Yuri Shefler
{{short description|Russian-born businessman (born 1967)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Yuri Shefler
| image =
| caption =
| native_name = Юрий Викторович Шефлер
| native_name_lang = ru
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1967|09|10}}
| birth_place = Oryol, Oryol Oblast, Soviet Union
| citizenship = Russia, United Kingdom, Israel{{Cite web |title=Bloomberg - Vodka Drinkers Are Changing Brands in Wake of Ukraine Invasion |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-02/vodka-drinkers-are-changing-brands-in-wake-of-ukraine-invasion|access-date=2022-03-03 |website=www.bloomberg.com}}
| alma_mater = Plekhanov Russian University of Economics (1996)
| known_for = Owner of SPI Group
| death_date =
| death_place =
| spouse = Tatiana Kovylina (divorced 2021)
}}
Yuri Shefler ({{langx|ru|Юрий Викторович Шефлер|link=no}}; born 10 September 1967) is a Russian-born{{Cite news |date=2022-03-02 |title=Vodka Drinkers Are Changing Brands in Wake of Ukraine Invasion |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-02/vodka-drinkers-are-changing-brands-in-wake-of-ukraine-invasion |access-date=2022-06-23}} businessman. He is the owner of SPI Group, an international consortium that sells alcohol in 160 countries, most notably the Stolichnaya vodka brand.{{Cite web |title=Who is Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler, who bought Angelina Jolie's share of Chateau Miraval and upset Brad Pitt? 5 things to know, from his Victoria's Secret model wife to his drinks empire |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3168401/who-russian-billionaire-yuri-shefler-who-bought-angelina |access-date=28 February 2022 |website=South China Morning Post}} As of March 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$1.5 billion.{{cite web|title=Forbes profile: Yuri Shefler |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/yuri-shefler/ |work=Forbes |access-date=15 March 2022}}
Business career
Shefler left the Soviet Army in September 1987 and embarked on a career in business, which saw him running one of Moscow's leading shopping malls and Vnukovo Airlines.{{cite web |title=Russian vodka billionaire buys £25 million Scottish estate |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15194658.russian-vodka-billionaire-buys-25-million-scottish-estate/ |website=The Herald |date=31 March 2017}}
He used to own one of the largest yachts in the world, {{Ship||Serene|yacht|2}}, with a length of {{convert|133.9|m|ftin|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |title=Serene |url=https://www.superyachtfan.com/motor_yacht_serene.html |access-date=7 November 2017 |publisher=Super Yacht Fan.com}}{{cite news |date=28 June 2016 |title=A 30-year-old Saudi prince could jump-start the kingdom – or drive it off a cliff |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/a-30-year-old-saudi-prince-could-jump-start-the-kingdom--or-drive-it-off-a-cliff/2016/06/28/ce669a3e-3c69-11e6-a66f-aa6c1883b6b1_story.html |url-status=live |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629211105/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/a-30-year-old-saudi-prince-could-jump-start-the-kingdom--or-drive-it-off-a-cliff/2016/06/28/ce669a3e-3c69-11e6-a66f-aa6c1883b6b1_story.html |archive-date=29 June 2016 |df=dmy-all}}{{cite web |last1=Mazzetti |first1=Mark |last2=Hubbard |first2=Ben |date=15 October 2016 |title=Rise of Saudi Prince Shatters Decades of Royal Tradition |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/world/rise-of-saudi-prince-shatters-decades-of-royal-tradition.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201143701/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/world/rise-of-saudi-prince-shatters-decades-of-royal-tradition.html |archive-date=1 February 2017 |work=The New York Times |df=dmy-all}} In 2015 he sold Serene to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a reported $550 million.{{Cite web |title=Rise of Saudi Prince Shatters Decades of Royal Tradition |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/world/rise-of-saudi-prince-shatters-decades-of-royal-tradition.html |access-date=24 October 2018 |website=New York Times}} In March 2017 he bought Tulchan Estate on Speyside, Scotland's most expensive sporting estate.{{cite news |author=Auslan Cramb |date=30 March 2017 |title=Scotland's most expensive sporting estate bought by Russian vodka billionaire |publisher=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/30/scotlands-expensive-sporting-estate-bought-russian-vodka-billionaire/}}
On 17 February 2022, Brad Pitt said that Angelina Jolie sold to Shefler's wine group Tenute del Mondo, which is a subsidiary of Shefler's Stoli Group, her interest in the Château Miraval at Correns in Provence, France, which Pitt and Jolie purchased in 2008 for $28.4 million.{{cite news |date=17 February 2022 |title=BRAD PITT SUES ANGELINA JOLIE... You Secretly Sold Winery To Russian Oligarch!!! |work=TMZ |url=https://www.tmz.com/2022/02/17/brad-pitt-sues-angelina-jolie-chateau-miraval-winery-russian-oligarch/ |access-date=17 February 2022}}
= SPI Group =
SPI Group produces and sells alcohol under 380 brands in 160 countries, most notably Stolichnaya vodka. SPI Group also owns Louisiana Spirits Company, Fabrica de Tequilas Finos in Mexico and Achaval Ferrer in Argentina. A subsidiary of SPI Group, Luxembourg-based Amber Beverage Group Holding S.à r.l. owns Latvian-based SIA Amber Beverage Group, which in turn owns Latvijas Balzams which manufactures Riga Black Balsam.{{Cite web |last=курс |first=The Baltic Course-Балтийский |title=Amber Beverage opens new logistics centre in Latvia |url=https://www.baltic-course.com/eng/good_for_business/?doc=98040 |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=The Baltic Course {{!}} Baltic States news & analytics}}{{Cite web |last=Kiely |first=Melita |date=2022-03-10 |title=Moskovskaya Vodka stresses Latvian origin |url=https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2022/03/moskovskaya-vodka-stresses-latvian-origin/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=The Spirits Business |language=en-US}}
Shefler's SPI Group has been involved in a decades-long legal dispute with the Russian state-owned company FKP Sojuzplodoimport (FKP) over ownership of the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya trademarks. In 2020, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that the rights belonged to Russia and ordered SPI Group to stop selling its products in Benelux.{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c9dc193a-4115-11ea-bdb5-169ba7be433d|title=Russia wins rights to Stolichnaya vodka in Benelux region|date=27 January 2020|work=Financial Times}}
In 2022, Shefler was ordered to pay a former UK executive over £1.6 million after sacking him when he complained about pay cuts.{{cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/11/vodka-tycoon-to-pay-worker-1600000-after-sacking-him-for-objecting-to-cuts-16975667/|title=Russian vodka tycoon to pay worker £1,600,000 after sacking him for objecting to job cuts|date=11 July 2022|work=Metro}}
Personal life
Shefler was born to a Russian Jewish family in Oryol.{{Cite web |last1=Eshman |first1=Rob |last2=March 4, 2022 |title=The Jewish billionaire caught in the middle of the Stoli boycott |url=https://forward.com/news/483415/stolichnaya-jewish-billionaire-caught-vodka-yuri-shefler-ukraine-russia/ |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=The Forward |language=en-US}} He has citizenship in the United Kingdom and Israel.
He was formerly married to Tatiana Kovylina, a Russian model who previously worked for Victoria's Secret; they separated in 2021. They have four children together, and lived together in Geneva, Switzerland.{{Cite web |date=2022-02-28 |title=US governors order state-run liquor stores to stop selling Russian vodka |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/28/us-governors-russian-vodka-boycott-ukraine |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}
He has since been linked to Ksenia Sukhinova, who was Miss Russia 2007, and Miss World 2008.{{cite news |last1=Kaplan |first1=Michael |title=Tangling with Putin and Brad Pitt tanked Stoli vodka in the US |url=https://nypost.com/2024/12/21/world-news/tangling-with-putin-and-brad-pitt-tanked-stoli-vodka-in-the-us/ |work=New York Post |date=21 December 2024}}
As reported by Forbes in March 2022, Shefler had an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion.
References
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Category:21st-century British businesspeople
Category:British business executives
Category:21st-century Israeli businesspeople
Category:Israeli business executives
Category:British people of Russian-Jewish descent
Category:Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent