Suleyman Kerimov Net Worth

Suleyman Kerimov has an estimated net worth of $25.7 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Suleyman Kerimov profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $6.3 billion in 2019.

Suleyman Kerimov is a Russian investor and politician who has represented Dagestan in Russia’s Federation Council since 2008. A trained economist, he built his career by buying distressed assets in Russia and restructuring businesses. He gained control of Nafta Moskva in 1999 and turned it from an oil trader into an investment company. Over time, he built major positions in companies tied to banking, energy, mining, and property.

His wealth came from a series of big market bets. In the 2000s, he made money from shares in Gazprom and Sberbank. After selling those holdings in 2007, he put money into global banks such as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank before the 2008 financial crisis, which led to heavy losses. He later recovered through Polyus, Russia’s biggest gold producer, after buying a 37% stake for $1.3 billion.

How Suleyman Kerimov built his fortune

Kerimov started as an economist and moved into finance in the 1990s. He worked through Fedprombank and Soyuz-Finans before taking control of Nafta Moskva in 1999. He then used the company as an investment vehicle. In the 2000s, he secured large loans from Russian state banks and used that capital to buy stakes in companies such as Gazprom, Sberbank, Uralkali, and PIK Group. Those deals made him a major figure in Russian business.

A key source of his wealth has been mining, especially gold. Nafta Moskva bought Polymetal in 2005, took it public in 2007, and later sold control. After losses tied to the 2008 financial crisis, Kerimov shifted to bigger stakes with more influence over strategy. In 2009, he bought 37% of Polyus from Vladimir Potanin for $1.3 billion. Forbes says those shares later rose more than 10-fold, helping drive his comeback.

Forbes net worth and the Polyus effect

Forbes valued Kerimov at $6.3 billion in 2019, then $15.8 billion in 2021. The estimate later dropped to $4.4 billion in 2022 before rebounding. That swing fits the central role of Polyus in his fortune. In 2015, he transferred Polyus shares to his son Said to comply with a law that barred politicians from holding financial assets abroad. At the start of 2022, his family held 76% of Polyus.

The latest Forbes estimate is $25.7 billion on the real-time billionaires tracker as of October 20, 2026. Forbes places him in Finance & Investments and ties his fortune to gold. His long record shows a pattern of moving from distressed assets into large, high-conviction stakes. That approach brought sharp losses during the 2008 market break, but Polyus became the investment that rebuilt his wealth over time.