Alisher Usmanov (Алишер Бурханович Усманов) was born on Sept. 9, 1953, in Namangan province, Uzbek S.S.R. His father was the public prosecutor of Tashkent.

Education: International law, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), 1976. He studied with future Kremlin spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky. Banking, State Financial Academy.

1980-1986: Imprisoned in Tashkent on charges of fraud and extortion. A Soviet court later dismissed the charges and cleared his record, and the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan ruled in 2000 that the charges had been unjust.

Late 1980s: Made his first fortune selling plastic bags. 

1990: First deputy director of Interkross

1994: Adviser to the general director of MAPO, later first deputy director of the bank

1994: General director of Interfin, an interbank investment and finance company

1998: Deputy director of Gazprominvestholding

2000-present: General director of Gazprominvestholding

2000-2001: Adviser to the CEO of Gazprom, Rem Viakhirev (Current CEO Alexei Miller took over from Viakhirev in 2001)

2005: Acquired 97 percent of shares of Mikhailovsky GOK for $1.6 billion with Vasily Anisimov

2006: Acquired 50 percent of sports television channel 7TV

August 2006: Acquired the Kommersant publishing house from Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili

June 2006: Acquired 75 percent of music television channel Muz-TV

December 2006: Acquired the Sekret Firmy publishing house, including the popular Internet newspaper Gazeta.ru

February 2008: Increased his stake in the British football club Arsenal to 24.2 percent

2008: Acquires stake in MegaFon

The bulk of Usmanov's wealth comes from Metalloinvest, the largest iron ore miner in Russia. His other assets include Digital Sky Technologies (an early investor in Facebook, Zynga and Groupon), and stakes in Mail.ru, MegaFon and Kommersant.

In 2011, Forbes estimated Usmanov's net worth at $17.7 billion, making him the 5th richest man in Russia, and the 35th richest man in the world.