Business Moguls

Mikhail Fridman

Oligarch forged in Soviet Lviv, exiled by war

Roman Abramovich

Oligarch who bought Chelsea FC, worth $10B+

Yuri Milner

Soviet-born physicist turned Silicon Valley kingmaker

Abner Zwillman

Prohibition-era crime boss known as the Al Capone of New Jersey

Alan King

Stand-up comedian who turned Jewish immigrant anxieties into American comedy gold

Alex Karp

Philosopher-CEO who built the surveillance state's brain

Alexander Lebedev

KGB spy turned press baron of London

Alexander Mamut

The Moscow oligarch who saved British books

Amy Schumer

Stand-up subversive who made discomfort funny.

Andy Jassy

Empire-born roots, AWS-built empire.

Arcadi Gaydamak

Moscow-born oligarch who bought Israeli influence

Armand Hammer

The capitalist who charmed the Kremlin.

Arnold Rothstein

The gambler who bankrolled organized crime

Ben Cohen

The ice cream idealist who turned a scoop into a cause.

Ben Horowitz

Silicon Valley titan shaped by immigrant grit.

Billy Crystal

Odessa's grandson made America laugh for decades

Boris Berezovsky

From Soviet math labs to London exile.

Buddy Hackett

Brooklyn comedian with Russian-Jewish roots who was one of Las Vegas's last great stand-up kings

Bugsy Siegel

Russian-Jewish gangster from Brooklyn who built Las Vegas out of the Nevada desert

Charles Bluhdorn

Viennese immigrant with Russian parents who presided over Paramount's golden age

Chelsea Handler

Late-night TV trailblazer with Russian-Jewish roots on her father's side

Chico Marx

Eldest Marx Brother, son of a Russian-Jewish immigrant mother who raised America's greatest comedy team

David Sarnoff

Born in a Belarus shtetl, built NBC and RCA — the man who invented American broadcasting

David Steinberg

Canadian comedy legend with Russian-Romanian Jewish roots who defined 1960s irreverent humour

Don Rickles

Brooklyn insult comedian born to Lithuanian-Russian Jewish parents who became Mr. Warmth

Dutch Schultz

Bronx gangster with German-Russian Jewish roots who ran Prohibition-era New York

Eddie Cantor

Lower East Side entertainer with Russian Jewish roots who became a radio king and Hollywood star

Eugene Kleiner

Vienna-born venture capitalist with Russian roots who co-founded Kleiner Perkins and Silicon Valley itself

Eugene Shvidler

Ufa-born oligarch, Roman Abramovich's closest partner and the man behind Sibneft

Evgeny Chichvarkin

St. Petersburg entrepreneur who built Russia's biggest mobile phone chain and fled to London

Fanny Brice

Lower East Side comedian with Russian immigrant parents who became the Ziegfeld Follies' greatest star

Frank Lowy

Holocaust survivor from the Russian Empire borderlands who built the Westfield shopping empire

Gary Vaynerchuk

From Soviet Babruysk to Silicon Valley's loudest voice

George Burns

Lower East Side comedian with Russian-Austrian Jewish roots who performed until age 98

George Soros

The speculator who broke the Bank of England

Groucho Marx

The Marx Brothers' razor-tongued wit, son of a Russian-Jewish immigrant mother who built America's greatest comedy team

Harpo Marx

The silent Marx Brother — son of a Russian-Jewish immigrant mother — whose harp playing was genuine genius

Helena Rubinstein

Born in Krakow in the Russian Empire, built the first global cosmetics empire

Henny Youngman

King of the One-Liners, son of Russian immigrant parents who defined American stand-up

Howie Mandel

Canadian comedian and Deal or No Deal host with Eastern European Jewish roots

Ida Rosenthal

Minsk-born immigrant who co-founded Maidenform and invented the modern bra

Igor Olenicoff

Moscow-born real estate billionaire and art collector who became one of America's wealthiest immigrants

Jack Benny

The comedian's comedian — his parents emigrated from Poland and Russia to build America's greatest comedy legacy

Jackie Mason

Minsk-descended stand-up comedian who became Broadway's greatest Jewish comic voice

Jerry Seinfeld

The greatest stand-up comedian of his generation — his father's family came from Ukraine and Hungary

Jerry Stiller

Father of Ben Stiller and Seinfeld's Frank Costanza — his family came from Galicia and the Russian Empire

Joan Rivers

Brooklyn comedian with Russian-Jewish parents who became the queen of American stand-up

Jon Stewart

The Daily Show host whose family name was Leibowitz — grandparents came from Poland and Ukraine

Len Blavatnik

Odessa-born billionaire who bought Warner Music, built Access Industries and became the UK's richest man

Lenny Bruce

Brooklyn comedian with Russian-Jewish roots who died for free speech and reinvented stand-up

Leonid Nevzlin

Yukos co-owner who fled Russia, bankrolled opposition media and became a top anti-Putin activist from Israel

Lev Leviev

Born in Tashkent, became the Diamond King of the World and one of the wealthiest Israelis alive

Lew Grade

Born in Tokmak (Ukraine), became Britain's greatest TV mogul and built ITV into a global force

Louis Lepke

Brooklyn gangster with Russian-Jewish roots who ran Murder Inc. — and went to the electric chair

Marc Benioff

Salesforce founder whose grandfather Isaac came from Kyiv — built a $200 billion cloud empire

Marc Lasry

Moroccan-born distressed-debt billionaire with Eastern European Jewish heritage who co-owned the Milwaukee Bucks

Mark Cuban

Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner whose grandparents came from Russia via the Chabenisky family

Max Factor

Born in Zdunska Wola (Russian Empire), invented modern makeup and built Hollywood's most famous cosmetics brand

Mel Brooks

Brooklyn comedy genius whose mother came from Kyiv — created Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and The Producers

Meyer Lansky

Born in Grodno, became the Mob's Accountant — the financial genius behind American organised crime

Michael Dell

Founded Dell at 19 in his college dorm — his family name was Tal, changed from Russian-Jewish origins

Mickey Cohen

Born to Kyiv Jewish immigrants — became the most feared gangster in Los Angeles

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Russia's richest man, jailed by Putin for 10 years — now runs the anti-Putin opposition from London

Milton Berle

Mr. Television — his parents came from Russia, he put America in front of TV sets

Moe Dalitz

Russian-Jewish bootlegger who built Las Vegas alongside Bugsy Siegel and became its most legitimate mogul

Monk Eastman

Russian-Jewish gangster who ruled New York's Lower East Side and died a decorated WWI hero

Morris "Moe" Dalitz

Russian-Jewish bootlegger who built Las Vegas and transformed from mobster to civic benefactor

Nathan Swartz

Born in Odessa — bought a failing Massachusetts boot company and built it into Timberland

Red Buttons

Oscar-winning comedian whose parents came from Russia — a Borscht Belt legend

Richard Lewis

The prince of pain — his parents came from Russia and Romania, he turned neurosis into an art form

Rodney Dangerfield

He got no respect — his father left for Russia, his mother had Hungarian-Russian roots, he became comedy royalty

Samuel Zemurray

Born in Kishinev — the Banana Man who overthrew a Central American government and ran United Fruit

Shecky Greene

Las Vegas comedy legend whose parents came from Russia — the greatest improvisational comedian of his era

Sheldon Adelson

His father came from Lithuania and Ukraine — the casino mogul who became America's most powerful political donor

Sid Caesar

His parents came from Poland and Russia — the TV comedy genius who launched Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Carl Reiner

Sidney Myer

Born in Krichev, Belarus — founded Australia's largest department store and built Melbourne's cultural heart

Sol Kerzner

Born to Russian-Jewish immigrants in South Africa — built Sun City and One&Only into global resort empires

Steve Ballmer

His father's family came from Pinsk, Belarus — became Microsoft CEO and owns the LA Clippers

Sumner Redstone

His father came from Russia — built Viacom, CBS, and MTV into the world's largest media empire

Totie Fields

Her parents came from Russia — the stand-up comedian who defined self-deprecating comedy before Joan Rivers

Valentin Gapontsev

Moscow physicist who founded IPG Photonics — the world's largest fibre laser company

Waxey Gordon

William Paley

His parents fled Russia — he built CBS into America's most powerful broadcast network

Yakov Smirnoff

Born in Odessa — the comedian who turned being a Soviet immigrant into America's best-loved joke

Zeppo Marx

The 'straight man' Marx Brother — his parents came from Alsace and the Russian Empire

Zino Davidoff

Born in Geneva to parents from Novhorod-Siverskyi, Ukraine — built the world's greatest luxury tobacco brand

Alisher Usmanov

Uzbek-born Russian billionaire who owned Arsenal FC and built USM Holdings — one of Russia's great fortunes

Andrei Melnichenko

Belarus-born fertilizer and coal magnate whose sailing superyacht is the world's largest

Vladimir Lisin

Steel magnate from Ivanovo who became Russia's richest man and a champion clay-target shooter

Gennady Timchenko

Putin's oldest business associate — co-founded Gunvor and became one of the world's top commodity traders

Viktor Vekselberg

Bought back the Fabergé eggs for Russia — Renova Group founder and Switzerland-based billionaire

German Khan

Kyiv-born Alfa Group co-founder and one of Russia's wealthiest men, now Israel-based

Alexei Kuzmichev

Alfa Group co-founder with Vologda roots who built a $7 billion fortune and lives in France

Peter Aven

Moscow economist who co-built Alfa-Bank into Russia's largest private bank and became Latvia's most famous billionaire

Yuri Shefler

Exiled Moscow businessman who owns the Stolichnaya vodka brand and runs SPI Group from London

Moshe Kantor

Moscow-born fertilizer billionaire and President of the European Jewish Congress

Igor Kolomoisky

Dnipro oligarch who co-owned Privat Group and financed Ukraine's defence — then fell out with Zelensky

Vadim Moshkovich

Moscow-born agricultural billionaire who built Rusagro into Russia's largest sugar producer

Mikhail Prokhorov

Moscow billionaire who owned the Brooklyn Nets and ran against Putin — then lost everything

Gennady Bogolyubov

Dnipro co-founder of PrivatBank who built Ukraine's largest financial institution

Rinat Akhmetov

Donetsk-born Ukraine's richest man — steel, energy, media empire built in the shadow of war

Michael Mirilashvili

Tbilisi-born Israeli billionaire and president of the World ORT charitable network

Vyacheslav Kantor

Moscow-born Acron Group founder and globally recognised antisemitism campaigner

Oleg Tinkov

Founded Tinkoff Bank, renounced Russian citizenship in 2022 after publicly opposing the Ukraine war

Timur Turlov

Moscow-born founder of NASDAQ-listed Freedom Holding who obtained Kazakhstani citizenship

Igor Makarov

Ashgabat-born gas trader and cycling patron who built Itera and has lived in Monaco for two decades

Yelena Baturina

Russia's only self-made female billionaire — built a construction empire, married Moscow's mayor, now based in Vienna

Dmitry Rybolovlev

Perm cardiologist turned potash billionaire who owns AS Monaco and bought a Da Vinci for $127 million

Mikhail Shelkov

Controls VSMPO-AVISMA — the world's largest titanium producer supplying Boeing and Airbus

Dmitry Pumpyansky

Ural industrialist who built Sinara Group and TMK into one of the world's largest pipe manufacturers

Lev Khasis

Built Pyaterochka, ran Walmart Russia, rose to deputy CEO of Sberbank — then emigrated to Israel in 2022

Vyacheslav Kim

Co-founder of Kaspi.kz — Kazakhstan's super-app and the most valuable company in Central Asia

Mikhail Lomtadze

Georgian-born CEO of Kaspi.kz — built Kazakhstan's most valuable company from Almaty

Timur Kulibayev

Son-in-law of Kazakhstan's founding president — controls the country's energy and banking empires

Dinara Kulibayeva

Daughter of Kazakhstan's founding president — wealthiest woman in Central Asia

Nurlan Smagulov

Kazakhstan's automotive and real estate billionaire — newest entrant on Forbes global list

Aydin Rakhimbayev

Kazakhstani construction billionaire who built BI Group into Central Asia's largest development company

Bidzina Ivanishvili

Made his fortune in 1990s Moscow metals and banking — became Georgia's Prime Minister and richest man

Vagit Alekperov

Born in Baku — founded LUKOIL, Russia's largest private oil company, and became one of the world's richest men

Ruben Vardanyan

Founded Troika Dialog — Russia's greatest investment bank — then renounced Russian citizenship and was imprisoned in Azerbaijan

Vladimir Potanin

Born in Moscow — controls Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium

Alexei Mordashov

Born in Cherepovets — controls Severstal, Russia's most efficient steelmaker, and was the majority shareholder of TUI travel group

Tatyana Bakalchuk

Founded Wildberries from her Moscow apartment while on maternity leave — built the largest e-commerce platform in Russia

Victor Pinchuk

Ukrainian steel magnate and philanthropist — his Yalta European Strategy forum defined Ukraine's path to Europe

Kostyantyn Zhevago

Ukrainian iron ore billionaire who took Ferrexpo to the London Stock Exchange

Harry Triguboff

'High-Rise Harry' — born in China to Russian-Jewish refugees, built Australia's largest apartment empire

Bulat Utemuratov

Former aide to Nazarbayev who built Verny Capital and became one of Kazakhstan's key financial figures

Nikita Kahn

Russian-born philanthropist and real estate developer — partner of Oracle founder Larry Ellison

Vaja Jhashi

Georgian-born agricultural billionaire who built Trans-Oil into the Black Sea grain trading giant