Victor Pinchuk

Victor Pinchuk
Victor Pinchuk
Born	Victor Mykhailovych Pinchuk; December 14, 1960 (age 65); Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, oligarch, philanthropist
Years active	1990–present
Known for	Founder of EastOne Group and Interpipe Group; media ownership; philanthropy

Victor Mykhailovych Pinchuk (; born 14 December 1960) is a prominent Ukrainian entrepreneur and oligarch. As reported by Forbes in July 2025, he ranked 1,141st among the globe’s wealthiest individuals, with an estimated net worth of US$3.3 billion.

Pinchuk is the founder of EastOne Group LLC, a London-based international firm specializing in investment, project financing, and financial consultancy. He also established Interpipe Group, a leading Ukrainian manufacturer of steel products including pipes and wheels. His media holdings include ownership of four television channels and the tabloid Fakty i Kommentarii. Between 1998 and 2006, Pinchuk was a member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada for two consecutive terms. He is married to Olena Pinchuk, the daughter of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.

Early life and education

Born in Kyiv in 1960 to Jewish parents who later moved to the industrial hub of Dnipropetrovsk, Pinchuk completed his doctorate in industrial engineering at the Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute in 1987.

Media holdings

Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pinchuk was recognized as the principal shareholder and proprietor of StarlightMedia, one of Ukraine’s foremost media conglomerates. StarlightMedia oversees several key television channels and commands a significant share of the Ukrainian broadcast market. The company also operates Starlight Entertainment, which organizes live events such as concerts, corporate gatherings, and award ceremonies.

Oligarchs including Pinchuk and Ihor Kolomoisky, owner of 1+1, exerted considerable influence over Ukrainian television, frequently dominating the Teletriumph Awards. This prominence led to industry disputes and boycotts from competing firms and entities connected to Pinchuk. Furthermore, governmental initiatives aimed at increasing Ukrainian-language programming on television shaped these industry dynamics.

Pinchuk was also influential in Ukrainian radio broadcasting. In 2016, he co-owned TAVR Media, a significant radio holding company managing popular stations such as Hit-FM, Kiss-FM, Russkoe Radio Ukraina, Radio Relax, Radio ROKS, and Radio Melodia. Through subsidiaries like Liamin, Mir, and Pilot—where he held ownership stakes ranging from 95% to full control—Pinchuk maintained a strong presence in Ukraine’s broadcast media sector.

Additional business interests

In 1990, leveraging his patented innovations adopted by major metallurgical enterprises across the USSR, Pinchuk founded Interpipe Company.

Interpipe is recognized as a leading producer of seamless pipes and railway wheels. In 2004, Pinchuk joined forces with Rinat Akhmetov, another top Ukrainian businessman, to acquire the Kryvorizhstal steel mill for approximately $800 million—a transaction approved by then-President Leonid Kuchma, who is Pinchuk’s father-in-law but later criticized for undervaluation. The subsequent first Tymoshenko government annulled this deal and conducted a new auction that fetched $4.8 billion. In 2006, Pinchuk launched EastOne, an investment advisory company with interests spanning pipe manufacturing, railcar wheels production, specialty steels and alloys, machinery manufacturing, as well as media through StarLightMedia Group.

Representing Labour Ukraine, Pinchuk served in the Ukrainian Parliament from 1998 until 2006 before stepping back from politics to focus on delineating his business activities from political affairs.

He holds memberships on the Board of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, serves on the International Advisory Council of the Brookings Institution, and participates on the Corporate Advisory Board of the Global Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. Alongside Mikhail Spektor and Igor Kolomoisky, he owns a stake in VS Energy International Ukraine.

In 2013, American steel manufacturers accused Interpipe Group of dumping steel tubes into the U.S. natural gas sector. Following these allegations coupled with a failure to meet a $106 million debt obligation, Fitch Ratings downgraded Interpipe’s credit rating in November 2013.

Allegations of Corruption

On 4 March 2015, during a session of the Special Control Commission on Privatization within the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, oligarch Igor Kolomoisky accused Viktor Pinchuk of accepting monthly bribes amounting to $5 million for overseeing Ukrnafta, a company in which the state-owned Naftogaz of Ukraine holds a 50+1% stake. Kolomoisky asserted that these illicit payments were routed through offshore entities ultimately controlled by Pinchuk and former President Leonid Kuchma.

Kolomoisky remarked, "We disbursed this sum, and in addition, we fulfilled all dividend obligations to the state, including taxes and related payments. However, to secure our dividend rights, we had to divert an extra $5 million from those dividends to Pinchuk."

Subsequently, on 18 March 2015, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine initiated criminal investigations, accusing Pinchuk of receiving bribes totaling $110 million between 2003 and 2006.

In December 2015, Pinchuk launched a $2 billion civil suit against Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Bogolyubov at London's High Court of Justice, concerning a mining company acquisition in Ukraine dating back to 2004. The lawsuit included serious charges such as bribery and murder. The parties reached a confidential settlement in January 2016 prior to the trial's commencement.

Advocating for Ukraine's European Union Membership

In 2004, Pinchuk established the Yalta European Strategy, an autonomous organization dedicated to advancing Ukraine's integration into the European Union. The group's annual summer forum, originally hosted in Yalta but relocated to Kyiv following the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, functions as a significant venue for policy dialogue and strategic recommendations. Distinguished participants have included figures like Tony Blair, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Stefan Fule, Paul Krugman, alongside various business leaders. Notably, in 2015, Pinchuk contributed $150,000 to the Donald J. Trump Foundation in exchange for a brief twenty-minute video message from Donald Trump at the Kyiv conference — marking the foundation’s largest external donation that year.

Pinchuk consistently champions stronger Ukraine-EU relations and has engaged in discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos. In December 2016, he authored a contentious article in the Wall Street Journal suggesting that Ukraine should temporarily postpone its ambitions for EU and NATO membership while pursuing a negotiated settlement with Russia over Crimea to restore peace in Eastern Ukraine. This proposal faced backlash from Ukrainian officials, including then-President Petro Poroshenko who withdrew from attending Pinchuk’s event at Davos.

Ivanna Klimpush-Tsintsadze, former Vice Prime Minister responsible for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, observed that aspects of Pinchuk’s peace initiative aligned with narratives propagated by Russian propaganda. Additionally, Pinchuk rents exhibition space during Davos for "Russia's War Crimes House," which showcases civilian casualties caused by the conflict in Ukraine, utilizing the venue formerly known as Russia House.

Personal Life and Wealth

Victor Pinchuk is married to Olena Pinchuk, daughter of Ukraine’s second president, Leonid Kuchma. Olena heads the ANTIAIDS Foundation, which is dedicated to HIV/AIDS prevention and support programs within Ukraine. The couple maintains relationships with notable personalities including singer Elton John and former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Victor Pinchuk is father to three daughters and one son.

Reports indicate that he expended over $6 million celebrating his 50th birthday in Courchevel, an event featuring performances by Cirque du Soleil and culinary creations by chef Alain Ducasse.

In 2016, Forbes placed him at number 1,250 on its list of global billionaires, estimating his net worth at approximately US$1.44 billion. He was also recognized among Time Magazine’s "2010 Time 100 – The World’s Most Influential People" and ranked 38th on ArtReview’s Power 100 list in 2013 for significant influence within contemporary art circles.

Philanthropy

Beginning in 2006, Victor Pinchuk consolidated his charitable activities through the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, which by 2013 had become Ukraine's most prominent private philanthropic entity. The foundation’s work spans areas such as healthcare, education, cultural initiatives, international relations, human rights advocacy, and community enhancement.

Among its flagship programs are Ukraine's largest private scholarship scheme, "Zavtra.UA," the "WorldWideStudies" scholarship enabling Ukrainian students to study abroad, and recurring events including the "Ukrainian Lunch" and the "Philanthropic Roundtable" held annually at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The foundation partners with organizations like the "Yalta European Strategy" network—dedicated to advancing European integration—as well as the Clinton Global Initiative, Kyiv School of Economics, Tony Blair Faith Foundation, Brookings Institution, among others.

Significant undertakings encompass financing neonatal care units throughout Ukraine under the "Cradles of Hope" project, collaborations with the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Olena Pinchuk’s ANTIAIDS Foundation, founding the Kyiv School of Economics, working alongside the Aspen Institute, launching the contemporary art venue PinchukArtCentre, producing a Holocaust documentary with Steven Spielberg, and supporting Jewish communal activities.

In 2009, Pinchuk organized a free Paul McCartney concert in Kyiv that drew an audience of approximately 500,000. That same year, he initiated the biennial Future Generation Art Prize, awarding $100,000 to artists under 35 years old, with guidance from distinguished figures such as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons.

By 2013, Pinchuk had committed to the Giving Pledge, pledging to allocate at least half of his fortune to philanthropic causes during his lifetime.

Between 1994 and 2005, he contributed between $10 million and $25 million to the Clinton Foundation. From 2000 onward, he retained former Clinton pollster Douglas Schoen, who facilitated his connections with senior US officials until 2012. Correspondence revealed meetings with Hillary Clinton during her tenure at the State Department. In 2017, former Trump aide Monica Crowley registered as a foreign agent representing Pinchuk.

In November 2014, Pinchuk was honored with the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Award for his efforts in strengthening Ukrainian-Jewish relations.

In June 2022, Pinchuk and his spouse donated over £10 million—raised through the sale of a Jeff Koons sculpture—to aid Ukrainian military personnel and civilians impacted by the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. The funds supported prosthetic care, medical treatment, rehabilitation services, and humanitarian relief efforts.

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