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The combined wealth of Russia’s billionaires is now $696.5bn, more than the combined savings of the entire Russian population and almost double what it was at the start of the Ukraine war, Forbes reported on March 11.

Sanctions and the economic slowed down were supposed to strip the oligarchs of their money, but in a set of unintended consequences the war in Ukraine has made them richer. Their combined wealth exceeds the household savings held in term bank deposits of RUB46.23 trillion ($587bn) as of February 1, according to the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) data. However, the calculation excludes money held in current accounts. Forbes now counts a record 155 Russian nationals listed in its annual rich list of billionaires.

The figures represent a sharp turnaround from 2022, when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine triggered sweeping western sanctions and a collapse in the Russian stock market. Much of the rich list wealth is calculated from evaluating the shares they own in their companies listed on stock markets. At that time, the combined wealth of Russian billionaires fell to $352.8bn and the number of individuals on the list dropped to 88, according to The Moscow Times.

In addition, Western sanctions specifically targeted oligarchs, especially those that were designated “close to Putin.” Luxury yachts and European villas were a particularly popular target for asset freezes.

But the campaign was not a success. In four years, a total of some $60bn-$80bn of assets have been frozen on paper, or about 9-12% of their total wealth. However, as many of the assets were moved into Russia or restructured before sanctions could take effect. According to bne IntelliNews estimates the total oligarch money frozen since 2022 is closer to $22bn, or circa 3% of their wealth.

One of the ironies of the oligarch sanctions that were supposed to impoverish the Russian economy and generate resentment amongst Russia’s elite towards Russian President Vladimir Putin has had the opposite effect. Most oligarchs have chosen to safehaven their money by bringing it back to Russia from offshore havens around the world, and cut off from the global economy, they have doubled down on their investments in the Russian market, making them more dependent on Putin than ever. Moreover, these are amongst the best managers and most successful business members of Russian society – a boon in times of economic stress.

In a conversations with bne IntelliNews, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oligarch turned Kremlin critic, argued that the West should have thrown its doors open to oligarchs that wanted to leave and make it easy for them to take their money with them, as an effective way of hollowing out the Russian talent pool.

Russia is still ranked in the top five in the global oligarch count according to the Forbes Global billionaires list this year. The US continues to lead with a total headcount of 989 billionaires which is well ahead of 2nd place China with 610 and 3rd place India with 229. In Europe Germany leads with 212 billionaires followed by Russia with a total of 147.

In 2026 the richest man in Russia is Alexey Mordashov, owner of steelmaker Severstal, whose fortune is estimated at $37bn, placing him 57th globally. Vladimir Potanin, owner of Norilsk Nickel and T-Bank, ranks second among Russian billionaires and 79th worldwide after his wealth increased by $5.5bn over the past year to $29.7bn. Lukoil founder Vagit Alekperov is third with an estimated net worth of $29.5bn, placing him 81st globally.

Fourteen Russians joined the billionaire list for the first time this year. Among them are brothers Ruslan and Timur Rakhimkulov, owners of the investment holdings Kafijat and MGTR Alliance, with fortunes estimated at $1.9bn and $1.8bn respectively, The Moscow Times reported on March 11. Former Krasnodar region governor and agriculture minister Alexander Tkachev also entered the ranking with $1.8bn, while Vladimir Ivanov, a former Yandex programmer and co-owner of Nebius Group, debuted with $1bn.

Nevertheless Russia's super rich trail well behind the world leaders. Elon Musk tops the list with a personal net fortune of $839bn and has added almost 500bn to his wealth in just the last year alone. Next in the lineup is Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the Co founders of Google, who were worth $257bn and $237bn respectively. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in 3rd place it will stop Bernard arms, chairman and CEO of the fashion company LVMH is the only non American to make it into the top ten with an estimated fortune of $171bn he's also the only one in the top ten who didn't make his money from technology.

Geographically America remains the most important region however the emerging markets are starting to produce their own members of the ultra-rich club. China has long ago established its credentials as an ex-emerging market with over 600 and among the notable female newcomers was China’s Zhou Xiaoping, who is the cofounder of Changzhou Xingyu Automotive Lighting Systems and entered the list with the highest female self-made fortune of $3.8 billion.

But some truly emerging markets are starting to produce their first billionaires. This year saw the first from Afghanistan and Pakistan: Afghan national Mirwais Azizi is a 63-year-old real estate developer based in Dubai, and Pakistan's Sualeh Asif is only 26 and co-founded AI coding tool Cursor in the US with three friends from MIT.

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