Kim is a director and former chairman of KAZ Minerals, an open pit copper miner in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The Amsterdam-based company had compound annual growth of about 16% between 2015 and 2024. Kim's other investments include Kazakhmys, another copper miner, and the Kazakhstan-based RBK Bank.
The majority of Kim's fortune is derived from his stake in KAZ Minerals, an open pit copper miner. It's one of the largest copper producers in Kazakhstan and had compound annual growth of about 16% between 2015 and 2024, according to company's website. Kim has a 63.5% stake, according to KAZ Minerals' 2020 annual report and subsequent buy out in April 2021.
He also controls Kazakhmys, a collection of assets formerly held by KAZ Minerals. Kim owns 70% of Kazakhmys, according to company filings. It's valued using its 2024 financial results and the average price-to-earnings and price-to-sales multiples of three publicly traded peers: Vedanta Ltd, Rio Tinto PLC and BHP Group Ltd.
Kim also controls RBK Bank, a Kazakhstan-based bank. It's valued based on its 2025 book value and the average price-to-book value multiple of two publicly traded peers: Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan JSC and ForteBank JSC.
The value of his cash investments is based on an analysis of dividends, insider transactions, taxes and market performance.
Chris Bucknall, a spokesman for KAZ Minerals, declined to comment on Kim's net worth.
Vladimir Kim was born in Kazakhstan in 1960 and graduated from Alma-Ata Architectural Institute in 1982.
Kim held various executive positions in Kazakh Soviet Republic in the 1980s. Kazakhstan became an independent country in 1991 and OJSC Zhezgazgantsvetmet, the company now known as KAZ Minerals, was formed soon after. The government later exited the company through a series of privatizations, culminating in Korean-giant Samsung acquiring 40 percent in 1996, according to its website.
Kim, who had joined the group in 1995, was among the leaders of a management buyout in 2004. The company became publicly traded in London in 2005 and was later separated into two parts: KAZ Minerals and Kazakhmys.
Kim stepped down as chairman of KAZ Minerals in 2013 and remained a non-executive director.
He lives in Kazakhstan.