Billionaire Vladimir Potanin donates part of his fortune to charity

Vladimir Potanin’s Interros has begun the process of transferring up to 50% of Rosbank’s shares to the Potanin Charitable Foundation endowment. This was stated by the businessman himself in the Interros telegram channel. Thus, according to him, the fund’s target capital will reach the planned amount of 100 billion rubles, “which will ensure the financial stability and long-term nature of its charitable programs.” Potanin himself will not be a member of the governing bodies of the endowment and Rosbank – both organizations will be managed by independent directors. “Entrepreneurs should not just donate funds to charity, but make the public good a part of their business models,” Potanin said in a statement.

Even up to 10% of Rosbank’s shares owned by Interros will be directed to a motivation program for Rosbank employees, the businessman specified. According to him, the program will be implemented in digital form: employees will receive digital financial assets (DFA) for the shares of the bank, which will make them beneficiaries of its business. In his statement, Potanin called it “people’s capitalism”: the company’s employees are turning into its beneficiaries.

That Interros will buy Potanin from the French Societe Generale Rosbank and the insurance business, it became known in April 2022. On May 18, the parties closed the deal. Interros was already the owner of the bank. Potanin’s company created Rosbank in 1998 as a subsidiary bank for Onexim Bank. In 2006, Interros and Societe Generale agreed on a partnership in business development, and in 2008 the French group exercised an option to purchase the bank’s shares, and increased its share to 50%. In 2014, the share of Societe Generale in Rosbank increased to 99.95%.

In July Rosbank for the first time in Russia, he conducted an investment transaction using digital financial assets (DFA) – he invested in a digital token for palladium. This is the first DFA issued by the domestic platform of Atomize LLC, the first operator of information systems registered in Russia in February 2022, in which digital financial assets are issued. Interros is also one of Atomize’s investors.

Potanin announced his decision to donate most of his fortune to charity back in 2010. “My fortune will not be inherited,” he told The Financial Times. “My capital must work for the good of society and continue to serve the achievement of socially important goals.”

“My children have grown. Their father is a billionaire and celebrity. Firstly, they are in my shadow, and secondly, what is their motivation to achieve something in life? In this sense, I see as the right step the transfer of wealth for the benefit of society, and not by inheritance. I’m going to follow suit [Билла] Gates and [Уоррена] Buffett,” he said. In 2013, Potanin was the first Russian businessman to officially join Gates and Buffett’s global Giving Pledge initiative.

The businessman established a charitable foundation in 1999. According to Forbes, since 2010, the Potanin Charitable Foundation has spent almost 6.5 billion rubles. to support culture and education. In 2022, an endowment fund was formed, the income from which is used to develop and support grant programs in the fields of culture, higher education, social sports and charity throughout the country. In 2021, the fund’s expenses amounted to almost 1.9 billion rubles. The organization held 29 grant competitions for NGOs, 1230 organizations received grants.

Potanin ranks second in the Forbes ranking of the richest businessmen with an estimated fortune of $ 17.3 billion. He founded the Interros group in 1990. At the moment, the main assets of the group are a 35.9% stake in PJSC MMC “Norilsk Nickel”, Rosbank, the Rosa Khutor mountain resort and the developer of pharmaceuticals NPO Petrovax Pharm. On April 28, 2022, the Interros Group acquired a 35% stake in the parent company “Tinkoff Bank» TCS Group Holding.