Russian billionaires

In Russia today, just a handful of oligarchs control 85 percent of the value of the country's leading private companies.

Roman Abramovich, 37, one of the youngest and most influential of Russia's oligarchs, remained largely unknown until recently.

Vagit Alekperov, 52, was born in 1950 in Baku, Azerbaijan, one of the earliest centers of the international petroleum industry.

Boris Berezovksy, 57, helped popularize the term "oligarch" and is perhaps the most controversial of the group.

Oleg Deripaska, born in 1968, is Russia's youngest billionaire at age 35.

Mikhail Fridman, 39, was born in 1964 in Lvov, on the western border of Ukraine.

Vladimir Gusinksy, 51, emerged from the underground economy of the era of the Soviet Union, like many of Russia's oligarchs.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 40, Russia's wealthiest man, made his first fortunes in banking.