Biography. Sergey Galitsky: founder of the Magnit chain of stores, "bitten" by football Financial condition of Sergey Galitsky

There are not very many oligarchs in our country who have created a business from scratch, without participating in the sale of any raw materials. One of these is Sergei Galitsky ("Magnet"). The biography of a businessman is a unique story about how a man made himself without participating in the privatization of factories or selling resources abroad. His personal history is an example of purposefulness and diligence. Let's talk about how the owner of the Magnit network Sergey Galitsky was formed and grew. The biography of an entrepreneur will be of interest to those who dream of their own business and are looking for their own path in life.

Childhood

Harutyunyan (Galitsky) Sergey Nikolaevich, whose biography is the subject of our article, was born on August 14, 1967 in the village of Lazarevskoye, near Sochi. Despite the surname, the boy grew up in an absolutely Russian environment. According to him, there is only 25% of Armenian blood in him, and Sergey does not even know the language of this nation, but today he is proud of his origin. Since childhood, the boy had a great passion for football, he was engaged in the section, played with friends in the yard. But in time I realized that he had no future in this sport. Another childhood hobby of his is chess. But even here, with all his prudence, he realized that he would not become a world champion. And the desire to be the first was inherent in him since childhood. Therefore, Sergei decided to take place in his studies. Although he did not become an excellent student, he did very well in the exact sciences. At school, Sergei studied well, was an active participant in public life.

Entry into adulthood

In Soviet times, military service for many young men was an obligatory step in life, and Sergei Galitsky was one of these young people. Biography, the guy's parents were quite typical for that time. The origin and the beginning of Sergei's life path did not portend any great achievements. All he had was himself, his sanity and diligence. Therefore, he decided to start his adult life by serving in the armed forces. Two years in the army helped him to clearly define his priorities and life goals.

Education

After demobilization, Sergei Galitsky, whose biography developed according to a scenario quite typical for that time, entered the Kuban University, at the Faculty of Economics. Service in the army gave him certain benefits, and Sergei easily entered a prestigious university. He studied well and even wrote an article on financial liquidity in his second year in the famous professional magazine Finance and Credit. The editors recognized Sergey's article as serious and published it. In the financial world of Krasnodar, this publication made a splash, and Galitsky was invited for an interview at one of the city's banks. If before that Sergey had to earn extra money as a loader, now he was offered to work as a deputy bank manager. He successfully combined work with study and successfully received a diploma of higher education, which gave him opportunities for

Failed banker

After graduating from the university, Galitsky worked for another year in a bank, but the young specialist quickly began to understand that this institution was not at all what he would like to do in the future. Later, in an interview, Sergei said that the bank was actually a "small money changer." Therefore, a year after graduation, Galitsky decided to quit the bank. According to him, he left because he "did not want to attend his funeral."

First entrepreneurial experience

At that time, a boom in private entrepreneurship was growing in the country, everyone around started different types of business, they dreamed of getting rich. These sentiments swept over Sergei. After leaving the bank, he, along with several classmates, creates the TransAsia company, the initial capital was 30 thousand dollars, which Sergey took out on credit thanks to his banking acquaintances. The company was engaged in the wholesale supply of cosmetics and household chemicals. At first, according to Galitsky, the company was balancing between a financial abyss and a small profit. But soon the guys managed to become the only distributor in the Krasnodar Territory of the world's largest company Procter & Gambl. The company began to bring a stable income and prospects. But Procter & Gambl soon demanded that a separate firm work with it. Therefore, a decision was made to divide Transasia. The cosmetic business went to Galitsky's partners, and he got the Tander company. For several years he was looking for his niche in the market, calculating options. His business sense and unique talent for making money helped him enter a new market.

"Magnet"

In 1998, Sergei Galitsky, whose biography has been associated with him for a long time from now on, opens his first grocery store in the Cash & Carry format. The point was profitable, but did not give great prospects for development. And two years later, Galitsky decided to change the format. In 2000, the first Magnit store appeared in Krasnodar in the discounter format. Sergey immediately began to position his outlets as a chain of grocery stores with low prices.

The format turned out to be very popular, and Sergey began to actively develop the network. He rented small space for shops, which he now positioned as "low price convenience stores." He began the development of the network by quietly expanding into small towns. He tried not to compete with the big grocery chain retailers. And the strategy has been very successful. Five years later, the chain's turnover reached $1.6 billion.

Galitsky did not stop there and in 2006 brought the company to an IPO and attracted investments worth $368 million. in the company was 58%, and his permanent partner Alexei Bogachev - 15%. The funds received were used to develop the network, and in 2007 it consisted of 1,900 stores throughout the country. "Magnit" grows with new formats - hypermarkets,

In 2008, the network goes public again, and in 2010 the number of its outlets grows to 4,000. In 2011, there were already 5,000 stores of various formats under the name Magnit. The company once again resorts to the sale of shares, which reduces the share of Galitsky to 36%, but he still remains the main owner of the network. This is his principled position, Sergey believes that a business should have one owner.

In 2013, Magnit became the leader in terms of turnover and the number of stores in the country, overtaking its eternal competitor, the Pyaterochka chain. In 2014, Galitsky reduced his stake, selling part of it in order to get money to finance his other projects. By 2015, Magnit had grown to 120,000 points of various formats.

State

For 2016, the founder of Magnit, Sergey Galitsky, whose biography is strongly associated with grocery stores, is the largest shareholder of the network, he owns 37% of the shares. In 2016, his fortune, according to Forbes magazine, amounted to $ 5,700 million, this is the 17th line in the list of the richest entrepreneurs in Russia. It should be noted that this is not the best indicator for Galitsky; in 2014, he ranked 10th with a fortune of $10,300 million. A businessman often says that he experiences two pleasures in life: when he earns money and when he spends it. In recent years, he has spent a lot of money on various projects. Sergey also said more than once that he intends to spend all his fortune during his lifetime.

Galitsky - leader

Large entrepreneurs always develop their own unique leadership style, and Sergey Galitsky is no exception. The biography of a businessman proves that he is an extraordinary person. And this is confirmed by the impressions of its partners and employees. Galitsky is a strategist, he always looks far ahead, and trusts managers with tactics. He knows how to hire highly qualified employees and trusts them to solve problems of his level. Galitsky is a brave businessman, he loves risky, extraordinary decisions and is not afraid to implement them. At the same time, Sergey is a rather tough leader, he is not ready to make concessions, he knows how to motivate employees to do good work. So, the top management of the company owns 8% of the shares of Magnit, so he is interested in the profits of the stores.

Football

Billionaire Sergei Galitsky, whose biography has developed like in a fairy tale, has not forgotten about his childhood hobbies. In 2008, he bought a very mediocre Krasnodar football team and invested a lot of money in it. Today she belongs to the elite of Russian football. Galitsky finances a school for novice Krasnodar football players, built an excellent stadium for training and games of his team. He invests about $40 million a year in the team, but at the same time, according to him, this is not a business project, but a great pleasure for him.

Personal life

The owner of Magnit, Sergei Galitsky, whose biography is the subject of our consideration, is married. His wife was a former classmate Victoria. Once she was an accountant, but for many years she has not worked, doing the “hard work” of the wife of an oligarch. The couple has a daughter, Polina. She studies at the same university where her parents once studied. The girl is among the ten richest Russian heirs. But at the same time, all her friends note that Polina has no stellar manners at all.

Billionaire from Krasnodar Sergey Galitsky bears the name of his wife, and he earned his capital not from natural resources, but from food. He loves the city in which he has lived most of his life, and today he spends a lot of effort and money on social projects in his native land.

Childhood and youth

Sergey Nikolaevich Arutyunyan (name of a businessman at birth) was born on August 14, 1967 in the resort village of Lazarevskoye, Krasnodar Territory.

By nationality, Sergei is Armenian, he grew up in a middle-class family. As a child, he loved to drive the ball in the yard, but at the age of 14 he caught fire with chess. After 2 years, he passed the standard and became a candidate for master of sports in chess.

As a child, the boy already showed a business streak - he collected hazelnuts and sold them to the market, he brought the money he received to his family. After graduating from school, he joined the army, served for 2 years, and in 1987, after demobilization, he applied to the Faculty of Economics of the Kuban University. During his studies, Sergei Nikolaevich had to earn extra money as a loader.

In his 3rd year, he wrote an analytical article for the specialized magazine Finance and Credit. The calculations made by the student amazed the editor of the publication and not only. After the article was published, the head of a commercial bank sought out the student and invited him for an interview.

Sergey was made such an offer, which he could not refuse - the post of deputy manager. From that moment on, Galitsky combined his studies and work in a bank.

In 1993, the guy graduated from the university, worked for another year in a bank and quit of his own free will. Sergei explained the departure by the futility of the bank's development.

Personal life

Sergey met his future wife Victoria Galitskaya at the university. The girl studied to be an accountant. It is not known exactly when they got married - the businessman does not like to talk about family and personal life.

After the wedding, Sergei took the name of his wife. Journalists wrote that the father-in-law insisted on this, saying that the daughter and grandchildren would not bear the Armenian surname. According to another version, the surname Galitsky is famous, princely. Be that as it may, but Sergei Nikolaevich officially became Galitsky.

On November 2, 1995, the Galitskys had a daughter, Polina. The billionaire's wife is not working now - there is no need for that. The daughter followed in the footsteps of her parents and also entered the Kuban State University at the Faculty of Economics. In 2017, Polina was included in the list of the richest heirs of the Russian oligarchic elite, having received 5th place in the ranking of golden youth.

Since 2005, Sergey Nikolayevich has regularly been among the richest entrepreneurs in the rating of the Russian version of Forbes. Kommersant started from 64th position. In 2016, he took the 17th position with a fortune of $ 5.7 billion, and in 2017 he became the eighteenth with a capital of $ 6.8 billion. In 2019, this amount was $ 3.4 billion.

Galitsky has been maintaining a personal account on Instagram since 2018. The entrepreneur accompanies all photos with quotes of great people.

Career

After leaving the bank, Galitsky decided to start his own business. In 1994, the merchant became the founder of the TransAsia company, which was engaged in the supply and sale of cosmetics from Avon, P&G, Johnson & Johnson.

A year later, TransAsia had already become the exclusive distributor of P&G products in the southern region, but Galitsky's flair forced him to move on. The entrepreneur left the company to partners and plunged into the food business. The period of take-off in the professional biography of the businessman began.

In 1995, the businessman established the Tander company, and 3 years later opened the first Cash & Carry store in Krasnodar. Galitsky did not want to compete with large retailers, so he opened small stores in small towns.

A few years later, the businessman merged these stores into a single Magnit network. The name was born after a competition between top managers of the enterprise. In its full form, it means "Low Fare Stores".

Sergey Nikolaevich Galitsky (August 14, 1967, Lazarevskoye village, Krasnodar Territory) is a Russian businessman, owner of the Magnit network. Childhood, youth As a child, a successful entrepreneur was fond of football, but at the age of 14, he realized that this was “not quite” his. He studied without triples, although he was never a "fantastic student." In the 7th grade I became interested in chess. After 2 years he became a candidate for master of sports. Subsequently, Galitsky admitted that it was chess that helped him learn logical thinking. 1993 - graduated from the Kuban State University with a degree in finance and credit. Being a 2nd year student, he started working in a commercial bank in Krasnodar. Interestingly, the owner of the named bank himself sought out Sergei by reading his article in a financial magazine. Chronology of success 1994 - created the distribution company "TransAsia", which was engaged in the distribution of cosmetics from Avon, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson. One of his acquaintances who sold P&G products pushed Galitsky to the idea of ​​creating such a business. First, he took out a $30,000 loan, bought Johnson & Johnson products with all the money, and sold them in small wholesale. After that, taking a share of 3 classmates, Galitsky founded the above company. A year later, this company became the exclusive distributor of P&G in the Southern region. Although, according to Galitsky himself, TransAsia, at the beginning of its activity, “was balancing between a small profit and a real abyss.” 1995 - founded the Tander company. 1998 – opened a Cash&Carry store (Krasnodar). After that, Galitsky continued to open inexpensive stores in small towns, trying to avoid competition from big retailers. Soon, its retail space merged into the Magnit network. 2001 - the Magnit network consisted of 250 stores and was considered the largest Russian retail chain. In 2007, Magnit hypermarkets appeared, and in 2012, the said company opened 998 grocery stores and 469 Magnit cosmetics stores. According to the results of the said year, Magnit brought 31% of net profit. 2012 - Galitsky opened the Rouge perfumery and cosmetics network. In 2013, the fortune of Sergei Galitsky was equal to $ 8.2 billion. His main asset is OAO Magnit, of which he is the general director. Tips from Sergei Galitsky If you want to succeed, do what you are really interested in! Do not bury your "talent", but develop it! Each person has a "driving force" inside - it can be desires or dreams. Do not bury your dream, but try to make it come true! Knowing your abilities, disadvantages and advantages, it is quite easy to build a specific plan of action to achieve success. Do not wait for luck, but look for opportunities! Often the opportunity comes at a time when we are “not quite ready.” But remember that when you are fully prepared, the opportunity is usually gone. Therefore, keep it up! Interesting facts After Sergei Nikolaevich married Victoria Nikolaevna, he changed his surname Harutyunyan to the surname of his wife. Victoria's father insisted on this, saying that neither his daughter nor his grandchildren would ever bear an Armenian surname. Galitsky owns FC Krasnodar, which is in the middle of the Russian Premier League. He calls this club a "toy" invented for his own motivation. In addition, the entrepreneur spent about $60 million on a children's football academy in the city of Krasnodar. Once Galitsky admitted: “People often see thieves and scoundrels in businessmen, that they offend me, as a person who works 7 days a week!” The billionaire often criticizes government policies, especially the oligarchs, who have ruined the image of entrepreneurs. In addition, O is intolerant of many stupid traditions. For example, he does not like compliments in restaurants. Galitsky is often compared to Sam Walton, the founder of the famous Wal-Mart chain. Although Sergei Nikolayevich himself sometimes calls himself a small businessman. Many consider Galitsky a man of fantastic energy, always having his own non-standard look. So, in one interview, he said that he wants to "stay away from government agencies and closer to the kitchen." Sergei Nikolayevich is married and has a daughter, Polina (b. 1995). Owns a personal micro-blog on Twitter.

Daria Nikitina

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Krasnodar billionaire Sergei Galitsky absolutely does not fit into the company of the richest people in Russia. In terms of personal condition, it fits very organically: $4.9 billion personal wealth, according to Forbes, speak for themselves. Honorary 25th place among the wealthiest people in the country. But the fact that Galitsky does his business not on oil, gas and other natural resources distinguishes him from the ranks of the oligarchs.

He, like Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov, loves football. But, unlike them, he did not want to invest in foreign clubs - neither in Chelsea, nor in Arsenal, nor in less reputable European brands. He chose a team in his native region - Krasnodar, and therefore is well known to Russian fans.

And one more piquant moment: in fact, Sergei, by birth, had a different surname - Harutyunyan. And then he changed it to his wife's surname, when, of course, he got married.

In this article:

Attention, start!

The future oligarch was born in the village of Lazarevskoye in the resort Krasnodar Territory. The position of his parents did not imply a successful start in the boy's career. Well, except perhaps in football: like every boy in the south of Russia, and even with an Armenian surname, Sergey enthusiastically chased the ball on the playgrounds and even thought about a professional career. But the boy was smart enough to critically assess his abilities in this area and at the age of 14 confidently hang up his boots.

Chess became the second sports hobby. The teenager's brain worked fine, and he even took the Sochi champion title. But here, too, I realized in time that he would not become the second Garik Kasparov. And so he focused on his studies. He did not become an excellent student, and he did not aspire to this, he was more interested in the exact sciences. Although, as he later admitted, he remained grateful to chess: this game taught him to follow the logic of events, calculate moves in advance and make the right decision.

Then he served in the army, and, after demobilization, he became a student at the Faculty of Economics at the Kuban State University. And almost immediately attracted attention when in the third year wrote an article on the topic of financial liquidity and, without a shadow of a doubt, submitted it to the Finance and Credit magazine. The editors of the publication were a little stunned by the professionalism and argumentation of the student and the article was published. In their native Kuban, the very fact of the publication and its theme made a great impression on the banking structures.

University third-year student Sergei Harutyunyan was invited to a conversation at one of the commercial banks, and after this conversation they made an offer that the poor student could not refuse. After all, before that he worked as a loader, and here - immediately became deputy bank manager. But a year after graduation, on his own initiative, Sergei wrote a letter of resignation of his own free will: he was not satisfied with the prospects for the development of the bank, which he later assessed as a small change office. And then Harutyunyan decided to start his own business.

The way up the stairs

Sergey left the bank in 1994 and almost immediately started his own business together with several classmates. Your new they called the company "TransAsia" and engaged in the supply of to the market of what this market at that time lacked - household chemicals, cosmetics and perfumes. At first, not everything worked out, but just six months later, many serious foreign suppliers relied on Transazia, and it was this company that such a brand as Procter & Gamble gave the right to become its main distributor in the Krasnodar Territory. Not God knows what, but it was already serious money. But this was not enough for Sergey Harutyunyan - his soul asked for more.

As a result, he left Transazia to his partners, and he himself took up another business - food. He reasoned like this: people's lives can develop in different ways, but you always want to eat. And the experiment began in the capital of his region - Krasnodar.

The first Magnit store was opened in 1998, then small retail outlets began to spread to small cities in the region, and then to neighboring regions. Why did Harutyunyan act so cautiously? And let's remember those criminal times when bandits tried to protect any business and it was important to avoid the “collision” of competitors.

Sergey developed his business with the prudence of a chess player, avoiding serious risks, but systematically moving forward. At first, the stake was placed on the shops of the so-called walking distance, then, with the development of business, hypermarkets began to appear. Today, Magnit is a serious structure, which is the leader in terms of the number of stores in Russia.

Speaking more specifically, Magnit has about five and a half thousand retail outlets “within walking distance” from home and more than a hundred hypermarkets across the country - the numbers are impressive. It is Magnit that is the main one for Sergei Galitsky, he himself evaluates everything else as a hobby: a hotel in Krasnodar, an advertising agency and other not very significant projects, which, however, did not turn out to be unprofitable.

Sergei Galitsky and his family

How Sergey Harutyunyan became Galician is known. After he married Victoria of Galicia. Why the man abandoned the surname of his parents is not known for certain. The press claims that this was a condition of consent to the marriage of Victoria's father. He believed that the surname was noble, although the history of this is unknown - princes and counts with such a surname have not yet been found.

One way or another, but Sergey, in love, agreed to change his passport data and became Galician. This certainly did not interfere with his business, because in Russia in our new times, even Armenians born in the country are not always adequately treated.

Sergei Galitsky does not like to talk about his family. His beloved Victoria is an accountant by profession and studied at the same Kuban University as her missus. Thank God, Victoria, like every wife of an oligarch, does not need to work somewhere. Enough housework, especially considering that daughter Polina is already 17 years old, which means she needs to pay more attention.

Perhaps the only weakness of Sergei Galitsky is the beautiful

Sergei Nikolaevich Galitsky(surname before marriage - Arutyunyan, born August 14, 1967) - Russian entrepreneur, founder and co-owner of the largest retail chain Magnit. President and owner of FC Krasnodar.

Sergei Nikolaevich Galitsky
Birth name: Sergey Nikolaevich Harutyunyan
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Date of birth: August 14, 1967
Place of birth: Lazarevskoye, Sochi, Krasnodar Territory, RSFSR, USSR
Citizenship: USSR, Russia

Sergei Galitsky was born on August 14, 1967 in the village of Lazarevskoye, Krasnodar Territory.
In 1985-1987 Sergei Galitsky served in the army. In 1989, as a second-year student, he began working in one of the commercial banks in Krasnodar.
In 1993 Sergei Galitsky Graduated from the Faculty of Economics and National Economy Planning of the Kuban State University with a degree in Finance and Credit. In 1994 Sergei Galitsky ended his career as a banker as a deputy bank manager.

In 1994 Sergei Galitsky created with partners a distribution company "TransAsia", which was engaged in the distribution of cosmetics and perfumes "Avon", "Johnson & Johnson", "Procter & Gamble". In 1995, TransAsia became the exclusive distributor of Procter & Gamble in the Southern region. In 1995 Sergei Galitsky left this business and founded the Thunder company.
In 1998 Sergei Galitsky opened a Cash&Carry store in Krasnodar.
In 2000, having changed the format of stores to discounters, he renamed the network into Magnit Store Chain. In 2001 Magnit became the largest retail chain in Russia with 250 stores. In 2006, he placed shares of Magnit on the RTS and MICEX (investors paid $368 million for 19% of the shares). In 2011, his "brainchild" football club "Krasnodar" was included in the Premier League.

September 13, 2011 by decree of the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Sergei Galitsky was awarded the title of "Hero of Labor of the Kuban".
In May 2013, construction began on one of the largest sports facilities in the Southern Federal District - a stadium for the Krasnodar football club. Sergei Galitsky fully finances the construction of the stadium.

Family of Sergei Galitsky

Sergei Galitsky married, has a daughter, Polina (born 11/2/1995).
The wife of Sergei Nikolaevich, Victoria Nikolaevna, has a brother. Her brother is the full namesake of her husband, since the entrepreneur changed his Armenian surname Harutyunyan to his wife's surname.

Financial condition of Sergey Galitsky

According to Finance magazine, his personal fortune as of February 2010 is $2.65 billion.
Included in the list of 200 richest businessmen in Russia by Forbes magazine since 2005 with a fortune ranging from $460 million (2005; 64th place in the list) to $2,900 million (2010; 28th place in the list).
In 2011 Sergei Galitsky ranked 24th on the list with a net worth of $5.5 billion, in 2013 - 17th with a net worth of $8.2 billion, in 2014 - 13th with a net worth of $10.3 billion USA.
In 2012 Galician ranked 216th in the Forbes World Billionaires Ranking with a net worth of $4.9 billion.
For May, 2015 Forbes estimates a condition Sergei Galitsky in 8.3 billion US dollars.