Vadim Yakunin Net Worth

Vadim Yakunin has an estimated net worth of $2 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Vadim Yakunin profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $1.2 billion in 2018.

Vadim Yakunin is a Russian businessman who founded Protek, one of the biggest drug distributors in Russia, and the Rigla chain of pharmacies. He was born on January 4, 1963, in Rostov, in the Yaroslavl region, and Forbes describes him as self-made.

He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1986 as an engineer-physicist and later earned a Doctor of Technical Sciences degree. He began his business career importing computers and writing software.

He is married with three children and lives in Moscow. His sister, Yuliya Yakunina, is economic director of Protek and has been a member of its board since 2002.

Yakunin has kept a fairly low profile despite running one of Russia's main drug distribution groups. Unlike many Russian billionaires who made their money in oil, metals or banking, he built his fortune in health care, supplying medicines to pharmacies and hospitals. His family is also closely involved in the business he built.

How Vadim Yakunin made his money

Yakunin's move into medicine happened almost by chance. While working in the tourism business in Hungary, he met representatives of a large drug company and decided to start importing medicines into Russia. In 1990 he founded Protek, which grew into one of the country's main drug wholesalers.

He then built out the business from end to end. He founded the Rigla chain of drug stores, and he built a pharmaceutical factory and a logistics center near Moscow. That gave the group a role in making, moving and selling medicines.

Protek went public in 2010, which made his stake easier to value. His path from physics and computers to pharmacies is unusual, and it began in 1990, just as private business was opening up in Russia.

Owning both the wholesale business and the Rigla stores lets the group sell medicines directly to shoppers as well as to other pharmacies.

How Forbes has valued Vadim Yakunin

Forbes valued Yakunin at $1.2 billion in 2018. His figure slipped to $1 billion in 2019 and stayed there in 2020 and 2021, right at the billionaire line.

It then climbed steadily, to $1.2 billion in 2023, $1.3 billion in 2024, $1.7 billion in 2025 and $2 billion on the 2026 World's Billionaires List. As of October 20, 2026, the Forbes real-time billionaires tracker also showed $2 billion, his highest figure.