Eduard Volodymyrovych Shifrin is a Ukrainian-Russian entrepreneur who is a co-owner of the Midland Group. He is a resident in London.
Biography
Shifrin was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Soviet Ukraine, the son of metallurgy professor Vladimir Moiseyevich Shifrin. From 1977–1983, he attended the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, earning a PhD in metallurgy. Over the next 10 years, he worked in Zaporizhia at the steel company Dniprospecstal, rising from assistant foreman to manager of the steel plant and then head of marketing. He then rose to prominence as a business oligarch in newly independent Ukraine, taking control of privatised steelmaker Zaporizhstal. He co-founded, with Alexander Shnaider, Midland Group, a holding company headquartered in Guernsey that embraces interests in steel, shipping, real estate, agriculture and sports. Together they own a share in Trump Tower Toronto and formerly owned Maccabi Tel Aviv and a Formula One team, Midland F1 Racing. He and Shnaider were best friends since childhood, as their fathers were best friends.Shifrin graduated from school with a deep knowledge of physics. In 1976-7 he came first in the National Ukrainian Physics Olympiad. In 1991 he completed his Phd in metallurgy. In 2006, together with his late father, he published a booked titled The Theory of Metallurgical Processes for which he was awarded the State Prize of Ukraine. The last 5-6 years Shifrin has spent studying the Torah and Kabbalah with a particular interest in the intersection of science and religion. He also published a number of Torah Commentaries on the Chabad.org website and blogs on the Times of Israel website. In 2018 his book From Infinity to Man – Basic Ideas of Kabbalah in Terms of Information Theory and Quantum Physics, was published in Russia. The English-language edition was published in March 2019. Shifrin’s first children’s book Travels with Sushi in the Land of the Mind was published in the UK and US in October 2019. Originally conceived as a tale to entertain his grandchildren, the book is inspired by Shifrin’s interest in science and religion, and introduces children to quantum physics and classical morality through an adventure into an alternate dimension. In 2003 he financed the construction of a Synagogue and Jewish educational centre dedicated to his late father.He also co-sponsored the construction of the Synagogues in the following cities: Moscow, Volgograd and Zaporozhye. He sponsors 66 Chabad Sunday Schools.
Net worth
In the 2006 edition of the Sunday Times Rich List, Shifrin was listed at No. 59 with an estimated wealth of £920 million. In Forbes magazine's ranking of "The World's Billionaires" in 2009, Shifrin was ranked 559th with an estimated fortune of $1.3 billion. In 2013, Focus magazine estimated his net worth at $893.3 million, making him the No. 20 richest person in Ukraine.
Personal life
Shifrin and his wife live in London with their three children. He is Jewish and was formerly a vice-president of the World Jewish Congress, elected in 2009. On 27 October 2016, Shifrin and his daughter Sofia Rose, 16, received Russian citizenship by decree of Vladimir Putin.
