Timur Turlov (Kazakh: Тимур Русланұлы Турлов born November 13, 1987) is a Russian-born[1][2] Kazakh[3] entrepreneur and financier. He is the founder of Almaty-based Freedom Finance.

Timur Turlov
Born
Тимур Русланович Турлов

(1987-11-13) 13 November 1987 (age 37)
Alma materMoscow State Aviation Technological University
Occupation(s)Founder of Freedom Finance, CEO of Freedom Holding Corp

Biography

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Education

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In 2009 he graduated from Moscow Aviation Technology University (MATI) as economist manager.[1]

Early career

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While at school, Turlov developed an interest in stock market investments.[4]

After graduating from high school in 2003, he began working at the Moscow branch of World Capital Investments (WCI), an American investment company, where he worked as a trader[5][6]

In 2005, Turlov was hired by Yutreyd.ru, a subsidiary of "Uniastrum Bank" (Moscow), to deal with the American stock market operations. He succeeded and built an infrastructure, which gave a unit an access to US stock exchanges. During the 2008 global financial crisis, Uniastrum Bank was sold to the Bank of Cyprus and the trading unit where Turlov worked was closed.[7][8] Back then, he and his colleagues decided to use their knowledge and experience to run their own company.[9]

Freedom Finance

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In 2008, Timur Turlov founded Freedom Finance,[10][11] which provides access to US stock exchanges and brokerage services.[citation needed] As of 2022, Freedom Finance was represented in thirteen countries.[12][13][2]

Turlov grew the business by attracting retail investors through active selling of American securities.[13] In 2018, the company earned the "Financial Elite of Russia" award and was recognized as the most fast-growing broker. At the beginning of 2022, Freedom Finance was ranked 8th among the largest brokerage companies operating at the Moscow Exchange. The ranking was based on the number of the companies' registered clients.

In 2011, Turlov and his family moved to Kazakhstan, where two years later he opened the subsidiary Freedom Finance JSC.[14] As of 2022, the subsidiary was the most active trading participant at the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange.[2][15]

In 2015, Turlov became the main shareholder of Freedom Holding Corp.[16] He used this brand to put Freedom Finance Investment Company, Freedom Finance JSC, Freedom24 and Freedom Finance Bank under one umbrella label.[17]

In 2015 – 2018, subsidiaries of Freedom Holding were opened in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Germany and Cyprus. In 2019, Timur Turlov made the holding public by listing shares on the American technology stock exchange Nasdaq.[18][19][20][21] Thus, Freedom Holding became the first financial institution from the Commonwealth of Independent states to be listed on the Nasdaq Stock market.[5][2]

In 2022, Turlov said in an interview with Reuters that Freedom Holding Corp would withdraw from the Russian market.[22] The company exited Russia in October the same year.[23]

Wealth

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In 2021, Turlov was ranked 1517th on the Forbes Global 2000 list. It was recorded that his fortune reached $2.1 billion.[5] A year later, he was on the Forbes list of the wealthiest people in Kazakhstan, ranking 7th. His worth was estimated at $2.2 billion.[23]

Other

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Turlov is a columnist for the American version of Forbes.[5][24] In December 2022, he was included in Ukraine's sanctions list. His Ukraine-based company called this decision a "mechanical error" and planned to appeal against it.[25]

In January 2023, Turlov became the head of Kazakhstan Chess Federation.[26]

Personal life

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Turlov is married and has six children.[27] He has been domiciled in Kazakhstan since moving there in 2011 and is a tax resident of the country.

In June 2022, Turlov confirmed that he had acquired Kazakh citizenship after renouncing his Russian and St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Forbes Billionaires Profile: Timur Turlov". Forbes. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Как Тимур Турлов построил многомиллиардный бизнес" (in Russian). forbes.kz. January 31, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Billionaire renounces Russia citizenship, becomes Kazakhstan national". 26 June 2023.
  4. ^ ""С детства мечтал заработать". Миллиардер Тимур Турлов о пути Freedom Finance к IPO на Nasdaq". The Bell. 2021-10-03.
  5. ^ a b c d Lisette Voytko (April 13, 2021). "Surprisingly Hot Brokerage". forbes.com. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  6. ^ ""Я вас сейчас всему научу, но будете работать за еду": миллиардер Турлов рассказал, как захотел стать трейдером". Rusbase. 2021-03-10.
  7. ^ "Юниаструм банк продался от кризиса крупнейшему кипрскому банку". Kommersant. 2008-06-27.
  8. ^ ""В нашем технологичном мире рынки стремятся к олигополизации" Глава "Фридом Финанс" Тимур Турлов об американском рынке, покупке брокеров и технологиях". Kommersant.ru. 2020-11-05.
  9. ^ "Какой совет дал банкир Турлову при выходе FF на рынок Казахстана". Forbes. 2017-11-23.
  10. ^ "Инвестиционный бум: расширение бизнеса и уникальные продукты "Фридом Финанс"". Коммерсант. 2021-01-26.
  11. ^ "Как брокер "Фридом Финанс" становится экосистемой". СИА. 2021-03-12.
  12. ^ "Турлов Тимур Русланович" (in Russian). kommersant.ru. November 5, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  13. ^ a b Август Макаров (January 18, 2023). "Кто такой Тимур Турлов (биография, жена, состояние)" (in Russian). bizmedia.kz. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  14. ^ "Тимур Турлов. Почему российская компания стала брокером №1 в Казахстане СНГ — отличный вариант для экспансии". Секрет Фирмы. 2015-05-08.
  15. ^ Alexander Sazonov, Nariman Gizitdinov and Tom Maloney (September 23, 2020). "A 32-Year-Old Finance Tycoon Looms in Obscure Stock Market". bloomberg.com. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  16. ^ "Головная структура "Фридом финанс" объявила о начале листинга на Nasdaq". ТАСС. 2019-10-02.
  17. ^ "Тимур Турлов". Вестник НАУФОР №1 2019. 2019-01-28.
  18. ^ "U.S.-listed Freedom Holding looks at potential secondary listing to raise cash". Reuters. 2021-01-14.
  19. ^ "Financial services firm Freedom Holding considers Moscow listing after Nasdaq debut". Reuters. 2019-10-15.
  20. ^ "Акции брокера с российскими корнями впервые будут торговаться на бирже США". Ведомости. 2019-10-02.
  21. ^ "К торгам на NASDAQ впервые допустят российского брокера". РБК. 2019-10-02.
  22. ^ "U.S.-listed Freedom Holding Corp founder says he will buy Russian unit". reuters.com. June 1, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  23. ^ a b Ксения Куликова (October 20, 2022). "Freedom Holding полностью разделил российский и зарубежный бизнесы" (in Russian). kommersant.ru. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  24. ^ "Timur Turlov". forbes.com (in Russian). 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  25. ^ Елена Тумашова (December 6, 2022). "Тимур Турлов и его украинский актив попали под санкции" (in Russian). forbes.kz. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  26. ^ "Тимур Турлов возглавил Казахстанскую федерацию шахмат" (in Russian). 2023-01-18.
  27. ^ "У Тимура Турлова родился шестой ребенок". KazInform (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-04-17.