Columbia University. Photo: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbia_University_-_Low_Memorial_Library_(48170370506).jpg)
Gallery of Len Blavatnik (Leonard Blavatnik)
Harvard Business School. Photo: HBS1908, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aerial_of_the_Harvard_Business_School_campus.jpeg)
Columbia University. Photo: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbia_University_-_Low_Memorial_Library_(48170370506).jpg)
Harvard Business School. Photo: HBS1908, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aerial_of_the_Harvard_Business_School_campus.jpeg)
Len Blavatnik is an American industrialist, investor, and philanthropist who founded Access Industries in 1986. His investments have spanned natural resources, chemicals, media, telecommunications, technology, and real estate, while his philanthropy has supported scientific research, higher education, Jewish history, and the arts.
Background
Ethnicity:
Blavatnik was born into a Jewish family in Odesa, then part of the Soviet Union.
Blavatnik was born on June 14, 1957, in Odesa, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, and was raised in the Soviet Union. His family emigrated to the United States in 1978, when he was twenty-one, during a period of increased Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union.
He became a United States citizen in 1984 and later acquired British citizenship. His migration from the Soviet Union to the United States preceded his development of an international investment career linking American finance with enterprises in Europe, Israel, and the former Soviet Union.
Education
Blavatnik attended Moscow School of Physics and Mathematics No. 315 and later studied at Moscow State University of Railway Engineering, where his field was automation and computing machines. He left the Soviet Union before completing that course of study.
He earned a Master of Science in computer science from Columbia University in 1981. Columbia, founded in 1754 in New York, is a major research university whose engineering and computer-science programs developed within the city's scientific and industrial environment.
In 1989, he received an MBA from Harvard Business School. Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, the school became a leading center for graduate management education and the study of business administration.
Blavatnik founded Access Industries in 1986. Based in New York, the privately held investment company developed a diversified international portfolio in natural resources and chemicals, media and telecommunications, technology, venture capital, and real estate. He has served as its chairman and president.
After the collapse of communism, Blavatnik and Viktor Vekselberg formed the Renova investment vehicle and later joined Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group in the AAR venture. AAR acquired a controlling interest in the Russian oil company TNK through privatization auctions and later sold a 50 percent stake to BP, creating TNK-BP. Blavatnik served on the TNK-BP board, and Rosneft completed its acquisition of TNK-BP in 2013.
Access acquired Basell Polyolefins from Royal Dutch Shell and BASF in 2005. Basell subsequently acquired Lyondell Chemical Company in 2007, creating LyondellBasell Industries, a major global chemicals producer. During the company's 2009 bankruptcy proceedings, Access participated in the financing that supported its emergence from Chapter 11 in 2010.
In 2011, Access acquired Warner Music Group for approximately $3.3 billion, expanding Blavatnik's business interests into recorded music and music publishing. His other investment and board connections have included UC Rusal, SUAL, and companies in energy, telecommunications, media, and real estate.
Alongside his business career, Blavatnik became a major philanthropist through the Blavatnik Family Foundation. His giving has supported the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford, scientific research and early-career scientists, universities, museums, music organizations, Jewish history, and cultural institutions in the United States, Britain, Israel, and elsewhere.
Achievements
Blavatnik founded Access Industries in 1986 and developed it into a privately held international investment group with holdings across natural resources, chemicals, media, telecommunications, technology, and real estate.
Through Access Industries, Blavatnik participated in the transactions that combined Basell Polyolefins and Lyondell Chemical Company to create LyondellBasell Industries, one of the world's major chemical companies.
Blavatnik expanded Access Industries into the music business through its 2011 acquisition of Warner Music Group.
In 2007, Blavatnik established the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists with the New York Academy of Sciences, creating a program that recognizes promising early-career scientists and engineers with unrestricted research funding.
Blavatnik and the Blavatnik Family Foundation provided the founding philanthropic support for the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, which was established in 2010 to educate and research public policy and government.
Religion
Blavatnik was born into a Jewish family and is associated with Judaism. Jewish religious and cultural traditions developed through the history of the Jewish people, emphasizing covenant, study, ethical responsibility, communal life, and the preservation of historical memory.
His philanthropic activities have included support for Jewish history and cultural institutions, including the Center for Jewish History and organizations serving Jewish communities. The Blavatnik Family Foundation describes the preservation of Jewish history as one of its areas of philanthropic activity.
Views
Blavatnik's philanthropy reflects an emphasis on scientific discovery, educational opportunity, innovation, and the preservation of cultural and Jewish historical institutions. The Blavatnik Family Foundation describes its guiding principles as discovery, partnership, opportunity, and innovation, directing support toward research, future leaders, and institutions working in science, education, culture, and public life.
Membership
Blavatnik has participated in academic, cultural, scientific, charitable, and philanthropic organizations. His roles have included service on advisory boards connected with Cambridge University and Harvard Business School, academic and governing bodies associated with Tel Aviv University, and boards of cultural and Jewish-history institutions.
The Blavatnik Family Foundation has supported scientific discovery, higher education, arts and culture, and Jewish historical work. Its partnership with the New York Academy of Sciences established the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, which recognize promising early-career scientists and engineers.
Founder and principal philanthropic supporter.
Blavatnik Family Foundation
,
United States
Member of the global advisory board.
Global Advisory Board of the Centre for International Business and Management at the University of Cambridge
,
United Kingdom
Member of the board of Dean's Advisors.
Dean's Advisors, Harvard Business School
,
United States
Member of the academic board and board director.
Tel Aviv University
,
Israel
Board member.
The White Nights Foundation of America
,
United States
Board member.
The Center for Jewish History
,
United States
Board member.
92nd Street Y
,
United States
Interests
Philanthropy, scientific research, higher education, visual arts, music, cultural institutions, and Jewish history.
Connections
Blavatnik is married to Emily Appelson Blavatnik; they have four children, two sons and two daughters. His business and philanthropic activities have included documented associations with Viktor Vekselberg, Mikhail Fridman, Access Industries, the Blavatnik Family Foundation, and numerous academic and cultural institutions.
Wife:
Emily Appelson Blavatnik
Blavatnik's wife; they have four children together.
References
Blavatnik Family Foundation: About Us
Documents Blavatnik's identity, education, dual United States and United Kingdom citizenship, marriage, philanthropy, and leadership of the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
Access Industries: Our Story
Documents the founding and development of Access Industries and its investments in LyondellBasell, Warner Music Group, real estate, and other sectors.
Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists
Documents the awards established by the Blavatnik Family Foundation in 2007 and independently administered by the New York Academy of Sciences.
