Timur Turlov: Religion, net worth, wife, height, and parents

Today, Timur Turlov is one of Kazakhstan’s wealthiest businessmen, the founder and largest shareholder of Freedom Holding Corp., which operates in 24 countries. Forbes estimates his net worth at billions of dollars. However, his journey began with $800 inherited from his grandfather, his first unsuccessful investment at the age of 15, and work in the financial markets before he had even finished school. We have explored Turlov’s biography to learn more about the family he grew up in, how he entered the investment business, how he built Freedom during the 2008 financial crisis, and how he transformed a small brokerage firm into an international holding company. What is known about Timur Turlov Timur Turlov is 38 years old. He is the founder, CEO, and majority shareholder of Freedom Holding Corp. Turlov is ranked among the wealthiest businessmen in Kazakhstan and is included in Forbes’ global billionaire ranking. In real time, as of August 25, 2026, Forbes estimated his net worth at $7.3 billion. In 2025, Forbes also included Turlov in its global “40 Under 40” list of the wealthiest self-made billionaires under the age of 40. Freedom Holding is incorporated in the United States, with its shares traded on Nasdaq under the FRHC ticker, as well as on Kazakhstan’s KASE and AIX exchanges. The holding company’s headquarters are located in Almaty. Freedom operates in 24 countries and brings together brokerage and banking services, insurance companies, telecommunications, and various lifestyle services. These businesses are integrated into the Freedom SuperApp, whose user base has nearly reached 6 million. For the 2026 fiscal year, which ended on March 31, 2026, the holding company reported revenue of $2.19 billion, up 9% year-on-year, while assets amounted to $13.16 billion, an increase of 33%. The number of brokerage clients grew by 26% year-on-year to 858,000, while the bank’s customer base doubled to 5.03 million. The first quarter of fiscal 2027, covering April through June 2026, was a record quarter in terms of revenue, reaching $732.5 million, 40% higher than a year earlier. Including customers of partner companies, the total customer base exceeds 14 million people. Turlov describes the holding company’s mission through the idea of connectivity. In a 2024 opinion column, he called Kazakhstan “an important bridge between Western and Eastern countries” and identified people, rather than oil and gas, as the economy’s most important resource. According to Turlov, Freedom “should become a financial hub that connects regions,” while Kazakhstan should be “a place where global companies are born.” Timur Turlov’s parents and life before founding Freedom Timur Turlov was born on November 13, 1987, in Russia and spent his childhood and teenage years in the town of Lobnya, near Moscow. His mother was a research scientist and raised him alone: his father left the family when Timur was three years old, and he was unable to locate him later in life. According to Turlov, the family lived in poverty — six people shared a single room of less than 30 square meters. “My mother tried to plan everything as carefully as possible so that we would still have something to eat at the end of the month,” he recalled. Turlov describes the experience of growing up with very limited resources as an “inner hunger,” which eventually developed into a desire to earn money and find a profession that would provide financial security. At the age of 15, Turlov made his first stock market trade, investing the $800 he had inherited from his grandfather in shares of Dalenergo. Two weeks later, he sold the shares at a small loss, while several months later their price rose sevenfold. Around the same time, the schoolboy wrote to the broker Nettrader asking for an explanation of the commission structure on the U.S. market; in response, they sent him a book about investing. At 16, while still in school, Turlov completed an unpaid internship and became a trader at the Moscow branch of the American investment company World Capital Investments. Timur Turlov, his wife, and life in Almaty Timur met his future wife, Yelena, while they were university students. They married in 2008, the same year he founded Freedom Finance. The first year of the business coincided with their wedding and the anticipation of their first child. The family’s savings were invested in developing the new company; according to Turlov, Yelena agreed to this without objection, and he considers her support one of the factors without which the business would not have succeeded. The couple have six children: three sons and three daughters. Their first son, Leon, was born in 2009, when the company was one year old, and less than two years later, they had twins. In 2011, the family moved to Almaty. Turlov describes the division of roles in his family this way: “I’m the president at work, and my wife is the president at home.” Yelena makes the decisions on household matters, such as where the family will live and where they will go on vacation. The entrepreneur describes his approach to parenting succinctly: “Don’t try to raise your children — they will look like you anyway. Raise yourself.” Rather than imposing prohibitions or exercising strict control, he explains his decisions to his children and sets a personal example of what is and is not acceptable. Turlov has said that he does not intend to automatically pass his billions on to his children. He considers it more important to instill culture, a way of thinking, and practical skills, and he does not plan to force them to pursue business. Studying economics and beginning his career in the financial markets In 2005, Turlov joined Unitrade, the brokerage subsidiary of Uniastrum Bank, which provided clients with access to international markets. There, he was responsible for ensuring that clients could gain direct access to U.S. stock exchanges. The system was built from scratch, and the project was completed shortly before the 2008 financial crisis. Turlov pursued his higher education while continuing to work. He studied at MATI — the Russian State Technological University named after Tsiolkovskiy, at the Faculty of Economics and Management, graduating in 2009 with a degree in Economics and Management. During the day, he attended university, while in the evenings he worked with the U.S. financial markets and helped build the necessary infrastructure. According to Turlov, his experience at Unitrade made him realize that most clients needed not so much access to the market as guidance — what to buy and why. This insight later became one of the foundations of his own business, and Freedom has consistently provided up-to-date issuer research and analysis. When launching his company, Turlov said that he “knew every operation — from accounting, risk management and sales to trading, client service, marketing and education.” Turlov subsequently acquired Nettrader, the broker he had contacted as a schoolboy, and integrated it into his holding company. The Tradernet terminal became the primary tool for accessing international stock exchanges. Founding Freedom Finance and its evolution into Freedom Holding Corp. In 2008, amid the global financial crisis, Uniastrum Bank closed its brokerage division, prompting Turlov and several former colleagues to establish Freedom Finance. According to various sources, the company’s initial capital ranged from $50,000 to $100,000, funded through severance payments and the founders’ personal savings. The six-person team started with just a few dozen clients, whose average account balance was around $20,000. As Turlov recalled, the team spent hours making cold calls. According to Turlov, the first year was difficult. The company subsequently completed its first major transactions, including participation in international IPOs, and gradually shifted its business model toward investment advisory services and access to U.S. IPOs. Another innovation was an online stock marketplace where securities could be purchased much like products in an online store. Turlov first visited Kazakhstan in 2011, and in 2012 the company opened its office there. In 2014, Freedom participated in the “People’s IPO” of KEGOC energy company, focusing on retail investors. Following the offering, the broker had more than 40,000 accounts. In 2015, a unified structure was established over the previously separate companies: Freedom Holding Corp. On October 15, 2019, the holding company’s shares began trading on Nasdaq. The opening price was $14.42, while the company’s market capitalization during the first few days reached approximately $801.7 million. Freedom became the first brokerage company from the CIS to be listed on Nasdaq. In 2022, the holding company sold its Russian assets and exited the Russian market. Over the past five years, the holding company has continued to build out its ecosystem: in Kazakhstan, it launched Freedom Bank, the insurance companies Freedom Life and Freedom Insurance, followed by telecom operator Freedom Telecom and lifestyle services such as Ticketon, Arbuz.kz, and Freedom Travel. In 2024, all of these businesses were brought together under Freedom SuperApp. That same year, the holding company obtained a banking license in Tajikistan, and in 2025 it received authorization to conduct brokerage activities in Turkey, where it subsequently acquired a bank in 2026. A new area of development for the holding company is infrastructure for artificial intelligence. In April 2025, construction began in Almaty on the Freedom Cloud data center, with investments of up to KZT 175 billion (approximately $300 million). Turlov also invested his personal funds in Akashi Data Center, a Tier IV data center in Astana with a capacity of up to 100 MW. Together with NVIDIA, the holding company is developing a $2 billion sovereign AI hub, while in partnership with OpenAI, it is implementing ChatGPT Edu for 165,000 Kazakhstani teachers. What is known about Timur Turlov’s personal life Turlov is passionate about chess. Since 2023, he has served as President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, and since 2024, he has headed the International School Chess Federation. The holding company has invested more than $75 million in the development of the sport. At one of the tournaments, Turlov played a game against world champion Magnus Carlsen. In July 2026, Turlov announced his candidacy for the presidency of FIDE, with 15th World Champion Viswanathan Anand running alongside him as his running mate. The election will take place on September 26, 2026, in Samarkand. Turlov’s platform focuses on three key areas: the digitalization of chess and the use of AI, the “Chess in Schools” initiative, and the financial sustainability of national chess federations. Another sport supported by Turlov is football. The youth Freedom QJ League, established at his initiative, brings together more than 1,600 athletes, with investments amounting to KZT 5.9 billion ($12.8 million). The holding company’s social initiatives — including sports, environmental and other projects — have been consolidated under the Freedom Shapagat Foundation since 2023. Freedom has spent more than KZT 100 billion ($215 million) on these initiatives in total, according to Turlov’s official biography. Timur Turlov’s net worth: How he became a billionaire Turlov owns 66.46% of the shares of Freedom Holding Corp. When the holding company went public on Nasdaq in October 2019, it was valued at $801.7 million. By October 2021, the share price had risen to $63.30, and the company’s valuation increased to $3.76 billion. In autumn 2024, the market valued the holding company at approximately $6 billion. The peak came on August 6, 2025, when the share price reached $190.14. At present, FRHC trades at around $171 per share, while the company’s market capitalization exceeds $10.8 billion. Turlov first appeared on the Forbes global billionaires list in 2021, ranking 1,517th with an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion. In the 2022 Forbes Kazakhstan ranking, he placed seventh with $2.2 billion. In 2024, Forbes Kazakhstan estimated his fortune at $3.3 billion, placing him fifth in the country. In 2025, his estimated net worth reached $5.8 billion, ranking him 605th globally and second in Kazakhstan. At the time of writing, Forbes’ global real-time ranking put his net worth at $7.3 billion Forbes calculates the net worth of owners of publicly traded companies based on the market value of their holdings: the number of shares owned is multiplied by the current share price. The real-time ranking is updated daily. As a result, Turlov’s estimated wealth fluctuates along with the price of FRHC shares. Forbes Kazakhstan identifies the share price as the primary driver of changes in his net worth. Turlov has said that he reinvests most of the holding company’s revenue into the business and new areas of development. Turlov continues to lead a private life Timur Turlov likes to spend his free time with his family and hiking in the mountains. On Instagram, he mostly posts photos from official events or family pictures. He rarely attends social events and usually appears in public wearing a business suit. He has not been known to own yachts, palaces, or other luxury purchases commonly associated with billionaires. Rather than accumulating wealth or spending it on expensive possessions, he primarily invests it in the development of his company. Turlov often says that he plans to continue living and working in Kazakhstan. Turlov has lived in Almaty for nearly 15 years. In June 2022, he obtained Kazakhstani citizenship. As Kazakhstan does not permit dual citizenship, the entrepreneur renounced his Russian and Saint Kitts and Nevis passports. Turlov is a tax resident of Kazakhstan, where his family lives and the holding company’s headquarters are located. In October 2022, Freedom fully exited the Russian market. Frequently asked questions about Timur Turlov What is Timur Turlov’s religion? Timur Turlov is a Christian. The businessman posts family photos on Instagram after having Easter cakes blessed, and on major Christian holidays, he attends church with his family. What is Timur Turlov’s net worth? As of the end of August 2026, his net worth is estimated at $7.3 billion. He ranks 546th in the world on the Forbes list. Who is Timur Turlov married to? He is married to Yelena, whom he met at university. They married in 2008. Yelena takes care of the household and their children. Turlov says that his family is his source of support and strength. How tall is Timur Turlov? He is 6 feet 6 inches tall (199 cm). Turlov’s height was mentioned in a joint video with blogger Alisher Yelikbayev. Who are Timur Turlov’s parents? His mother is a researcher who raised him alone in Lobnya, near Moscow. Turlov does not know his father. According to Turlov, the family lived in poverty during the 1990s. What is Timur Turlov’s nationality? Timur Turlov was born in Russia, but has lived in Kazakhstan for many years. In 2022, he became a citizen of Kazakhstan. How many children does Timur Turlov have? He has six children: three sons and three daughters. 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