Yuri Shefler (russian: Юрий Викторович Шефлер, link=no; (born 10 September 1967) is a Russian, British and Israeli billionaire businessman. He is the owner of SPI Group, an international consortium that sells alcohol in 160 countries, most notably the Stolichnaya vodka brand. As of March 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$1.5 billion.

Business career

Shefler left the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

in September 1987. In the early 1990s, as a student, he was engaged in vouchers and petty trade. Co-founded the Sadko-Arkada (Садко-Аркада) trading house , became a shareholder and headed

Vnukovo Airlines Vnukovo Airlines (russian: Внуковские авиалинии or ''Vnukovskie Aviallnii'') was a Russian airline which had its corporate headquarters at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow. It was created as a spin-off from the Vnukovo Ai ...

, Nafta-Moscow (Нафта Москва), GUM and TSUM. He used to own one of the largest yachts in the world, , with a length of . In 2015 he sold Serene to Saudi Crown Prince

Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...

for a reported $550 million. In March 2017 he bought Tulchan Estate on

Speyside Speyside can refer to: * Speyside, Ontario, a settlement in Ontario * Strathspey, Scotland, the famous whisky producing region by the River Spey ** Speyside single malts, the type of whisky produced in Strathspey * Speyside, Trinidad and Tobago ...

, Scotland's most expensive sporting estate. On 17 February 2022,

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...

alleged that

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...

sold to Shefler's wine group Tenute del Mondo, which is a subsidiary of Shefler's Stoli Group, her interest in the Château Miraval at

Correns Correns (; oc, Correnç) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Its name in the Provençal language is ''Courrens''. The geographic position of the village is almost in the middl ...

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

, France, which Pitt and Jolie purchased in 2008 for $28.4 million.

SPI Group

SPI Group produces and sells alcohol under 380 brands in 160 countries, most notably Stolichnaya vodka. SPI Group also owns Louisiana Spirits Company, Fabrica de Tequilas Finos in Mexico and Achaval Ferrer in Argentina. Despite a more than 15 year dispute with Russian state-owned company FKP

Sojuzplodoimport Soyuzplodoimport (russian: Союзплодоимпорт, , Union-fruit-import) is a company based in Moscow. Its owns the trademarks of different types of vodka, including the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya (brand), Moskovskaya brands. The company al ...

(FKP) regarding the ownership of the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya trademarks, Shefler's SPI Group owns the trademarks in more than 180 countries. The only notable decision against SPI Group has been in the Netherlands, but that decision remains subject to appeal before the

Dutch Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Netherlands ( nl, Hoge Raad der Nederlanden or simply ''Hoge Raad''), officially the High Council of the Netherlands, is the final court of appeal in civil, criminal and tax cases in the criminal justice system of the ...

Personal life

Shefler was born to a Russian Jewish family in

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...

. He has citizenship in the United Kingdom and Israel. He is married to

Tatiana Kovylina Tatiana Kovylina (russian: Татьяна Ковылина; born 4 November 1981 in Kazan, Soviet Union) is a Russian model. She has appeared in advertisements for Ann Taylor, Calvin Klein Jeans, Cole Haan, and in 2002, she was on the cover of '' ...

, a Russian model who once worked for

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ret ...

. They have four children and live in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland. As reported by Forbes in March 2022, Shefler had an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shefler, Yuri 1967 births Living people 21st-century British businesspeople Russian billionaires People from Oryol British business executives 21st-century Israeli businesspeople Israeli business executives British people of Russian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent Russian businesspeople in the United Kingdom Russian businesspeople in Israel