Russia’s Richest Man May Retire at Prophet’s Age, Forbes Says

Russia’s richest man Alisher Usmanov may quit business in 2016, before Vladimir Putin’s six-year presidential term finishes, according to an interview published in Forbes Russia magazine.

Billionaire Usmanov, who holds stakes in Internet companies Facebook Inc. (FB) and Mail.Ru Group Ltd (MAIL), told Forbes he is considering retirement from “mercenary affairs” at the age when Prophet Muhammad died, to focus on philanthropy. The businessman, valued at $19 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, turned 58 in September.

Usmanov told Forbes his friends, lawmaker Andrey Skoch and Iranian-born accountant Farhad Moshiri, will continue running his business. He proposed uniting their assets into a new company, USM Holding, where Skoch and Moshiri may get 30 percent and 10 percent, respectively, according to the Moscow-based edition of Forbes.

Usmanov and his partners control Russian iron-ore producer Metalloinvest (METIN), 31 percent of the country’s second-biggest mobile-phone operator OAO Megafon and part of London’s Arsenal soccer club.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Khrennikov in Moscow at ikhrennikov@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net