Roustam Tariko (Рустам Тарико) amassed a fortune as an entrepreneur by founding Russian Standard Vodka, Russian Standard Bank and many other businesses. After taking over Central European Distribution Company (CEDC), the Polish vodka company, in 2013, Tariko’s Vodka producing company became the second largest in the world. Russian Standard Bank is one of the thirty largest banks in Russia and had the tenth fastest growth of assets among Russian banks. With a net worth of $2.1 billion, in August 2014, Roustam Tariko is the 884th richest person in the world and the 47th richest in Russia. In 2007, at the peak of his fortune, Tariko was valued at $5.4 billion and rated 150th in the world.
Education
Roustam Tariko was born in Menzekinsk, Tatarstan in 1962. When he was seventeen, he moved to Moscow to study. In 1989, Tariko received a degree in Economics from Moscow Institute for Railway Engineering. In 2000, he earned an MBA from INSEAD, in France. While studying in Moscow he supported himself by starting a street cleaning business on the side.
Tourism and Italian Chocolates
In the late 1980’s, Roustam Tariko started earning by finding hotel rooms for tourists in Russia. Later, Tariko began importing Kinder Surprise and Ferrero Rocher chocolates to Russia.
Roust Inc to Russian Standard Vodka
In 1992, as chocolate sales accelerated, Roustam Tariko founded Roust Inc. to become the exclusive Russian importer of Martini Bianco champagnes. After wondering why the world capital of vodka had no major commercial vodka producer, in 1998, Tariko founded Russian Standard Vodka. Its vodka gained popularity quickly among Russian consumers. The company grew into a major international distributor with eighty markets. In 2013, Tariko competed with Mikhail Fridman when he rescued Central European Distribution Company (CEDC) from bankruptcy and took it over.
Russian Standard Bank
In 1999, Tariko founded Russian Standard Bank as a consumer oriented bank. Currently, the bank is a leading consumer bank in Russia. It controls about 54% of the credit card market in Russia and has an exclusive arraignment with American Express and cooperates with Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Dinners Club and more. In 2014, Russian Standard Bank had over $9 billion in assets.
Russian Standard Brands
Currently, Russian Standard Brands also includes Imperia Private Banking, Russian Standard Insurance, Russian Standard Credit Bureau a credit scoring company and Gancia, an Italian champagne and vermouth producer.
Planes Yachts and Sports Cars
Roustam Tariko owns a Boeing 737 Business Jet, a huge luxury yacht called Annaeva made is 2007 and a Bugatti Veyron sports car. He is known to vacation around Europe.
Philanthropy
Russian Standard Foundation is a philanthropic organization overseen by Tariko. It is dedicated to help provide higher education and guidance to underprivileged children.
Personal
Tariko lives in Moscow and has three children.
Roustam Tariko is part of a select group of Russian billionaires like Vladimir Gusinsky, founder of Most Media, and Sergey Galitsky, founder of Magnit, who made a fortune mainly through their original business projects and not Russian stocks.