Ivan Vladimirovich Tavrin (Russian: Иван Владимирович Таврин; born November 1, 1976) is a Russian oligarch, investor, and founder of several major corporations, linked to another billionaire Alisher Usmanov. Currently he is the Chief Executive Officer of Kismet Capital Group.

Ivan Tavrin

Education and early career edit

In 1998, the Moscow-born Tavrin graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).[1][2] During his early career, he led, established or was an investor in multiple technology, media and telecom (TMT) companies, including Regional Media Group,[2] Media-1 Holdings,[3][4][5] and TV-3,[2] among others.[6][7]

Career edit

Media-1 edit

In 2007, Tavrin created the Media-1 holding, formerly known as UTH Russia, and became the chairman of the board of directors of the company.[3][4] As of 2021, it is one of the largest independent media holdings in Russia.[8]

MegaFon edit

In 2012 he became the CEO of MegaFon, a mobile company that at the time had more than a quarter of the Russian cell phone communications market.[9][10]

Kismet Capital edit

Tavrin founded the investment firm Kismet Capital Group in 2016 and serves as the company's CEO. He led the IPO of Kismet Acquisitions companies, which raised more than $400 million[11][4] and the merger with Nexters Global Ltd.—a top game development company—which was approved in August 2021.[12]

References edit

  1. ^ "Кузницы миллиардеров: где учились 200 самых богатых бизнесменов России". career.mgimo.ru.
  2. ^ a b c "Глава "ЮТВ" стал топ-менеджером "МегаФона"". lenta.ru.
  3. ^ a b "Алишер Усманов выступил вместо Walt Disney". Ведомости (in Russian).
  4. ^ a b c Fedorinova, Yuliya (February 18, 2021). "Ex-MegaFon Chief Raises $450 Million for Europe Tech SPACs". www.bloomberg.com.
  5. ^ MarketScreener (5 August 2020). "Kismet Acquisition One Corp has completed an IPO in the amount of $250 million. MarketScreener".
  6. ^ "Major Russian deal closes". Broadband TV News. 2011-06-11.
  7. ^ "Павел Дуров подтвердил продажу акций "ВКонтакте"". lenta.ru.
  8. ^ Sanchez, Luis (25 Aug 2020). "A Russian Oligarch Created a SPAC; Should You Invest?". Motley Fool. Retrieved 2 Dec 2021.
  9. ^ "Руководство / Иван Таврин / МегаФон Корпоративный сайт". 2015-12-05. Archived from the original on 2015-12-05.
  10. ^ "Новым главой "МегаФона" станет медиаменеджер". lenta.ru.
  11. ^ "Russian executive's third SPAC Kismet Acquisition Three files for a $250 million US IPO, targeting European businesses". Nasdaq. January 26, 2021.
  12. ^ "Kismet Acquisition One Corp Shareholders Approve Business Combination with Nexters". finance.yahoo.com. 19 August 2021.