[2][3][4] As of 2025, he is one of the wealthiest in Russia and the 72th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$26.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

[6] As per Forbes list of The Richest People In The World, dated 8 MARCH 2024, Vladimir Potanin ranked #85 with a net worth of $23.7 Billion.

[23] The auctions allowed the selling-off of Russian firms' assets at below market prices and are regarded as the founding moment of Russia's oligarchy.

[28] Potanin and his long-term business partner Mikhail Prokhorov acquired Norilsk Nickel (or Nornickel) in the early 1990s under the "loans for shares" scheme, owning between them 54% of the firm.

[40] The purchase was not yet officially approved as of March 2018, pending a court ruling in May that will decide whether the acquisition would breach the 2012 stakeholder agreement.

[48] In September 2016, the local Daldykan river ran red after a suspected break of a Norilsk Nickel slurry pipe released industrial waste into the water.

[49] Norilsk Nickel was subsequently fined an undisclosed amount by the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor).

[44] Briefing Putin on Norilsk Nickel's development and performance, Potanin promised to invest $17 billion over a seven-year period on measures to modernize the company's facilities and reduce pollution from its operations.

[55] In the spring of 2024,[56] representatives of Norilsk Nickel, headed by Potanin, announced the upcoming transfer of copper production from Russia to China.

This plan was motivated both by the need to circumvent Western sanctions[57] when exporting copper to foreign markets, and by China's significantly less stringent environmental standards than those in Russia.

[62][63] He allegedly urged Putin to approve expansion in the area to create a "Russian Courchevel", despite oppositional pressure from environmental groups who claimed it would further damage the region.

In 2015, he asked president Putin to allow for permits to double the size of the ski resort, an expansion that will threaten the leopard program he contributed to.

[69] Potanin became the first major Russian investor to acquire assets in Iran after the sanctions against the country over its missile program were lifted in 2016.

[70] Through his investment fund New Winter Capital Partners (NWCP), he bought shares of the Swedish Pomegranate (firm), which is a shareholder in a number of Iranian internet companies, such as Digikala, the country's largest online retailer.

[72] Potanin is a member of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), a lobby group that sent Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev a proposal for alternative cryptocurrency regulations in October 2018.

[citation needed] In May 2015, Potanin was named a co-defendant in a case in which state-owned Vnesheconombank (VEB) was looking for damages for losses from the liquidation of Roskhlebprodukt, in which he indirectly owned a stake.

[73] In April 2022 owing to the International sanctions during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, French banker Societe Generale had stranded Rosbank assets and was seeking a quick exit from Russia.

The French banker had paid an estimated $4.3 billion to Interros over the period between 2006 and 2014 to amass nearly all the shares in the Russian bank and its subsidiaries.

[77] In April 2003, Potanin was elected chairman of the board of trustees of the State Hermitage, the most renowned Russian art museum.

[89] A retroactive investigative report issued by the US Department of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center found no indication that the MDSBE corporate network had been compromised.

The game ended with victory for the professional in the 38th move, though not with checkmate – Potanin conceded as a result of Nepomniachtchi’s superior position.

[100][101][102] In 2016, Natalia Potanina filed a $15 billion lawsuit claiming profits of Norilsk Nickel as well as Interros International, in what would have been the world's largest divorce settlement.