Russian billionaire Usmanov buys stake in Apple

ISTANBUL

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov buys $100 million stake in Apple. AFP photo

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, the richest man in Russia and Britain, has purchased a $100 million stake in Apple.

Usmanov’s, the world’s 34th richest man according to Forbes magazine, bet on Apple follows a 40 percent decline in the company’s shares on worries about slowing growth and the lack of another breakthrough product. “I believe in the future of this company even after Steve Jobs,” Usmanov, 59, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Moscow offices, referring to Apple’s late co-founder. “When the company lost $100 billion of its market value, it was a good time to buy its shares, as the capitalization should rebound.”

His Digital Sky Technologies (DST) made an early bet on Facebook and its young founder Mark Zuckerberg.
 
DST went on to pocket $1.3 billion on that investment following Facebook’s IPO in 2012.

Usmanov is worth $19.95 billion, making him the U.K.’s richest man, according to the recently released Sunday Times Rich List.