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Leonid Borisovich Rozhetskin (Russian: Леонид Борисович Рожецкин, born August 4, 1966; disappeared March 16, 2008) was a financier and lawyer who went missing under suspicious circumstances after disappearing from his village in Jūrmala, Latvia.[1] In 2013, remains found nearby the year before were confirmed to be Rozhetskin's.[citation needed]
Leonid Rozhetskin Леонид Рожецкин | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 4, 1966 |
| Disappeared | March 16, 2008 (aged 41) Jūrmala, Latvia |
| Body discovered | Latvian Forest |
| Nationality | Russian, American |
| Citizenship | U.S. |
| Education | Harvard Law School |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation(s) | Lawyer, financier |
| Years active | 1990– 2008 |
| Spouse | Natalya Belova |
| Children | 1 son |
Rozhetskin was born in 1966 to a Jewish family in Leningrad, Soviet Union; he and his mother Elvira emigrated to the United States in 1980,[1] where he became a U.S. citizen. Rozhetskin was a "brilliant student", winning scholarships to Columbia University, where he graduated with distinction.[1] In 1990, Rozhetskin graduated cum laude[citation needed] from Harvard Law School.
Rozhetskin received a Certificate of Distinction in Teaching from Harvard University,[citation needed] for teaching Harvard and Radcliffe undergraduates during the 1989-90 academic year.
Rozhetskin began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Stephen V. Wilson, a federal judge in Los Angeles, California; he then joined the law firm White & Case.[1]
At the age of 26, Rozhetskin returned to Russia, first as a lawyer at White & Case's Moscow office, and then as the head of his own law firm,[1] representing clients such as the International Finance Corporation (a division of the World Bank), Credit Suisse, Morgan Grenfell and The Moscow Times.[citation needed]
In 1995, Rozhetskin's focus shifted from the law to financial ventures. Rozhetskin was part of a group that founded Renaissance Capital, Russia's first investment bank, in partnership with Boris Jordan, an American of Russian origin, and New Zealander Stephen Jennings.[1]
In 1998, Rozhetskin left Renaissance Capital to co-found the independent venture capital firm LV Finance. With help from Leonid Reiman, LV Finance secured 25% of MegaFon at the time Reiman was Russia's telecommunications minister.[1] In August 2003, Rozhetskin sold the MegaFon stake to Altimo, a subsidiary of Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group.[1][a]
From October 2001 until January 2005, Rozhetskin served as Executive Vice Chairman of Norilsk Nickel,[6][7] Russia's largest mining company and the world's largest miner of nickel and palladium metals. Rozhetskin was also a board member and founding shareholder of City A.M., London's first free daily business newspaper.
Rozhetskin founded a production company called L + E Productions with Eric Eisner, son of former Disney executive Michael Eisner. Through L + E Productions, he was credited as a producer of Hamlet 2; he was also credited as an executive producer of the 2009 film Boogie Woogie.[8]
Rozhetskin married model Natalya Belova, who gave birth to their son in 2005.[citation needed] According to The Sunday Times, Rozhetskin's friends suspected he lived a closeted life, prompted by what the newspaper called Russia's "machismo and deep-seated homophobia"; the "extraordinary lengths to [he went to] conceal his homosexuality included withholding the truth on the subject from his mother, who characterized claims of her son's homosexuality as a "smear campaign."[1]
Rozhetskin was last seen on the night of his disappearance by two men who were picked up at his villa by a taxi that took them to a club called XXL, Riga's largest gay nightclub at 2:30 am on 16 March.[1][9] Many Western media sources quickly assumed he was dead,[1][10] although the Russian press claimed he was living in California under the Federal Witness Protection Program.[11]
In 2012, a body found in a forest near Tukums was that of Rozhetskin, according to preliminary DNA tests.[12]
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