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Timur Kulibayev once again becomes the richest person in Kazakhstan

Timur Kulibayev once again becomes the richest person in Kazakhstan / Photo: kazenergyforum.com and Shutterstock

Timur Kulibayev and his spouse Dinara Kulibayeva (daughter of Ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev) once again lead the list of richest people in Kazakhstan.

According to Forbes, Kulibayev’s fortune is currently estimated at $4.7 billion (622nd place in the world rating). His spouse possesses a similar amount of money. This means that the entire Kulibayev family controls $9.4 billion worth of assets. In 2023, Kulibayev was ranked the second richest individual in Kazakhstan with a fortune of $4.3 billion ($8.6 billion for the family). The last time, the businessman was the first in the rating was in 2018, when his fortune of $3.2 billion placed him ahead of Vladimir Kim ($3.1 billion).

The core business of the Kulibayev family is banking. The couple owns Almex LLP, which in turn controls 69.52% of common shares of Halyk Bank, the biggest bank in Kazakhstan (28.49% of the stock belongs to The Bank of New York). Apart from the banking and oil businesses, their portfolio also includes various property and other assets.

Vladimir Kim, who controls major stakes in two copper manufacturing companies KAZ Minerals and Kazakhmys, was the richest individual in the country last year. This year he is ranked second with a fortune of $4.6 billion (642nd place in the world rating). His wealth hasn’t changed since last year.

Vyacheslav Kim, co-owner of Kaspi, is the third richest person in Kazakhstan with a fortune of $4.4 billion 684th position), which is a big increase compared to his wealth of $3.6 billion last year. Timur Turlov, the founder and majority stakeholder in Freedom Holding Corp. is ranked fourth with a fortune of $3.5 billion (869th position in the global rating) compared to $3.1 billion in 2023, followed by Bulat Utemuratov, a majority shareholder of Forte Bank (81.82%) with a fortune of $2.7 billion (1,182nd place). His wealth also hasn’t changed since last year. Even though Mikhail Lomtadze, a co-owner of Kaspi (24.63%), has built his fortune of $4.4 billion (675th) in Kazakhstan, he is a citizen of Georgia.

It is worth noting that an alternative rating by Bloomberg says that the richest person in Kazakhstan is Vladimir Kim with a fortune of $7.14 billion (349th), while Kulibayev hasn’t even entered the top 500 richest people on Earth, the poorest of whom possesses a wealth of $5.5 billion.