Vadim Belyaev biography: 13 things about banker born in Moscow, Russia

Vadim Stanislavovich Belyaev is a Russian banker, businessman and investor with a certificate in capital markets from the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, which is based in London, England, United Kingdom. He was born Vadim Stanislavovich Wolfson in Moscow, Russia to Russian scientists Stanislav Wolfson and Natalia Belyaeva.

In 2009, Belyaev married his third wife Olga Liubimova. He has a daughter with his first wife and a son and two daughters with his second wife Amalia Mordvinova.

In 2018, Belyaev moved to the United States. He lived in Austin, Texas, USA and became a legal permanent resident of the U.S.

Belyaev is a former major shareholder of Otkritie Bank, which was founded on December 15, 1992. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. In 1989, he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Radio Equipment, Electronics and Automation in Moscow, which was later renamed Russian Technological University.
2. In 1995, he graduated from the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation in Moscow with a bachelor’s degree in banking and insurance. That year, he and Italtel Ltd. managers in Moscow launched an investment firm called VEO-Invest.
3. In 1997, he became the chief executive officer of VEO-Invest and owned around 10% of the company. In 1998, he became its sole owner after buying out the other shareholders’ stakes. He owned 75% of VEO-Otkritie, which was created when VEO-Invest and BK Otkritie merged in 2001.
4. In 2004, his tennis partner Boris Mints invested in VEO-Otkritie, which was renamed Investment Group Otkritie and later Otkritie Holding.
5. In 2006, he and Mints bought Shchit Bank and renamed it Otkritie Bank. From 2006 to 2007, he hosted the Echo of Moscow radio show “Vadim Belyaev’s Investor School”.
6. In 2009, he founded movie studio Organic Films, which produced the films “What Men Talk About” and “Chapiteau Show”.
7. In 2010, he bought OpenSpace.ru, which was shut down in 2013 for commercial reasons. In 2011, he sponsored a Cirque de Soleil performance in Moscow and at the opening of the performance, he encouraged the audience to join the protest against Vladimir Putin.
8. In 2015, he resigned as the Otkritie Holding CEO. When Otkritie Holding suffered a run on its deposits, the Central Bank of Russia intervened to take control.
9. From April 6, 2018 to March 2, 2022, he, Gannon Bond, Andrey Kostin and others allegedly participated in schemes to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
10. In July 2019, Otkritie Bank and the Central Bank of Russia sued him, and former Otkritie Holding and Otkritie Bank executives Yevgeny Dankevich, Gennady Zhuzhlev, Ruben Aganbegyan and Elena Budnik for damages of 290 billion rubles ($4.5 billion) allegedly incurred as a result of the Central Bank of Russia’s intervention.
11. He bought a ranch in Austin in 2020 and a house in Tarrytown, Austin in 2022.
12. On May 28, 2023, he turned 57.
13. On February 22, 2024, he was arrested in Austin. He charged with one count of conspiracy to violate IEEPA and two counts of violating IEEPA.