Kazakh entrepreneur Nurlan Smagulov, who recently made it into Bloomberg's billionaire ranking, managed to amass a fortune through trading properties and the automotive business. This sets him apart from other ultra-wealthy compatriots, the publication writes.
Owner of Trade and Auto Centers
Smagulov owns the largest network of shopping and entertainment centers in Kazakhstan, Mega Center Management, which includes Mega Alma-Ata and Mega Park in Almaty, as well as Mega Silk Way in Astana.
He also runs an automotive business: he has assembly plants that account for about two out of five cars produced in Kazakhstan. Smagulov's enterprises have 19 different distribution agreements, Bloomberg notes. The entrepreneur's fortune is estimated by Bloomberg at approximately $1.5 billion. However, he does not make it into the updated ranking of the 500 richest people in the world according to the publication.
How to Earn the First Million
When Kazakhstan gained independence in December 1991, Smagulov saw an opportunity to make money by selling cars. There was a shortage, and a car was considered "a very prestigious and desirable acquisition," he explained in an interview with Bloomberg.
To earn money, he resold KAMAZ trucks and used the proceeds to purchase cars abroad. According to the businessman, demand from the low-income population was so high that he earned his first million dollars in about four years by importing Lada cars from Russia and Toyota vehicles from Japan. This laid the foundation for his company, Astana Motors.
After Kazakhstan switched from the ruble to the tenge in 1993, and later began developing large oil fields, urbanization started to actively develop in the country. Against this backdrop, Smagulov decided to expand his activities and opened the first Mega shopping center in Almaty in 2006.
Subsequently, Smagulov developed this center, new ones were built, and another one is planned to be constructed.
Passion for Art
The entrepreneur has managed to assemble his own collection of contemporary art, which he presented at the newly opened Museum of Contemporary Art in Almaty in September.
According to Smagulov, the collection in its current form cost him about $70 million, and the construction of the museum cost an additional $50 million. Last year, during a few months of operation, the museum was visited by about 188,000 people, and this year the businessman expects 500,000 visitors. Smagulov also plans to open another museum building by 2030, aiming to increase the number of visitors to 1 million per year.
Most of the ultra-wealthy Kazakh entrepreneurs made their money from raw materials, in finance, or through politics, Bloomberg writes. For example, the richest Kazakh, President and CEO and shareholder of KAZ Minerals Vladimir Kim, made $9.2 billion from copper mining, the publication notes.
