Oleg Yuryevich Tinkov (russian: Олег Юрьевич Тиньков; born 25 December 1967) is a
Russian-born Cypriot entrepreneur and businessman.
Tinkov is the founder of a network of shops of household appliances ''Technoshock'', frozen food factories ''Daria'', brewing companies and network of
Tinkoff restaurants.
Among less well-known projects – music store ''Music Shock'' and the record label ''Shock Records'', which released first albums by bands ''
Kirpichi'', and ''
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
'', and which worked with the ''
Knife for Frau Müller''.
Tinkov was the founder and chairman of the
Tinkoff Bank
Tinkoff Bank (russian: Тинькофф банк), formerly Tinkoff Credit Systems (russian: Тинькофф Кредитные Системы) is a Russian commercial bank based in Moscow and founded by Oleg Tinkov in 2006. The bank does no ...
board of directors (until 2015 it was called ''Tinkoff Credit Systems''
). The bank was founded in 2007 and as of December 1, 2016, it was ranked 45 in terms of assets and 33 – for equity among Russian banks.
In 2019 Tinkov was diagnosed with leukemia.
[ Tinkov was indicted by a US grand jury in Sept 2019 for willfully filing false tax returns and attempting to evade over $240 million in taxes while renouncing his US citizenship.][Founder of Russian Bank Sentenced for Felony Tax Conviction Arising from Scheme to Evade Exit Tax while Renouncing his U.S. Citizenship]
- US Department of Justice, October 21, 2022 He was arrested in London in February 2020 but fought extradition based on a new diagnosis of leukaemia making him too unwell to travel. He eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay over $508 million in unpaid taxes, fines and a fraud penalty, as well as time served and a year's supervised release.[
In 2021 he had complications after surgery and his chances of survival were estimated at only 40%. By 2022 his cancer went into remission. After the diagnosis, Tinkov left management positions in his businesses. In 2020 he announced the foundation of his own charity fund for leukemia sufferers. with $200 mln investment of his own money.][
'']Bloomberg Billionaires Index
The ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', launched in March 2012, is a daily ranking of the world's 500 richest people based on their net worth. It draws information from "action in the stock market, economic indicators and news reports", features a p ...
'' estimated his net worth at $8.2 billion in November 2021; Forbes estimated his net worth at $0.8 billion four months later. After he publicly criticized the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
in April 2022, he said officials of the Putin administration threatened to nationalize Tinkoff Bank, and he went into hiding after selling his 35% stake under pressure. In October 2022, he renounced his Russian citizenship, citing the Ukrainian war and the "Putin fascism" as the reason.
Biography
Early years
Tinkoff was born in the village Polysayevo
Polysayevo (russian: Полыса́ево) is a town in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Inya River south of Kemerovo. Population:
History
It was founded in 1952 as a mining urban-type settlement subordinated to Lenins ...
, Leninsk-Kuznetsk district of the Kemerovo Oblast
Kemerovo Oblast — Kuzbass (russian: Ке́меровская о́бласть — Кузба́сс, translit=Kemerovskaya oblast — Kuzbass, ), also known simply as Kemerovo Oblast (russian: Ке́меровская о́бласть, label=non ...
in Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
family of a miner and a seamstress.
Since the age of 12 Tinkoff was interested in road cycling, he was a member of cycling clubs at school, and later – at the workplaces. He won in a number of competitions, and in 1984 received the title of a candidate in master of sports. During training camps Tinkoff first took up black marketeering, buying hard-to-find goods in Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, and selling them in Leninsk-Kuznetsky. His cycling career was interrupted by military service: he did not get into the Sports Club of the army and was sent to the border troops. In 1986–1988 he served in the Far East – in Nakhodka
Nakhodka ( rus, Нахо́дка, p=nɐˈxotkə) is a port city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located on the Trudny Peninsula jutting into the Nakhodka Bay of the Sea of Japan, about east of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai. Po ...
and Nikolayevsk-on-Amur
Nikolayevsk-on-Amur (russian: Никола́евск-на-Аму́ре, translit=Nikoláyevsk-na-Amúrye) is a town in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia located on the Amur River close to its liman in the Pacific Ocean. Population:
Geography
The town is ...
.
University
In 1988, Oleg Tinkov entered the Mining Institute university, which had a large number of foreign students and offered promising opportunities in trade. He traded in jeans, cosmetics and perfumery, caviar and vodka. He sold goods from St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
to customers in Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
, and from there he brought Japanese household appliances purchased from the miners. He brought electrical appliances to Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and returned with office equipment and supplies, gas cartridges and guns.
Tinkov traded together with his future wife and fellow students – Oleg Zherebtsov (later – the founder of hypermarket retail chain ''Lenta Lenta can refer to:
* Lenta (retail), a Russian hyper- and supermarket chain
* Lenta, Piedmont, a municipality in Italy
* Lenta.ru, a Russian online newspaper
* ''Lenta'' (лента), ribbon or tape in the Russian language
** Especially the ribbon ...
''), Oleg Leonov (future founder of retail chain '' DIXY'') and Andrey Rogachev (founder of the company '' LEC'' and ''Pyaterochka
Pyaterochka (russian: Пятёрочка, Pyatyorochka, lit=Five) is a Russian chain of convenience stores managed by X5 Retail Group. The chain opened its 15,000th store in the city of Zelenograd, Russia, in May 2019.
History
The chain open ...
'').
In 1999, he studied at the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
.
Family
Tinkov met an Estonian, Rina Vosman, while studying at university. Their wedding took place in June 2009 – after 20 years of living together. Their daughter Daria Tinkov studied at King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
, sons Pasha and Roman at St Edward's School, Oxford
St Edward's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'.
Approximately sixty pupils live in each of its thirteen houses. The school is a member of the Rugby G ...
.
Entrepreneurship
Technoshock
In 1992, Tinkov began to trade in wholesale
Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
electronics from Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. To simplify the registration of documents he registered a limited liability partnership ''Petrosib'' in St. Petersburg, and then regional companies ''Petrosib-Kemerovo'', ''Petrosib-Novosibirsk'' and ''Petrosib-Omsk'' and others. Goods arrived in St. Petersburg and from there were sent to the regions, where they were sold with a larger markup. He started with calculators and went on to office equipment, televisions, VCRs and even artificial flowers and trees. In the beginning, Oleg himself flew to Singapore, then began to use commercial air freight, but the turning point came when an India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n dealer Ashok Vasmani shipped him a half-container of TVs on credit. Tinkov went on to use container sea freight.
Reduced profits from wholesaling pushed Tinkov towards launching his own retail stores. In 1994 ''Petrosib'' opened the first store under the Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
label on Maly Prospect of Vasilevsky Island in St. Petersburg, then another on Marata Street. ''Petrosib USA'' opened in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. Success in retail inspired Tinkov to combine the shops under one name. ''Technoshock'' was opened in 1995 and offered expensive household appliances at the highest prices in the city, but still it was popular. ''Technoshock'' was one of the first companies in Russia which began to train its sales consultants. Sergio Gutsalenko, an American of Russian origin, became the president of the company. The network grew rapidly; by 1996 the ''Technoshock'' had five stores in St. Petersburg, two in Omsk
Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...
and Kemerovo and one in Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk ( rus, Новоросси́йск, p=nəvərɐˈsʲijsk; ady, ЦIэмэз, translit=Chəməz, p=t͡sʼɜmɜz) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities hono ...
. From 1995 to 1996 the turnover doubled and reached $40 million.
By 1997 ''Eldorado
El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...
'' stores had arrived in St. Petersburg, which increased competition and reduced profitability. In 1997 Tinkov sold the company to its management, and a year later it was acquired by ''Simteks''. He came out of ''Technoshock'' with $7 million and invested the sum in the pelmeni business.
Along with ''Technoshock'', Tinkov opened a chain of music stores called ''Music Shock'' in 1996. Philipp Kirkorov
Philipp Bedrosovich Kirkorov PAR (russian: Филипп Бедросович Киркоров; bg, Филип Бедросов Киркоров, Filip Bedrosov Kirkorov; born 30 April 1967) is a Bulgarian-born Russian pop singer. He is a five ...
and Alla Pugacheva
Alla Borisovna Pugacheva, ) (born 15 April 1949), is а Soviet and Russian musical performer. Her career started in 1965 and continues to this day, even though she has retired from performing. For her "clear mezzo-soprano and a full display o ...
performed at the opening of the first ''Music Shock'' store and Jeanne Aguzarova
Jeanne may refer to:
Places
* Jeanne (crater), on Venus
People
* Jeanne (given name)
* Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc, 1412–1431)
* Joanna of Flanders (1295–1374)
* Joan, Duchess of Brittany (1319–1384)
* Ruth Stuber Jeanne (1910–2004), Amer ...
at the second. In 1998 ''Music Shock'' was sold to the Moscow company Gala Records.
Together with Ilya Bortnyuk, Tinkov launched the ''Shock Records'' record label. The label released the debut albums of the bands '' Kirpichi'', ''Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
'', Vladimir Dashkevich
Vladimir Sergeevich Dashkevich (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Дашкевич) (born 20 January 1934) is a Russian composer, known mainly for his film music. Originally, he studied chemical technology at Moscow State University o ...
Symphony based on his music for the film ''Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
''Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson'' (russian: link=no, italics=yes, Шерлок Холмс и доктор Ватсон) is a 1979 Soviet film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's novels about Sherlock Holmes. Directed by Igor Maslennikov, it is th ...
'', the album ''Nechelovek-vidimka'' by '' Knife for Frau Müller''. ''Music Shock'' published a 320-page book ''Viktor Tsoi''.
Daria
Pelmeni and other frozen foods were produced under the brand name ''Daria'', named after the Tinkov's daughter. A Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
called Athanasius, who distributed ravioli
Ravioli (; singular: ''raviolo'', ) are a type of pasta comprising a filling enveloped in thin pasta dough. Usually served in broth or with a sauce, they originated as a traditional food in Italian cuisine. Ravioli are commonly square, tho ...
manufacturing equipment in Russia, gave Tinkov this idea while in the sauna. Production was launched in early 1998 in Peterhof and in the beginning it made products under the trademark ''Smak
Smak ( sr-Cyrl, Смак; trans. ''The end time'') was a Serbian and Yugoslav band from Kragujevac. The group reached the peak of popularity in the 1970s when it was one of the most notable acts of the former Yugoslav rock scene. The band's l ...
'' under license from the Andrey Makarevich
Andrey Vadimovich Makarevich PAR (russian: link=no, Андре́й Вади́мович Макаре́вич; born 11 December 1953 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Soviet and Russian rock musician and the founder of Russia's oldest ...
company. After a conflict with the licensor, the brand name changed to ''Smak St. Petersburg''. Economic crisis
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...
was the reason for creating its own brand; the new brand helped increase market share. The new plant, which opened in December 1998, at the site of a former ''Technoshock'' warehouse on Predportovaya street in St. Petersburg, originally produced only ''Daria''. In addition, Tinkoff made products under the brands of ''Tolsty kok'', ''Dobry product'' and ''Tsar-batyushka''.
''Daria'' first became popular due to an advertising campaign in which five billboards in St. Petersburg and two in Moscow showed an image of female buttocks covered with flour and the caption ''Your favorite pelmeni!''. Another commercial included the phrase, ''From these raviolek you’ll get stomach cramps'', which caused the ''Ravioli'' company dissatisfaction. In return they used a phrase ''Daria, shoo!'' in their advertisement campaign.
In 2001, ''Daria'' was sold to Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and is the ...
and Andrew Bloch's holding company ''Planeta Management'' for $21 million, of which $7 million were used to pay off debt.
Tinkoff Beer
In 1997 Tinkov could not find an investor for the construction of a brewery
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...
. Two meetings helped: an equipment supplier, with whom Tinkoff met at the Drinktec exhibition in Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, proposed to combine the brewery with a restaurant and focus on the development of the brand; the other supplier suggested that beer be called after Tinkov's family name according to the Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n tradition.
The initial investment amounted to one million Deutschmark
The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...
s, and in August 1998 the first restaurant was opened in St. Petersburg on Kazanskaya street, 7. There soon appeared a line for beer in bottles. In 2001 a restaurant was opened in Moscow in Protochny lane, the investment in which amounted to $2 million. Other restaurants were opened in Samara
Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...
in November 2002 and in Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...
in January 2003; there were further openings in Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...
, Kazan
Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...
, Ufa
Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital city, capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya River (Kama), Belaya and Ufa River, Ufa rivers, in the centre-n ...
, Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
, Vladivostok
Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...
and Sochi
Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...
.[
The first plant was built by the summer of 2003 with the support of ]Zenit
Zenit, meaning "zenith", may refer to:
Spaceflight and rocketry
* Zenit (rocket family), a Soviet family of space launch vehicles
* Zenit (satellite), a type of Soviet spy satellite
* Zenit sounding rocket, a Swiss rocket
Sports
* Zenit (sports ...
Bank, which opened a credit line for Tinkoff Brewery. For construction of the second plant the company raised the funds through a bond issue, as well as the lkoans from Zenit Bank and the German HypoVereinsbank
UniCredit Bank AG, better known under its brand name HypoVereinsbank (HVB), is the fifth-largest of the German financial institutions, ranked according to its total assets, and the fourth-largest bank in Germany according to the number of its e ...
. The second plant worth about $75 million was completely built on credit funds.
Tinkoff factories produced ''Tinkoff beer'', ''Tekiza'', and ''T''. While expanding, the company invested significant funds in mass marketing. There was even a bad experience of collaboration with photographer and director Oliviero Toscani
Oliviero Toscani (born 28 February 1942) is an Italian photographer, best-known worldwide for designing controversial advertising campaigns for Italian brand Benetton, from 1982 to 2000.
Toscani was born in Milan, and took up photography foll ...
, author of the United Colors of Benetton
Benetton Group S.r.l. () is a global fashion brand based in Ponzano Veneto, Italy, founded in 1965. Benetton Group has a network of about 5,000 stores worldwide. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benetton family's holding company Edizio ...
advertising campaigns.
The Sun Interbrew group had shown interest in acquisition of the ''Tinkoff'' factories since, and in 2005 the transaction took place. It paid about $200 million for the factories and brand. After that Tinkov did a deal to sell nad lease back the premises of the ''Tinkoff'' restaurants to the management company ''Troika Dialog
Sberbank CIB is a multinational investment banking and asset management firm headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and a subsidiary of Sberbank. It was founded in Moscow in 1991, and was formerly known as Troika Dialog.
Sberbank CIB's core lines of ...
'' for about $10–12 million. Finally in 2008–2009 the restaurants themselves were acquired by ''Mint Capital'' equity fund.
Tinkoff Bank
On November 18, 2005, on Necker Island, owned by billionaire Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
, Oleg Tinkov presented a draft or his proposal for a future bank. In 2006 he acquired the Moscow ''Himmashbank'' and based on it created an online bank, which was a first in Russia. Despite setbacks in attracting investment at the start of the project, during the crisis of 2008 the bank showed a 50-fold increase in profits.
''Tinkoff Credit Systems'' reduced costs at the expense of marketing which was non-standard for the banking sector and the widespread use of computer processing of the data instead of human labor. For a long time the bank did not attract deposits and used its own capital for lending.
Tinkoff's technology platform played a major role in its growth. The IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
of the bank was listed as one of the largest deals in the 2013 Russian version of Forbes; Tinkov doubled his fortune and took position 1210 in the world ranking of billionaires. On 14 October 2013, TCS had its IPO and several days later Oleg Tinkov renounced his United States citizenship.
In the beginning of 2015 ''Tinkoff Credit Systems'' changed its name to ''Tinkoff Bank''. The simpler and more concise name was intended to better reflect the full range of financial institution services.
As of February 2020 Tinkov owned 44% of the bank, and it remained his main project.
In December 2020, Tinkov sold 5.3% of TCS Group for $325 million, reducing his stake to 35%. He announced his intention to spend part of this money ($200 million) to create a fund for the study of leukemia.
In January 2021, his remaining shares were converted from class B to class A. As a result, the Tinkov family's voting rights in the group decreased from 84% to 35%.
In February 2022, sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of their 2022 invasion of Ukraine heavily impacted the ruble and Tinkoff's shares crashed. Tinkov lost the majority of his net worth, retaining under $1 billion.
Cycling
Tinkov is passionate about road cycling
Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...
and has the title of candidate in master of sports of the USSR. In 2005, he created a professional cycling team ''Tinkoff Restaurants'', which later changed its name to '' Tinkoff Credit Systems'' and became the basis for the '' Katyusha'' team. From December 2013 to November 2016 he owned the cycling team '' Tinkoff''.[
]
Tinkoff Restaurants
The Tinkoff Restaurants cycling team under command of coach Alexander Kuznetsov became historically the third Russian professional team. At the time of its appearance it was the only one in Russia. The team was launched in January 2006 at the headquarters at Kutzetnov's Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
villa. It was composed of members of the Russian national Track cycling
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles.
History
Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...
team, including Mikhail Ignatiev, Nikolay Trusov
Nikolay Vasilievich Trusov (russian: Николай Васильевич Трусов; born 2 July 1985, in Leningrad) is a Russian professional racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI Continental team . Trusov has been a professional since 2004.
...
, Alexander Serov
Alexander Nikolayevich Serov (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Серо́в, Saint Petersburg, – Saint Petersburg, ) was a Russian composer and music critic. He is notable as one of the most important music critics in ...
, Sergey Klimov, Pavel Brutt
Pavel Aleksandrovich Brutt (russian: Павел Александрович Брутт; born 29 January 1982) is a Russian former professional track and road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2017 for six different teams.
Ca ...
and Ivan Rovny
Ivan Andreyevich Rovny (; born 30 September 1987) is a Russian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2006 to 2022.
Career
For the 2014 season, Leningrad-born Rovny joined . He was disqualified from the 2014 ...
. Airline ''Siberia'' was the joint team sponsorand the team's annual budget was $4 million.
In the 2006 season the team riders won first place in the team pursuit at the Track Cycling World Cup in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, and Pavel Brutt won the Tour of Greece
The International Tour of Hellas is a road bicycle racing stage race. It consists of five stages and is usually held between April and May. The race was first held in 1968 as the ''Antiquities Trophy'', and was later known as the ''Tour of Hellas ...
and the Cinturón a Mallorca
Cinturón a Mallorca was a road bicycle race held annually on the island of Mallorca, Spain. Between 2005 and 2011, it was classified as a 2.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing
Road b ...
.
The reason for the team disbanding was the conflict between Alexander Kuznetsov and Tinkov.
Tinkoff Credit Systems
''Tinkoff Credit Systems'' was founded in the 2007 season on the basis of Tinkoff Restaurants, but with an Italian management and registration. UCI Professional Continental
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
license allowed athletes to participate in all the major European races. The new line-up had a higher number of foreign athletes and the captain was an American Tyler Hamilton
Tyler Hamilton (born March 1, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racer. He is the only American rider to win one of the five Monuments of cycling, taking Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2003. Hamilton became a professional cycli ...
.[ ]
Successful performances of the team, including these at the stages of the Giro d'Italia in 2008, attracted the attention of former cyclist Igor Makarov, an owner of ''Itera
ARETI International Group of Companies is a private energy company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. ARETI was created by Igor Makarov in 2015 as a result of rebranding of Itera International Group of Companies, which was started in 1992. T ...
'' corporation. At his initiative and under the sponsorship of ''Gazprom'' and ''Rostekhnologii
Rostec ( rus, Ростех, p=, r=Rostekh), officially the State Corporation for Assistance to Development, Production and Export of Advanced Technology Industrial Product Rostec (russian: Государственная корпорация по ...
'' based on the ''Tinkoff Credit Systems'' Russian team '' Katyusha'' was established.
Tinkoff team
In December 2013 Tinkov, through the management company Tinkoff Sport A/C bought a team from the former cyclist Bjarne Riis
Bjarne Lykkegård Riis (; born 3 April 1964), nicknamed ''The Eagle from Herning'' ( da, Ørnen fra Herning), is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer who placed first in the 1996 Tour de France. For many years he was the owner and lat ...
. ''Tinkoff Credit Systems'' sponsored this team from 2012 on.
''Tinkoff'' and ''Katyusha'' were the only Russian teams performing at the UCI World Tour
The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ...
races.
Tinkov takes part in training alongside the team's athletes and travels to competitions. In honor of Contador's victory in the 2015 Giro d'Italia
The 2015 Giro d'Italia () was a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race that took place in May 2015. It was the 98th running of the Giro d'Italia and took place principally in Italy, although some stages visited France and Switzerland. The ...
he painted his hair pink.
Tinkov has repeatedly criticized the bureaucratization of professional cycling and its "outdated" sponsorship model. He became one of the shareholders of the project ''Velon'' – World Tour Team initiative for the development of professional cycling, organizing more spectacular events, protecting the interests of sponsors and team owners. Tinkoff also stands for Grand Tour schedule, which will enable the strongest riders to perform at each of them during the season. In 2014, he offered the captain ''Tinkoff-Saxo'' Alberto Contador and his rivals Chris Froome
Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de ...
, who rode for ''Sky Procycling
Ineos Grenadiers () (stylised as INEOS Grenadiers) (formerly Team Sky from 2010 to 2019, and Team Ineos from 2019 to 2020) is a British professional cycling team that competes at the UCI WorldTeam level. The team is based at the National Cycl ...
'' and Vincenzo Nibali
), The Nibbler
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Messina, Sicily, Italy
, height =
, weight =
, currentteam =
, discipline = Road
, role = Rider
, ridertype = Climber
, proyears1 = 2005
, proteam1 =
, proyears2 = 2006–2012
, protea ...
of the Astana Pro Team
Astana Qazaqstan Team () is a professional road bicycle racing team sponsored by the Samruk-Kazyna, a coalition of state-owned companies from Kazakhstan and named after its capital city Astana. Astana attained UCI ProTeam status in its inaugura ...
1 million euros each for performing in all three of the world's major stage races.
Since 2016 the cycling team races under the name ''Tinkoff'', as ''Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is a Danish investment bank specializing in online trading and investment. It was founded as a brokerage firm in 1992, under the name Midas Fondsmæglerselskab (English: ''Midas Stockbroker Company''), by Lars Seier Christensen, Kim F ...
'' decided not to renew sponsorship past 2015. At the end of 2015 Tinov announced that by the end of the 2016 season he would leave cycling and sell the team. As the sole title sponsor of the team, Tinkov was spending about 20 million euros on it per year, and during his sponsorship invested about 50 million euros in it together with the bank. In addition to the increased financial burden, among the reasons he mentioned were thelack of potential for bank-branding, losses for the cycling teams, the absence of reforms in the sport, as well as the long-running conflict between the Union Cycliste Internationale
The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland.
The UCI issues racing ...
and Amaury Sport Organisation
The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) is part of the French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury. It organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well as golf, running, sailing and off-road motorsport events. The president of ASO is Je ...
. In its last season the team finished in second place and was finally disbanded in November 2016.
Other
Among Tinkov's property is a personal aircraft Dassault Falcon 7X with the bank's logo on the tail. In September 2015 Tinkov announced that he would invest 250 million rubles in the construction of a hotel and recreational complex in the Elizovo district on Kamchatka
The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and wes ...
, where he often stayed. It was assumed that the launch would happen in the fourth quarter of the following year. In January 2016 it became known that he had abandoned the project because of opposition from local officials and instead invested in the French Alps
The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...
. In June of the same year he opened two Tinkoff luxurious chalets called ''La Datcha'': one in the ski resort of Courchevel
Courchevel () is a French Alps ski resort. It is a part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski areas in the world. Courchevel also refers to the towns of Courchevel 1300 (Le Praz), Courchevel 1550, Courchevel 1650 (Moriond), and Cou ...
and the second – in Val Thorens
Val Thorens (), is a ski town located in the Tarentaise Valley, Savoie, French Alps at an altitude of . It is located in the commune of Saint-Martin-de-Belleville in the Savoie department. The resort forms part of the Les Trois Vallées ski ar ...
. In 2017 and 2018 there were to be new homes in Forte dei Marmi
Forte dei Marmi () is a sea town and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy). It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013.
Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi ...
and Astrakhan
Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...
. On 3 July 2020 in Vlissingen (Netherlands) the world's first private icebreaker yacht was launched by Tinkov. The 77 m vessel (also called La Datcha) cost €100 million. It features an icebreaker-class hull, is polar code compliant and offers accommodation for 12 guests. The yacht was available for weekly charters for most of the year.
In 2017, Tinkov renounced his American citizenship. Tinkov is one of many Russian oligarchs named in the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The bill was passed by the Senate on July 27, 2017, 98–2, after it passed the House 419 ...
, CAATSA, signed into law by President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
in 2017.
Publications
From 2007 to 2010, Tinkov was a columnist for ''Finance'' magazine. Since 2010, the chief editor of the magazine Oleg Anisimov went on to work at ''Tinkoff Bank'' and worked with him on the TV show ''Business secrets with Oleg Tinkoff'' at the online channel ''Russia.ru''. An interview with Mikhail Fridman
Mikhail Maratovich Fridman (also transliterated Mikhail Friedman; russian: Михаил Маратович Фридман; he, מיכאיל פרידמן; born 21 April 1964) is a Ukrainian-born, Russian–Israeli businessman, billionaire, and ...
in October 2015 restarted production of ''Business secrets'' after a two-year break.
Tinkov has Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
and Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
accounts. His manner of communication is considered provocative and often leads to disputes and mutual insults.
Tinkov wrote two books summarizing his entrepreneurial experience: "I am like everyone" (russian: «Я такой как все») which was published in 2010 and "How to become a businessman" (russian: «Как стать бизнесменом»), published a year later.
Tinkoff lane
In order to promote the brand ''Tinkoff'' a story of Porphyry Tinkoff, an ancestor and a brewer, who supplied beer to the imperial court since 1759, was invented. According to legend, the page mentioning him, was found by Oleg Tinkov in '' Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary''. The fake page was presented in the with a proposal to memorialize the Tinkoff family line in the street name. Officials did not notice the fraud and agreed to the company's proposal; on 7 July 2003 Tinkoff Lane appeared in Pushkin, Saint Petersburg
Pushkin (russian: Пу́шкин) is a municipal town in Pushkinsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located south from the center of St. Petersburg proper, and its railway station, Tsarskoye Selo, is direct ...
.
Conflict with bloggers
On August 8, 2017, the YouTube channel NEMAGIA published a review dedicated to Tinkov and Tinkoff Bank
Tinkoff Bank (russian: Тинькофф банк), formerly Tinkoff Credit Systems (russian: Тинькофф Кредитные Системы) is a Russian commercial bank based in Moscow and founded by Oleg Tinkov in 2006. The bank does no ...
. The video caused a significant resonance in the web. Shortly after its release, on August 28, 2017, Oleg Tinkov filed a lawsuit with the Kemerovo District Court for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. By a court decision on September 4, Roskomnadzor ordered bloggers to remove the video criticizing Tinkov's activities. On September 12, searches were conducted at the co-author of Nemagia, Alexei Pskovitin, and his computer equipment was confiscated. Police strength's workers specially flew to Kemerovo from Moscow. Many Russian bloggers came out in support of NEMAGIA. On September 26, Tinkov withdrew claims against video bloggers from "Nemagia". The criminal case against NEMAGIA was dropped.
Deripaska's lawsuit
In May 2022, Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska filed a lawsuit against Tinkov. The reason was a comment on Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
, where Tinkov called Deripaska "an oligarch and a thief." The co-respondent is the owner of Instagram - the Meta company. The amount of the claim is 2 billion rubles. Hearings began on August 16 in the district court of Ust-Labinsk
Ust-Labinsk (russian: Усть-Лаби́нск) is a town and the administrative center of Ust-Labinsky District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia.
Geography
The town is situated in the central part of Krasnodar Krai, at the confluence of the Kuban a ...
in the Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of t ...
. Later, the claim was transferred to the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region.
US tax evasion case
On February 27, 2020, Tinkoff Credit Systems Group Holding PLC (TCSGH) announced that Tinkov was attending court hearings initiated in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
by the US Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...
. No details were disclosed. Two days later, on March 1, 2020, The Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...
published an article claiming that Tinkov paid £20m bail to avoid being held in jail until an extradition hearing was due to take place in April. The article also stated the terms of his release required him to surrender his passports and be confined to his residence for 12 hours per day. The following day, on March 2, 2020, TCSGH released a statement confirming the details of The Daily Express article. An indictment issued on September 26, 2019, by a federal grand jury was unsealed on March 5 following Tinkov's arrest in London. The indictment alleged that Tinkov concealed $1 billion in assets and income when renouncing his U.S. citizenship. The indictment charged Tinkov with two counts of tax fraud, each carrying a potential 3-year prison term. In October 2021, Oleg Tinkov settled tax claims on the premise of paying at least 506.8 million dollars, including 248.5 million dollars of unpaid taxes, without going to jail, according to US Department of Justice.
Health
On March 6, 2020, the day after the indictment was unsealed, Tinkov announced he was fighting acute leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...
that had been diagnosed in October 2019. It was reported that Tinkov had already undergone chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...
, and that his silence was associated with his declining health. After an announcement by his representatives, the shares of TCS Group, which included Tinkov on its board of directors, fell almost 25% on the Moscow Exchange.
On December 18, 2020, Tinkov reported that his last analysis after a bone marrow transplant showed complete remission from cancer "at the molecular level". Oleg Tinkov visited the donor who saved his life, he could not hold back tears and even knelt in front of the woman.
Cancer Fund
In December 2020 Tinkov announced that he and his family are planning to establish a charity fund to help leukemia sufferers. The Tinkov Family Foundation (TFF) was registered in 2021. Its tasks were to promote donorship, create a national register for bone marrow stem cells, build transplantation centers in remote regions of Russia and offer training programs to haematologists. Oleg Tinkov invested more than $200 mln of his own money to the Fund. On August 19 TFF announced a new strategic partnership with Leukemia Foundation. It offered financial support for research, operations, and purchase of medicine. In October 2021 it also announced giving 400 mln roubles for a project that in 3 years should treat more than 900 patients with leukemia.
Sanctions and crackdown
Tinkov has been critical of Vladimir Putin, in particular with regard to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
. Tinkov wrote on his Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
page, on 19 April 2022, in Russian: "The generals, waking up with a hangover, realized that they had a shit army", "I don't see a single beneficiary of this crazy war! Innocent people and soldiers are dying", "Of course there are morons who draw Z, but 10% of any country are morons. 90% of Russians are AGAINST this war!" and "Kremlin officials are shocked that neither they or their children will be off to the Mediterranean in the summer. Businessmen are trying to save the rest of their property." Finally, he wrote in English: "Dear 'collective West' please give Mr. Putin a clear exit to save his face and stop this massacre. Please be more rational and humanitarian."
On the next day after the first post with critics of the war in Ukraine Tinkov said his executives were contacted by the presidential administration with a demand to sell his 35% stake, otherwise the bank would be nationalized. Tinkov says he was offered a price of about 3% from the real value of his share.
On 3 May 2022, Tinkov wrote: "I'm taking the Tinkoff and La Datcha brands out of the country. They belong to my family: I don't want to besmirch them with the blood of Russian soldiers and the citizens of Ukraine. Ukraine will win because good always wins over evil— we were taught that at school."
On 1 November 2022, he renounced his Russian citizenship. Tinkov had instructed lawyers to begin the process of removing his name from Tinkoff bank.
UK sanctions
In March 2022, the UK government-imposed sanctions against Tinkov. As stated in the document, Tinkov was accused of "receiving benefits from the Russian government or its support" because he owned and controlled financial sector enterprises of "strategic importance" to the state. Tinkov's yachts, ships and planes were denied access to British ports and airports, though he was not banned from entering the country.
Forbes and Forbes Russia do not consider Oleg Tinkov to be an oligarch, despite him having been sanctioned: "Tinkov is not an oligarch because he built an independent fortune without ties to the Russian government under either Boris Yeltsin or Vladimir Putin".
Publications
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References
External links
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* Oleg Tinkov Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
(closed July 2017)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tinkov, Oleg
1967 births
Living people
Tinkoff (cycling team)
Place of birth missing (living people)
Russian billionaires
Russian businesspeople in the United Kingdom
Russian businesspeople in the United States
Russian activists against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions
Cypriot businesspeople
Russian businesspeople in Cyprus