A billionaire, founder of the investment company LetterOne, a founder and shareholder of Alpha Bank since the 90^th. In the 90^th, prior to new presidential elections in Russia, he, together with other oligarchs, financed Boris Yeltsen and, therefore, got influence on the authorities. Maria, a daughter of Vladimir Putin, ran a charitable project Alpha-Endo financed by Alpha Bank.

He is number 11 on the Russian Forbes 2021 list.

Alpha Bank credits state-owned military factories which produce Russian military equipment used in the war of Russia against Ukraine. Shortly after the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine began, Mr. Fridman said “the war is a tragedy both for Ukrainians and Russians,” though he allegedly was not able to influence it. He tried to buy off Western sanctions by offering financial assistance to the Ukrainian branch of Alpha Bank. Together with his partner Petr Avenyan, he challenged Western sanctions introduced against them in courts.