Timur Turlov: Net Worth, Wife, Family

Who Is Timur Turlov?

Timur Turlov is a Kazakh entrepreneur and financier, founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., a Nasdaq-listed financial services group, where he also chairs the Board of Directors. Since its launch in 2008, Freedom has grown from a small brokerage built during the global financial crisis into a diversified fintech group spanning multiple countries, with Central Asia remaining its core market.

Turlov started Freedom Finance before finishing university, drawing on brokerage experience gained in his early twenties. He owns roughly 70% of Freedom Holding Corp., so his personal wealth tracks closely with the company's market capitalization and the performance of its FRHC shares on Nasdaq. Forbes regularly ranks him among the wealthiest self-made business figures from the former Soviet Union.

Childhood and Family

Timur Ruslanovich Turlov was born on November 13, 1987, in the Moscow region, where he spent his childhood and teenage years. His biological father left the family when Timur was three; he says he retains only vague memories from that time, mostly of a few toys. Raised mainly by his mother and grandfather, he grew up watching Hollywood films depicting American middle-class life.

It was his grandfather who gave the teenager around $800 for his first stock market investments. Those early trades failed, but they sparked an interest in investing that later shaped his career. Turlov rarely discusses details of his early family life, preferring to focus publicly on markets and business.

Education

Turlov graduated in 2009 from the Moscow Aviation Technological Institute with a degree in Economics and Management, a school he chose largely for its flexible schedule, since it let him combine studies with full-time brokerage work. He later obtained a professional qualification certificate from Russia's Federal Financial Markets Service, required for securities market activity.

Nationality and Citizenship

Born a Russian citizen, Turlov spent his early years in Moscow and the surrounding region. In 2011 he moved to Almaty, and Kazakhstan gradually became both the main market for Freedom Holding's expansion and his permanent home. In June 2022, he obtained Kazakh citizenship, renouncing his Russian citizenship along with citizenship of Saint Kitts and Nevis, which he had previously acquired. Today he is a citizen and tax resident of Kazakhstan, living in Almaty.

Early Career in Trading

Turlov's interest in markets began in his teens. At sixteen, he started trading at the Moscow office of American firm World Capital Investments, focusing on U.S. equities during New York Stock Exchange sessions. He later joined the brokerage division of Uniastrum Bank, helping build infrastructure that gave Russian retail investors access to U.S. exchanges, experience that became the foundation for Freedom Finance, launched in 2008 after the global financial crisis.

Freedom Holding Corp.

In 2008, at the height of the crisis, Turlov and several partners pooled about $100,000 to start Freedom Finance. The company entered Kazakhstan in 2012, and in 2019 Freedom Holding Corp. listed on Nasdaq, a milestone Turlov has repeatedly called one of the defining moments in the company's history.

By 2026, its market capitalization had passed $9 billion. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, Freedom Holding Corp. reported record revenue of $2.19 billion; net income more than doubled to $153.3 million, up from $76.2 million a year earlier. Brokerage accounts grew to 858,000, and the group now operates in 22 countries.

Wife and Children

Turlov married his wife, Elena, in 2008, the same year he founded Freedom Finance, two milestones he considers inseparable in shaping the course of his life. The couple lives in Almaty and is raising six children. He rarely discusses family publicly but has emphasized that it provides stability regardless of his business's scale, once joking that a well-timed apology to his wife can be more effective than the toughest negotiation.

Net Worth

As of mid-2026, Forbes estimates Turlov's net worth at roughly $6.5 billion, placing him among the world's 700 wealthiest people and around 823rd on Forbes' global billionaires list. His fortune has fluctuated sharply: about $2.1 billion when he first appeared on the list in 2021, roughly $4 billion by 2024, more than $7 billion at points in 2025, before stabilizing near current levels. Since most of his wealth comes from his roughly 70% Freedom Holding stake, FRHC's Nasdaq performance directly drives its value, sometimes by nearly $1 billion within weeks during strong results.