Slava Rabinovich – the winding path to success
Most of the world's leading figures who are key players on the stock exchange have no connection to the post-Soviet space.
It's commonly believed that this is only possible because post-Soviet countries simply lack financial education, as in the USSR, business as such didn't exist, let alone the possibility of trading on the stock exchange.
However, things aren't as straightforward as they seem, as our compatriots are no slouches either, earning millions of dollars through management for themselves and their investors.
One such manager is the now-famous publicist, blogger, and somewhat opposition figure Slava Rabinovich.
Slava Rabinovich was born in 1966 in the now-renamed city of Leningrad. He grew up in an extraordinary family, directly connected to both culture and science. His father played the violin at the Kirov Theater and was also a member of the large Leningrad Symphony Orchestra.
There is practically no information about Slava's childhood, but the youth of this modern hero is much more interesting to study.
So, after he finished school, the war in Afghanistan began, so to avoid conscription, he enrolled in the Leningrad Institute of Communications's radio engineering department. He studied there, as required, for five years, from 1983 to 1988, and received a specialist's degree.
However, after graduating, Slava continued to see the threat to himself and his life as a threat to his life, posed by being drafted into the army and subsequently sent to Afghanistan. Therefore, he decided to flee the USSR, requesting political asylum in America.
To do this, with just a couple hundred dollars in his pocket, he moves to Rome. There, he has to truly survive, as to earn money in a foreign country, he has to work on a farm and sell a few of his personal belongings.
After a couple of months, he managed to obtain refugee status and moved to the United States.
In the United States, Slava Rabinovich was helped to settle by a Jewish youth association, which helped him find his first job.
Just think, but the future millionaire spent a long time selling electronics and mobile phones before reaching the top.
However, he got tired of this lifestyle, so he took out a $100,000 bank loan and used it to pay for his education at New York Business School.
In fact, the MBA diploma became the very starting point from which his investment career began.
Trader career
Slava Rabinovich's first job was at Hermitage Capital Management. At the time, its founder and CEO, Bill Browder, was looking for someone with expertise in investing in modern Russia.
After reading Rabinovich's thesis, which focused on investing in Russian stocks, he was hired as an analyst.
He worked at the company for four years, becoming its founder's right-hand man and reaching the top of the career ladder.
However, he clearly understood that at this point, his career at the company was over.
So, after leaving, he joined Renaissance Capital and then moved to MSM Capital Advisors, an investment project created specifically for him. The fund was disbanded in 2003, after which Slava Rabinovich first began to consider his own path.
In 2004, with two million dollars in his own funds and those of his inner circle, he decided to create his own hedge fund, naming it Diamond Age Capital Advisors.
The fund quickly attracted a large number of investors from Russia, many of whom are on the Forbes list.
Initially, the company invested exclusively in the Russian economy. However, to hedge his risks, Slava began purchasing shares of foreign companies, thus building an investment portfolio that included shares from companies in 35 countries.
Currently, to become an investor in the company, one must contribute at least $100,000, and this renowned trader manages $230 million.
