[8] Born in Moscow, Lebedev is the son of Alexander Lebedev, a Russian banker and former officer of the First Chief Directorate of the USSR's KGB and later its successor, the SVR, and his first wife, engineer Natalia Sokolova; his maternal grandfather Vladimir Sokolov was a scientist, and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, later the Russian Academy of Sciences.
[11] Together with other minority shareholders including Justin Byam Shaw and Geordie Greig, Lebedev bought a 75.1% interest in the newspaper for a nominal sum of £1.
[12] The previous owners, Daily Mail and General Trust plc, continue to hold 24.9% of the company, but will not have a seat on its board or direct involvement in editorial policy.
He has been reported to own a flat in central London near Regent's Park as well as the Grade II-listed mansion Stud House in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace.
Lebedev and his father own the Palazzo Terranova in Ronti and the nearby Castello di Santa Eurasia near Monte Tezio in rural Perugia, Italy.
He said his father "spent his time campaigning against corruption and illegal financial dealings" and his family "has a record of standing up for press freedom" in Russia.
[34][5] In March 2022, the Labour Party tabled a motion in the House of Commons that would force the government to reveal security advice given to Johnson about Lebedev's peerage.
Arguing that he would even defend the right of Jeremy Corbyn to praise Hamas, the peer added that he had read "industrial quantities of falsehoods about myself".
[42] In 2018, he launched #AIDSFree, a cross-title campaign between The Independent and Evening Standard to raise money for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
[48] While he denies rumours about his being gay, which earned him the nickname "Two Beards"[b] coined by Private Eye, he is said not to mind people thinking so, according to media reports.
[10] Lebedev collects modern British art, and owns pieces by Tracey Emin, Sir Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and Jake and Dinos Chapman.