Alexey Mordashov is the chairman and majority shareholder of Severstal, one of Russia's largest steel and mining companies, in which he holds a 77% stake. He returned to the top of Forbes' Russia rich list in 2026 with an estimated net worth of $37 billion, driven by gains in gold-linked assets and higher global gold prices.

Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Mordashov has been sanctioned by the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States over his ties to Vladimir Putin, and has attended closed-door meetings with Putin during the war.

Ownership

Mordashov holds a 77% stake in Severstal, which he ran as CEO for 19 years before stepping back in 2015 to chair its board. After being sanctioned in 2022, he transferred control of a $1.1 billion stake in gold producer Nordgold and most of his stake in tourism group TUI to his wife, Marina Mordashova.

Mordashov chairs the Expert Council of the Road to Home charitable foundation, which funds child-welfare and social projects in the regions where Severstal operates.

Family & Heirs

Mordashov is married to Marina Mordashova, to whom he transferred control of his Nordgold and TUI stakes after being sanctioned in 2022. In 2024, the EU General Court upheld her own sanctions listing as his close family member, rejecting her argument that the couple was no longer together.

Evidence

2016-02-29 - 😈 - Severnaya coal mine, owned by Severstal subsidiary Vorkutaugol, explodes killing 36 workers and rescuers

2020-12-18 - 😇 - Severstal recognized for best Russian corporate program addressing COVID-19 consequences

2021-11-02 - 😇 - Road to Home charitable foundation, whose Expert Council Mordashov chairs, funds 14 social projects across company regions

2022-02-28 - 😈 - EU sanctions Mordashov, freezing his assets, over material support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine

2022-03-05 - 😈 - Italian authorities freeze Mordashov's superyacht Lady M under EU sanctions

2022-03-07 - 😈 - Mordashov transfers control of a $1.1B Nordgold stake to wife Marina Mordashova after being sanctioned

2022-04-11 - 😈 - Pandora Papers show PwC Cyprus helped Mordashov build over 60 BVI shell companies for his offshore empire

2022-06-02 - 😈 - US sanctions target Mordashov, citing offshore funding tied to Putin associate Sergey Roldugin

2022-08-25 - 😈 - Putin awards Mordashov the Order of Friendship for his work in the metallurgy industry

2023-03-21 - 😈 - Mordashov attends a closed-door Putin meeting with business leaders during the war, drawing sanctions-risk scrutiny

2024-04-24 - 😈 - Severstal settles antitrust case after being fined for colluding to fix steel prices

2024-09-18 - 😈 - EU General Court upholds sanctions listing of Mordashov's wife Marina Mordashova as his close family member

2024-09-24 - 😇 - Severstal begins construction of a $1.1B low-carbon iron-ore pellet complex projected to cut Cherepovets plant emissions

2025-02-11 - 😈 - Independent lab tests find severe pollutant exceedances near Severstal's Cherepovets plant, prompting prosecutor review

2025-10-16 - 😈 - Severstal admits exceeding air-pollution norms at its Cherepovets steel mill

2026-04-08 - 😇 - Severstal's 2025 sustainability report shows pollutant emissions down 30% since 2017 and first-of-kind carbon-reduction project registration

2026-04-28 - 😈 - Mordashov's sanctioned superyacht Nord transits the Hormuz Strait, underscoring gaps in sanctions enforcement

2026-05-18 - 😈 - State Duma lawmaker calls for unscheduled inspection of Severstal over Cherepovets air pollution

Analysis

Mordashov's record since 2022 is dominated by his response to Western sanctions rather than by the underlying steel business. Rather than divesting, he moved billions of dollars in Nordgold and TUI stakes to his wife, a maneuver European regulators later treated as a sanctions-evasion attempt when courts upheld her own listing in 2024. His superyacht Nord has similarly been used to test the limits of sanctions enforcement, while Mordashov himself continued attending Kremlin meetings during the war and accepted a state honor from Putin for his industrial contributions.

Separately, Severstal's core steel operations carry their own record of harm: a 2016 mine explosion at its Vorkutaugol subsidiary killed 36 workers and rescuers, the company was fined for colluding to fix domestic steel prices, and its flagship Cherepovets plant has repeatedly exceeded air-pollution limits. Independent lab testing near the plant in early 2025 found pollutant levels tens of times over safe limits, and lawmakers later called for an unscheduled environmental inspection in 2026.

Against this, Severstal has begun construction of a $1.1 billion low-carbon pellet plant meant to cut emissions at the same site, and its 2025 sustainability report cited a 30% reduction in pollutant emissions since 2017. His Road to Home foundation and Severstal's recognized COVID-19 response program represent further, comparatively modest local philanthropy.

Questions

Does transferring billions in assets to a spouse immediately after being sanctioned amount to evasion, or a legitimate restructuring of family wealth — and does it matter that EU courts later rejected that distinction?

How should continued attendance at wartime Kremlin meetings and accepting a state honor from Putin be weighed against the risks facing any Russian businessman who publicly breaks with the regime?

Does local philanthropy in Cherepovets, the company town built around Severstal's plant, offset the same plant's recurring air-pollution violations affecting the same residents?

Does a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar decarbonization investment at Cherepovets outweigh independent testing finding pollutant levels tens of times over safe limits at the same site while that investment is still under construction?