Russian billionaire Oleg Boyko regrets very much that there was no mentor in his business career and he had to learn everything himself. He defined his own formula for success as a combination of emotional intelligence, an inner need to create and a willingness to lose. The entrepreneur tried his hand in many areas, but the priority areas for him were the gambling business and high technology.
The beginning of the way
Oleg Viktorovich Boyko is a Muscovite, born in 1964. The head of the family was in charge of the NGO Vzlet, the mother worked at the Research Institute of Plants. During his school years, the boy showed love for the exact sciences, therefore, after graduating from the physics and mathematics school, he became a student at the aviation university. In parallel with his studies, the future radio electronics began his career at the computer center of Moscow State University. In general, Oleg earned his first money at his school, when he opened a karate section there.
After receiving a diploma from the capital, the future businessman decides to continue his education in England and the USA. In his youth, Boyko dreamed of going abroad, but at the time when he found himself in America, great changes took place in his homeland, and there was no point in leaving it. Therefore, the biography of an entrepreneur is inextricably linked with Russia.
Entrepreneur
In 1988, Boyko organized a cooperative, traded in computers and computer programs. The resulting profit was invested in the media and finance. Since 1994, Oleg Viktorovich was a member of the ORT Board of Directors and stood at the origins of NTV. He was a member of the Supervisory Board of Sberbank with a 20% stake and the owner of the fashionable nightclub Metelitsa. Since 1990, he has owned one of the pioneering Russian banks, National Credit. The financial institution was the first to start issuing plastic cards. By the mid-90s, the entrepreneur had tremendous influence among business and political partners.
In 1996, an event occurred that changed the entire life of a businessman. While staying with friends in Monte Carlo, he fell from the eaves of the second floor and injured his spine. The injury resulted in partial paralysis. In the two years that treatment continued, he lost most of his business and lost many of his friends. He had to overcome great psychological and material problems in order not to lose interest in life and to restore his business. Boyko knew how to “manage his emotions and was not afraid to lose”. The oriental spirit of the martial artist, which in his youth was instilled in him by the trainer during sports, helped, the holder of a black belt in karate had to learn to live anew.
In 1999, the businessman created the EvrazHolding company, which soon became the largest metal rolling enterprise. Later, he sold his share in this enterprise, as he considered work in the industrial sphere not the most attractive for himself. A year later, his brainchild appeared - the investment fund Finstar Financial Group. The company has made large investments in companies in Russia and Europe. In addition, Boyko created the Smak trademark and the Almond retail chain. Today, the fund is in charge of assets worth $ 2 billion in various areas: finance, commercial real estate, production.
Gambling business
In 2002, Boyko founded the Ritzio company, the main occupation of which was the gambling business. This line of business has brought the businessman the greatest success: gambling salons "Vulkan", casinos, and lotteries have appeared. According to the entrepreneur, in this industry he gets emotions that a person often lacks. After a ban was imposed on this type of activity in Russia, Boyko sold most of his assets and continued this direction abroad. At home, he limited himself to the lottery business, which generates a stable income. The lotteries of 2014, prepared in support of the Olympic Games in Sochi, became a successful project.
How does he live today
Before the injury, Oleg Viktorovich led a lifestyle with chic and polish: he visited expensive restaurants and hotels, was surrounded by beautiful women. It is surprising that new life circumstances did not become an obstacle to the usual life of a businessman. And although Boyko has been traveling on an electric scooter for the past two decades, he is a frequent guest at social events, looks great and leads a healthy lifestyle. The owner of real estate in almost all continents travels a lot around the world. About the events that happened to him, he says that they made him kinder and more tolerant of people. The businessman has long been indifferent to politics, but actively manifests himself in public life, he organized the Parasport charitable foundation.
Little is known about the billionaire's personal life. He parted with his wife long ago, and is considered an enviable bachelor. Today Oleg Viktorovich occupies 64th line in the national list of the rich with a fortune of 1.5 billion dollars. He confidently endures any troubles, and considers the crisis to be an update.
