Meet Russia's richest woman, a self-made billionaire who founded her e-commerce company on maternity leave
Talia Lakritz
- Tatyana Bakalchuk is Russia's richest woman with an estimated net worth of $7.4 billion.
- She founded e-commerce retailer Wildberries, Russia's version of Amazon that sells a range of items.
In 2004, Tatyana Bakalchuk spent $700 to create a website for Wildberries, an e-commerce business she started out of her Moscow apartment while on maternity leave.
Today, Wildberries is considered the Russian equivalent of Amazon, a booming online retailer that earned $6 billion in revenue in 2023, and Bakalchuk is Russia's richest woman, Bloomberg reported.
Yet, despite her immense wealth, Bakalchuk, 48, keeps a low profile and apparently lives modestly — she reportedly doesn't own a home, choosing to rent instead.
Here's how Bakalchuk makes and spends her fortune.
Tatyana Bakalchuk is worth an estimated $7.4 billion, Forbes reported, making her Russia's richest woman.
Bakalchuk was born in the Moscow Oblast region in 1975 and studied at the Kolomna State Pedagogical Institute, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
She and her husband, IT entrepreneur Vladislav Bakalchuk, have seven children.
She founded the e-commerce retailer Wildberries in 2004 while on maternity leave from her job as an English teacher.
Wildberries started as a small venture reselling clothes from Otto, a German retail company. Bakalchuk told Bloomberg in 2018 that she used to make deliveries herself in the company's early days.
"At first, I did everything myself, collecting the goods and taking them to customers on the other side of Moscow by subway or bus," she said.
As the business grew, Bakalchuk began hiring delivery workers and renting space to store more inventory.
Russian bodybuilder Sergei Anufriev invested in Wildberries in 2006, Bloomberg reported. Bakalchuk owns 99% of the company, and her husband owns 1%.
In 2020, The Bell reported Vladislav Bakalchuk earned $5 million from selling stock in an internet provider, raising questions about Bakalchuk's status as a self-made billionaire. Wildberries representatives told the outlet that the money was not involved in starting Wildberries.
In 2023, Wildberries earned $6 billion in revenue with a gross merchandise volume of $27.8 billion.
Wildberries stocks items from over 60,000 brands, selling a range of products including clothes, electronics, and housewares, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.
The retailer launched in Europe in 2021, expanding into Germany, Italy, Spain, and France, The Moscow Times reported.
Despite her billionaire status, Bakalchuk keeps a low profile and doesn't own a home.
In a 2018 interview with AFP, Bakalchuk described herself as "introverted."
Unlike other billionaires who live in sprawling mansions, Bakalchuk rents instead of owning a home, Bloomberg reported.
Bakalchuk's latest venture will involve building an alternative payment platform to help bolster Russia's economy amid international sanctions.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, known as SWIFT, banned seven Russian banks in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In a joint statement condemning the invasion, members of the European Commission wrote that the ban would "ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally."
In June, Bloomberg reported that Bakalchuk will work with advertising operator Russ Group on developing a new digital trading platform as an alternative to SWIFT. The project will be overseen by Maxim Oreshkin, Russia's former minister of economic development, who was handpicked for the task by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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