United StatesFounded it
Len Blavatnik
Len Blavatnik founded the investment group Access Industries in 1986; his fortune began with the Russian oil venture TNK-BP and is now led by Warner Music Group, plus stakes in LyondellBasell and DAZN.
- Forbes estimate
- $35.5B
- Forbes, 9 Oct 2026
- Forbes rank
- No. 66
- 9 Oct 2026
- Stake in Warner Music Group
- 72%
- Net worth, Bloomberg
- $40.2B
- Bloomberg, 21 Sep 2026
- Born
- 1957
- Odesa, Ukraine
- Education
- Graduate degree
- MS computer science, Columbia University (1981); MBA, Harvard Business School (1989); earlier studied at Moscow State University
- Giving Pledge
- Not a signer
Where the fortune sits
Warner Music Group, held through Access Industries
Warner Music Group
recorded music and publishing, founded 1958
98% of the votes
Through Access Industries, which holds all Class B shares
Warner Music Group 10-K, 30 Sep 2025
Director and vice chairman of the board
Access Industries
private holding company, founded 1986
Bloomberg says he owns Access, but no percentage is published
Founder
Other holdings
LyondellBasell
About one-fifth, held through Access, per Bloomberg
DAZN
Sports streaming group majority-owned by Access Industries
Access Real Estate
Personal and commercial properties held through Access, per Bloomberg
Where Len stands among 73
Everyone on the site, grouped by their answer. Len Blavatnik is outlined.
How the fortune started
Founded it
Founded it 42
Inherited and grew it 12
Built it up 8
Inherited it 6
Through marriage 5
Industry
Media
Media 3
Technology 24
Finance 10
Several industries 9
Metals and mining 6
Retail 4
Fashion and beauty 4
Food and drink 3
Shipping 3
Crypto 2
Oil, gas and chemicals 2
Healthcare 1
Casinos and resorts 1
Property and sports 1
Giving Pledge
Not a signer
Not a signer 61
Signed 11
Not stated 1
Education
Graduate degree
Graduate degree 24
Bachelor's degree 27
Left university without a degree 6
No university 5
Not stated 11
Role today
Chair, board or owner
Chair, board or owner 25
Runs the company 32
Founder, no executive role 8
No role 4
Retired 4
The person
- Born
- 1957Odesa, Ukraine
- Citizenship
- United States, United Kingdom
- Lives in
- London, United Kingdom
- Education
- Graduate degreeMS computer science, Columbia University (1981); MBA, Harvard Business School (1989); earlier studied at Moscow State University
- Parents
- Son of two university professors; the family emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1978
What they give
- Giving Pledge
- Not a signer
- Foundation
- Blavatnik Family FoundationA self-funded 501(c)(3) private foundation
- Lifetime giving
- $1.5BBlavatnik Family Foundation, 17 Oct 2026. 'More than $1.5 billion' contributed over the past decade, per the foundation's site; covers ten years, not his whole life
Role and record
- Role now
- On the boardFounder of Access Industries; director and vice chairman of Warner Music Group
- Successor
- Lincoln Benet has been CEO of Access Industries since 2006; his brother Alex Blavatnik is its chairman
- Public office
- None found
- Legal record
- 2016, US District Court for D.C. (DOJ case at the FTC's request)A consent final judgment in a Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger-notification case ordered him to pay a $656,000 civil penalty, without trial, adjudication or admission.
- 2017, US Bankruptcy Court, S.D.N.Y.In the Lyondell Chemical trustee's suit, the court cleared him of the fraud claims but found him liable on one of nine counts, a $7.2 million judgment related to a lending requirement, per the Financial Times.
