Leonid Rozhetskin was born August 4th, 1966 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Rozhetskin is an international financier and lawyer credited with bringing significant financial and legal advances to modern Russia. Rozhetskin currently co-owns L+E Productions, a movie production company in Los Angeles, California.
Leonid Rozhetskin was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1966. Rozhetskin's family immigrated to the United States in 1980. He attended high school in New York City.
In 1987, Leonid Rozhetskin received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University with distinction. In 1990, he graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School.
From 1990 to 1991, Leonid Rozhetskin was a law clerk for Judge Stephen V. Wilson, a federal judge in Los Angeles, California. From 1992 to 1994, Rozhetskin worked as an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell and White & Case, both U.S. law firms. In 1992, Rozhetskin returned to Russia to open his own law firm, representing clients such as the International Finance Corporation (a division of the World Bank), Credit Suisse, Morgan Grenfell, and The Moscow Times.
In 1995, Leonid Rozhetskin’s focus shifted from the law to financial ventures. Rozhetskin was part of a group that founded Renaissance Capital, Russia’s largest and most successful domestic investment bank. While with Renaissance Capital, Rozhetskin led the firm’s participation in listing the first Russian company on the New York Stock Exchange.
In 1998, Leonid Rozhetskin left Renaissance Capital to co-found the independent venture capital firm, LV Finance. The advisory clients of LV Finance included international financier George Soros and founder of CNN Ted Turner. The company invested in a number of highly successful start-up ventures in the media and telecommunications industry, most notably, MegaFon, the third largest mobile phone operator in Russia. Rozhetskin sold his interest in LV Finance in 2003.
From October 2001 until January 2005, Leonid Rozhetskin served as Executive Vice Chairman of Norilsk Nickel, Russia’s largest mining company and the world’s largest miner of nickel and palladium metals. Rozhetskin led the company’s efforts on transparency, corporate governance and external investment, including the acquisition of a controlling interest in Stillwater Mining Company, a U.S. miner of platinum and palladium metals. Rozhetskin also pioneered an investment of $1.2 billion to acquire a 20 percent interest in Gold Fields of South Africa. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Norilsk Nickel.
Leonid Rozhetskin is also a board member and founding shareholder of City A.M., London’s first free daily business newspaper which covers news on the markets, global and local business as well as contemporary lifestyle features. City A.M. is read by over 100,000 professionals throughout London.
In 2007, Leonid Rozhetskin co-founded a movie production company, L+E Productions, with Eric Eisner. Eisner is the son of Michael Eisner, the former Chief Executive Office of The Walt Disney Company. L+E Production’s mission is to finance and develop feature-length films.
Leonid Rozhetskin has one son and divides his time between London and Los Angeles.
Leonid Rozhetskin was awarded for the 1989-90 academic year, a Certificate of Distinction in Teaching from Harvard University for his special contribution to teaching the undergraduates of Harvard University and Radcliffe Colleges.
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