Replies to post #11800 on Thresher Industries, Inc. (THRR)

[zinn21]

From Wikepedia:

>>Mikhail Prokhorov (Russian: ?????? ????????; born May 3, 1965) is a Russian self-made businessman. After graduation from Moscow Finance Institute he made his name in the financial sector and went on to become one of Russia's leading industrialists in the precious metals sector. While he was running Norilsk Nickel, the company became the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium. He is currently chairman of Polyus Gold, Russia's largest gold producer, and President of Onexim Group.

Prokhorov is currently the richest man in Russia and the 40th richest man in the world according to the 2009 Forbes list with an estimated fortune of $9.5 billion.[1]<<

[cashforclunkers]

Mikhail Prokhorov
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Mikhail Prokhorov

Born May 3, 1965 (1965-05-03) (age 44)
Moscow, Russian SSR
Nationality Russia
Alma mater Moscow Finance Institute
Occupation Businessman
Net worth 9.5 billion USD
Mikhail Prokhorov (Russian: ?????? ????????; born May 3, 1965) is a Russian self-made businessman. After graduation from Moscow Finance Institute he made his name in the financial sector and went on to become one of Russia's leading industrialists in the precious metals sector. While he was running Norilsk Nickel, the company became the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium. He is currently chairman of Polyus Gold, Russia's largest gold producer, and President of Onexim Group.

Prokhorov is currently the richest man in Russia and the 40th richest man in the world according to the 2009 Forbes list with an estimated fortune of $9.5 billion.[1]

Contents [hide]
1 Career
1.1 Norilsk Nickel
1.2 Onexim Group
2 Sports and patronage
3 Controversy
4 Awards
5 See also
6 References
7 External links


[edit] Career
In 1989, Prokhorov graduated with honors from the Finance Academy under the Government of RF, known at the time as the Moscow Finance Institute. From 1989 to 1992, Prokhorov worked in a management position at the International Bank for Economic Cooperation, and afterwards shortly served as head of Management Board of the International Finance Company (MFK). In 1993, aged 28, during the largely un-regulated privatization of former state-controlled industries after the fall of Communism, Prokhorov (together with Vladimir Potanin) engineered the acquisition of Norilsk Nickel by Onexim Bank, of which he was then chairman of the board.

[edit] Norilsk Nickel

Mikhail Prokhorov (Right-center)
Mikhail Prokhorov (Center)Prokhorov has been credited with transforming Norilsk from an inefficient conglomerate into one of the largest and most profitable natural resource corporations in the world.[citation needed] After selling off most of its non-mining assets, he moved to modernize a complicated, expensive business venture which required icebreakers to transport metal over the frozen Arctic region. Prokhorov invested in an innovative Finnish freighter that did not require icebreakers.

Norilsk Nickel is headquartered in the Siberian city of the same name. Environmental and labor conditions are harsh there, and pollution remains a problem; Prokhorov has invested heavily in pollution control. He converted Norilsk Nickel's gold-mining interests into the $8.5 billion corporation Polyus Gold, Russia's largest gold producer, of which he is chairman of the board.[citation needed]

Prokhorov resigned as Norilsk CEO in February 2007 and declared his intention to separate his assets from those of long-time partner Vladimir Potanin. The two engaged in protracted negotiations to separate the conglomerate Interros, co-owned by the two, into separate holdings.[2] By the end of 2009, the only major asset jointly owned by the two remains the development company JSC Open Investments, which is hard to value due to a volatile situation on the Moscow real estate market.

[edit] Onexim Group
In May 2007, following the decision to exit Interros, Prokhorov launched private investment fund called Onexim Group, with assets valued at $17 billion at the time. As the demerger from Interros proceeded, and as other industries caught Prokhorov's attention, the group rapidly changed its investment profile.

In April 2008, Prokhorov sold his most valuable asset - a 25% plus two shares stake in Norilsk Nickel - to United Company RUSAL, another mining conglomerate controlled by fellow billionaire Oleg Deripaska, in exchange for some 14% of Rusal stock, about $5 billion in cash and an obligation to pay over $2 billion more. In retrospect, the deal has been singled out as a major success for Prokhorov: only three months later, following a dip in oil prices, a disastrous stock market crash halved the value of most Russian companies, including Norilsk. Prokhorov emerged as one of the very few businessmen to have cashed out in time. However, his wealth has also been affected, as the value of his remaining interests in various companies (including Rusal and Open Investments) declined sharply, and as the remaining payment from Rusal had to be postponed.

In September, 2008, Onexim Group acquired 50% of Renaissance Capital.[3], a major Russian investment bank which has reportedly encountered liquidity problems. Onexim also purchased a small bank, renaming it MFK in honour of the bank that Prokhorov ran in the early nineties.

One of Onexim Group's divisions focuses on the development of nanotechnology, including hydrogen fuel cells, as well as other high-technology projects. One of the key areas of development is the production of materials with ultra–tiny structures used in energy generation and medicine. In June 2007, then-Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov announced the formation of the Government Council for Nanotechnology, to oversee the development of nanotechnology in the country. Prokhorov was one of 15 individuals appointed to the council, which was to be chaired by then-First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.

Another high-profile venture is the media group "JV!", led by the founder of Kommersant Vladimir Yakovlev, which among other things publishes two expensive magazines targeted at the rich and successful ("Snob" and "Russian pioneer").

Overall, Prokhorov has business interests in mining and metallurgy (Polyus Gold, stake in Rusal), financial services (MFK bank, Soglasiye insurace company, half of Renaissance Capital), utilities (stake in TGC-4), nanotech, media (JV!) and real estate development (stake in Open Investments).

[edit] Sports and patronage
In March 2004 he founded the Cultural Initiatives Foundation (as part of the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation). It is headed by Prokhorov's elder sister, Irina, a prominent Russian publisher.

At one time, he financially supported CSKA Moscow's basketball, hockey and football clubs, and is a member of the Supreme Council of the Sport Russia organisation.[citation needed] Prokhorov currently serves as president of the Russian Biathlon Union [4]

In September 2009 he made an offer to buy a controlling interest in the New Jersey Nets and half of a project to build a new arena in Brooklyn. He will invest nearly $200 million dollars and become the first non-North American and tallest NBA owner.[5]

[edit] Controversy

Mikhail ProkhorovProkhorov is known throughout the world and especially in Russia for his lavish lifestyle. He was satirized on a Russian TV commercial for his love of travelling the world in a private jet in the company of beautiful women. He is a keen sportsman.[citation needed]

At an annual two-week Christmas party for the Russian rich at the French Alpine resort of Courchevel in January 2007, he was arrested for allegedly arranging prostitutes for his guests. After four days he was released without charge.[6] In September 2009, Prokhorov was officially cleared from this charge and the judicial case was dismissed [7]. According to his blog[8], he even received apologies from French officials during his visit to France in November 2009.

In June 2009, the magazine "Russian Pioneer", owned by Prokhorov, organized a party for selected guests, including the governor of Saint-Petersburg Valentina Matvienko and other prominent government and business figures, aboard the Russian cruiser Avrora. Press reports of the party caused outrage among some Russians, since the ship is supposed to be a naval museum. Prokhorov later proposed to cover the costs of transferring the ship from the Ministry of Defense to the city of Saint-Petersburg and upgrading the museum facilities.

Prokhorov made headlines in early March of 2010 when he was forced to forfeit a £36 million deposit he placed on the famous £360 million Villa Leopolda in the French Riviera in 2008. Under French property law, once an initial sale contract has been signed, a deposit can only be refunded during a seven day 'cooling-off' period. On March 2, 2010, a court in Nice ruled that the villa's owner, 71-year-old Lily Safra, widow of deceased billionaire banker Edmund Safra, could keep the £36 million deposit, plus £1 million in interest. [9]

[edit] Awards
In August 2006 he was awarded the Order of Friendship for his significant contribution to the growth of Russia’s economic potential, when the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, signed an order for the granting of state honours on August 18, 2006.[citation needed]

[edit] See also
List of billionaires
[edit] References
^ Forbes world billionaires: #40 Mikhail Prokhorov
^ Prokhorov, Potanin to split Interros assets, St-Petersburg Times, February 2, 2007
^ Prokhorov Acquires Half of RenCap
^ Russian Biathlon Union
^ Bagli, Charles V. (September 23, 2009), "Richest Russian’s Newest Toy: An N.B.A. Team", New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/sports/basketball/24nets.html
^ Süddeutsche:Russen im Wintersport
^ France drops prostitution case against Russia's richest man, Sidney Morning Herald, September 29, 2009
^ [1]
^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1254867/Billionaire-Mikhail-Prokhorov-loses-36m-deposit-worlds-expensive-home.html
[edit] External links
Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People
Article about his January 12, 2007 arrest
Kommersant article about standing down as General Director of Norilsk Nickel
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Categories: 1965 births | Living people | Businesspeople in metals | People from Moscow | Russian businesspeople | Russian billionaires | Russian mass media owners
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[DrStockAlert]

hahahahaha, who's your source?

[dionnfr]

Have a hard time with this, THRR involved in Government Contracts (night vision goggles) do not think US would approve sale to a Russian citizen.