Mikhelson, Timchenko, Potanin – Russian billionaires are getting poorer before our eyes
This happened against the backdrop of a sharp drop in the Russian market: for example, the Moscow Exchange index fell to a year ago, the RTS index was at its lowest level since the end of 2020.
The fortunes of four businessmen from the Russian Forbes list decreased on January 18 by more than $ 1 billion each, follows from the Forbes Real-Time rating, which is updated in real time depending on quotes, as of 19:30 Moscow time.
Two billionaires’ capital has decreased by $1.5 billion – these are Leonid Mikhelson and Gennady Timchenko. Vladimir Potanin’s fortune decreased by $1.4 billion, Vagit Alekperov’s by $1.1 billion. More than $500 million per day was lost by the richest businessman in Russia according to Forbes, Alexei Mordashov, as well as billionaires Oleg Tinkov, Viktor Rashnikov, Suleiman Kerimov and Vladimir Lisin. The total fortune of the top 10 Russian Forbes list has decreased by almost $7 billion.
Estimates of the wealth of billionaires declined against the background of the collapse of the Russian stock market. According to the results of the day of trading, the Moscow Exchange Index fell by 6.5%, the RTS index – by 7.29%. The Moscow Exchange index during trading fell to 3297.12 points – this is the minimum for almost a year, after February 1, 2020. The RTS index fell to 1355.25 points – this is the minimum after December 23, 2020.
Mikhelson and Timchenko are the main shareholders of Novatek, whose shares fell 3.9% on January 18. The shares of Norilsk Nickel, headed by Potanin, lost 5% in price at once. The value of Lukoil shares, which Alekperov manages, fell by 3.65% over the day.
The dollar exchange rate by the evening of January 18 rose by 60 kopecks, to 76.7 rubles. The euro exchange rate remained virtually unchanged compared to the closing price on January 17 – 86.9 rubles. The price of Brent oil rose above $88 per barrel for the first time since 2014, but by the evening the price had fallen to $86.7 per barrel, according to data from the Intercontinental Exchange.
The US stock market is also declining. The S&P 500 index (which includes the largest US companies by capitalization) lost 1.59%, the “industrial” Dow Jones – 1.62%, and the “technological” Nasdaq – 1.78%. Stocks are getting cheaper, while the yield of US government bonds, on the contrary, is growing. For 2-years, it rose to 1.028%, the highest result in almost a year since February 2020, while the 10-year yield rose to 1.827%, the highest level in two years, wrote The Wall Street Journal.