Company. Soon after, the oil company was valued at billions of dollars.
At that time, Berezovsky was both an economic oligarch and a political red, and through him, Abu became acquainted with the Yeltsin family and became intimate with Yeltsin's youngest daughter Tatyana, who even prepared an apartment for him in the Kremlin. Abu has also been known as the Cash Machine of the Yeltsin Family.
Opening up Russia's political and business relations is equivalent to mastering the wealth code. Since then, Abu has successively controlled Rusal and Russian Civil Aviation. It soon became one of the richest industrial oligarchs in Russia in the late 1990s.
But compared with those arrogant old oligarchs, Abu knows better how to be a man with his tail between his legs. He speaks softly and humbly to those in power, even obediently and on call. Even putin, a strongman who strongly resents oligarchy, can still stand firm in power, rather than fleeing like other once-invincible oligarchs.
From the moment Putin came to power, Abu expressed loyalty to him and even completely and unconditionally endorsed Putin's various ideas. When Putin said That Russian companies should do a better job of giving back to society. Abu immediately went to Chukotka, a far eastern province with a population of less than 80,000, to become the chief executive. Not only did they not pay a salary, but they also paid more than 200 million US dollars out of their own pockets to improve the lives of the local people.
On the issue of rectifying oligarchs, Abramovich also cooperated with President Putin. For example, before and after his leader Berezovsky was forced into exile, Abramovich bought most of his assets as an intermediary, and then handed them all over to the government in a few years, which is definitely a serious and responsible white glove.
Even in the face of the government's punishment of himself, Abu is equally unambiguous. In 2003, the Russian government announced that it would pursue Abramovich's tax evasion problem, and after he learned the news, he rushed back to Russia from Britain overnight without saying a word, and paid $1 billion in taxes in one go.
Abu's soft stature and exquisite technique made him the longest-lived of Russia's many oligarchs.
Abramovich has always liked to make a fortune in a muffled voice and does not like to be high-profile. But in 2003, he did something that could not be kept low. That was the £130 million acquisition of a financially troubled British football club, Chelsea. It then invested more than £200 million to pay off the team's debts and buy big stars. This once unknown team has suddenly become a powerful team in the Premier League and even in Europe. With the blessing of a lot of money, Chelsea also won back almost all the honours including the league title and the European Champions Cup for their owner Abu.
The team, on the other hand, is just one of Abu's many toys. There are many more toys he likes. He has two private jets, an Airbus A340 modified to increase takeoff weight, and a custom-built Boeing 767 Abramović Sky, worth $1 billion alone.
He also owns two luxury yachts, one of which was bought from Microsoft founder Paul Allen and is said to be the fourth most luxury yacht in the world.
He spent a lot of money on castles and manors in Moscow, England, Germany, France and other places. The 424-acre estate in Sussex, England, contains a 7-bedroom villa, a large number of outbuildings, two polo fields, a swimming pool, a tennis court, a rifle shooting range, a small lake, a riding centre, and a stable that can accommodate 100 horses.
Despite his wealth, Abramovich was always wary. He knew the original sin of his fortune, and he also knew the energy of the clouds of power. The shrewd Abu Cunning Rabbit Three Caves, in 2018 and 2021, successively obtained Israeli and Portuguese citizenship, adding double insurance for himself.
After the recent outbreak of the Conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Abramović, fearing that chelsea clubs would be implicated, first handed over the management of the club to the Charitable Foundation. The decision was then made to sell Chelsea and pledged to donate the net proceeds to the victims of the war in Ukraine. Although he still did not escape the sanctions imposed on him by the British government, his fox-like sense of smell and cunning were once again revealed.
Recently, Russia and Ukraine held talks in Istanbul, and Abramović, who has always been low-key, was also involved, although no one can say clearly who Abu was entrusted by and in what capacity, but this is enough to show that the energy and value of Abu are still not to be underestimated.