Like most Russian oligarchs, the youthful and Internet-savvy Mr. Prokhorov made his fortune in raw materials, after helping to engineer the privatization of Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium in the early 1990s. But just before the 2008 financial crash, Prokhorov sold his stake in Norilsk and plowed the proceeds into his ONEXIM Group private investment fund, which has weathered the crisis well. In step with President Dmitry Medvedev's call to "modernize" Russia's economy by boosting high-tech industries over resource extraction, Prokhorov has launched a $25 billion fund to invest in alternative energy and nanotechnology. He owns the NBA's New Jersey Nets basketball team. He was No. 2 in last year's rankings.
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