How do people become millionaires if they do not have rich patrons and a huge inheritance has not fallen on them? As you can see from their biographies, they just weren't afraid to do what others didn't believe in. They looked for new ways, came up with new businesses and got involved in various adventures.
One of these people is Oleg Leonov, a private investor with a multi-million dollar fortune. And he achieved everything thanks to his entrepreneurial skills. Now he is known as the founder of the first discounter of Dixy Group in Moscow, co-owner of Dixie-Uniland, founder of the engineering company GIP Group, and his name is listed in the honorary rating of the richest people in Russia.
Biography
Oleg was born in 1969 in the city of Chisinau, in an ordinary family. True, in one interview he said that he has an unusual combination of blood: he has Uzbek and Jewish roots. When Oleg was very young, his parents moved to live north to do business there: they sold deer skins and leather jackets.
Leonov received his secondary education at the Magadan school, and then went to study in Leningrad and entered the Leningrad Institute. Pavlova. In the evening he studied, and during the day he worked wherever he could.
It was at the university that a situation occurred that pushed the student to the first type of business and made it possible to create a good initial capital. This was a case that someone would not have paid attention to, but Oleg took advantage of it.
Once, in the institute corridor, a cabinet was accidentally knocked over, from which many letters of applicants fell out - they asked for the organization of courses to prepare for entering the institute. He could not organize courses, but he found how to meet this demand: an enterprising student decided to print "cheat sheets" that would help schoolchildren prepare for the entrance exams.
Leonov was able to organize a group of successful students and professional tutors who prepared brochures. Then they were printed in the printing house, the addresses of those who needed such material were found and they were informed that the preparatory information was for sale. The "cheat sheet" included tasks in biology and other subjects that were taken when entering a university. Leonov had a fairly large client base, and parcels with brochures were scattered throughout the Soviet Union.
Moreover, at a low cost, he set a decent price for one copy. This made it possible to make good money. So at the age of nineteen, Leonov made himself a fortune - at least at the time it was.
Business career
Later, the young entrepreneur switched to printing and mailing catalogs, which at first included only perfumery, then household appliances were added. He sent gas guns, VCRs, caller IDs, food processors, and other imported curiosities that were in great demand at the time, all over the country.
The next stage of Leonov's entrepreneurial activity was the organization of the Russian Parcel House company in 1991.
In 1993 Leonov's company was transformed into the Uniland distribution company. I must say that by this time he had not yet had time to finish the university. The company supplied Russian buyers with products from Schwarzkopf, Henkel, Unilever, Wella, Pierre Cardin and other foreign manufacturers. In 1995, a branch of "Uniland" was opened in Moscow, and then in Yekaterinburg.
The young entrepreneur is not satisfied with what he has achieved - he is trying to expand the business in every way. Soon a central warehouse opens in Leningrad and a convoy of cars is created for transportation between countries. Issues with customs are being resolved, business processes are being improved.
Uniland's annual turnover is growing rapidly - up to 80% per month. However, the 1998 default affected even such a powerful company: revenues fell fivefold, which forced the founders to look for a way out of the situation.
Leonov saw him at the opening of the Dixy discounter, which sells food and consumer goods. Most likely, this action was dictated by the idea that whatever crises would not hit people, they will eat every day and use essential goods too.
This project turned out to be successful, and in 2000 the Dixy network was already opening in St. Petersburg, and in 2002 - in Chelyabinsk. What does this give to its owners? Annual income - more than five hundred and fifty million dollars from one hundred and twenty stores. And considering that by 2006 the number of Dixy stores had grown to four hundred, one can imagine how much the annual turnover and the owner's profit have grown, respectively.
However, this did not prevent Leonov from selling his business and starting a completely new business. In 2007, he sold a controlling stake in Dixy to Igor Kesaev. And he himself founded the engineering company Global Infrastructure Project Group, whose main activity was real estate management. In 2018, the press reported that the businessman was no longer related to this company.
At present, Oleg Leonov is the general director of the Avtoray company, which is engaged in the repair and maintenance of vehicles. He owns the company along with his partners.
Personal life
As journalists noted, Leonov is absolutely not a public person. There are very few publicly available photographs of him on the Internet, not to mention personal photographs.
It is only known that in his years Oleg remains one of the most enviable Russian suitors, because he is not married. Although he has two children - a son and a daughter.
