Alexander Ponomarenko

In January, with partner Alexander Skorobogatko, sold stake in NMTP, the biggest port in Russia, to state-owned Transneft and its affiliate Summa Capital, earning $1 billion each. With money to spend, in March purchased a lavish holiday complex on Russia's southern black sea coast, nicknamed "Putin's Palace," for $350 million. Graduate of Simferopol State University and Russian State Academy of Management founded Russian General Bank with Skorobogatko, which served the Novorossiysk Sea Trading Port. After the 1998 crisis the partners began buying up shares in stevedoring companies that were working at the port and combined them to form one holding company. The firm, Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port, went public in 2007, resulting in a windfall of $1 billion for the partners. In 2008 the partners sold 20% of their holding to Arkady Rotenberg, a powerful businessman who does judo with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.