With a market capitalisation of nearly $12 billion in early November and operations in 24 countries, Freedom Holding Corp. has come a long way from the relatively small Kazakhstan-based brokerage and banking group that went public on Nasdaq in 2019. Who is the man behind this transformation, how did Timur Turlov build his fortune, and what does he have in mind for Freedom next?
What does Freedom Holding do?
Today, Freedom Holding Corp. is a global fintech ecosystem with businesses spanning brokerage, banking, insurance, payments, consumer services, telecommunications, and digital infrastructure. Headquartered in Kazakhstan, which also serves as its home market, the group operates in 24 countries across Europe, Asia, and the US. Its services range from finance to online grocery shopping, travel booking, event ticketing, media and entertainment, etc., brought together in Freedom’s mobile SuperApp. The group is also developing its own telecommunications, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence businesses. Freedom Holding’s shares trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker FRHC.
Seven years ago, when the company first listed on Nasdaq in October 2019, its business was considerably more modest. Freedom Holding was then a relatively small financial group operating in several countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Its core activities included mostly brokerage and investment services.
The business transformation over the past seven years is also reflected in its stock market performance. On 2 November 2026, Freedom Holding Corp. (FRHC) shares closed at $187.30 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, putting the group’s market capitalisation above $12 billion. The shares closed at $13.59 on their first day of trading on Nasdaq in 2019. This represents a nearly 14-fold increase in the share price over seven years.
Freedom’s financial results further illustrate the growth. Over the past three completed fiscal years, revenue increased from $1.65 billion in FY2024 to $2.00 billion in FY2025 and $2.19 billion in FY2026. Total assets also expanded, rising from $8.30 billion to $9.92 billion and then to $13.16 billion.
The figures were considerably more modest before Freedom went public. In FY2019, which ended in March 2019, before its Nasdaq listing, Freedom reported revenue of $74.3 million and total assets of $350.9 million. Over this period, revenue grew nearly 30-fold, while total assets increased about 37.5-fold.
Who is Timur Turlov?
Timur Turlov, founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., was born on 13 November 1987, and grew up in Lobnya, a town in the Moscow Region. His mother raised him as a single parent after his father, who was originally from Shymkent, Kazakhstan, left the family when Timur was three. His childhood and teenage years coincided with the difficult economic period following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Growing up amid financial hardship shaped his ambition to succeed in business.
Turlov made his first stock market investment at 15, buying shares in the Russian energy company Dalenergo with $800 he had inherited from his grandfather. After several months with no gains, Turlov sold the shares, only to watch their price rise significantly afterwards. The experience taught him a lesson: investing requires research and patience, not impulsive decisions. Paradoxically, this first setback only strengthened his interest in finance.
Over the next few years, Turlov worked as a trader at investment and brokerage firms. In 2008, he set out on his own, launching a brokerage business with several colleagues and an initial investment of around $100,000. In 2011, the company became known as Freedom Finance Investment Company. That was the start of what later became Freedom Holding.
By then, Turlov was already married to Yelena, whom he had met while they were both studying at the Moscow Aviation Technological University. She was expecting their first child when he launched the business. This did not stop Turlov from devoting himself fully to building the company, with Yelena’s full support as she took care of the household and family. The couple now have six children. Turlov has described their arrangement this way: “I am the president at work, and she is the president at home.” He has also spoken about the importance of family as a source of stability: “Family is your foundation, your balance, and your place to rest.”
Another important part of Turlov’s life is chess, which he has played since the age of five. In 2023, he became President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation. On 26 September 2026, he was elected President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). At 38, he is the eighth FIDE president and the second-youngest person to hold the position.
Where did Turlov’s wealth come from?
Timur Turlov built his fortune as Freedom Holding expanded, while retaining his positions as founder and CEO and holding approximately 64.91% of its shares.
He is No. 10 on Forbes’ 2025 list of the richest self-made billionaires under 40, with an estimated fortune of $5.9 billion as of 12 December 2025. Forbes’ real-time estimate put Turlov’s net worth at around $8.1 billion, with a rank of No. 478 in the world as of 3 November 2026.
In Forbes Kazakhstan’s 2026 ranking of the country’s 75 richest businesspeople, based on valuations as of 14 April 2026, Turlov ranked No. 6. He landed in the same position on Forbes Kazakhstan’s latest list of the country’s 50 most influential businesspeople in October 2026.
Turlov’s global ambitions for Freedom
Yet these achievements are not the limit of Turlov’s ambitions. His ultimate goal is to see Freedom Holding Corp. included in the S&P 500 index of 500 leading publicly traded US companies. To qualify, it would need to double its market capitalisation and build a stronger presence in the United States, where it now has a brokerage business. As a step towards this goal, Freedom is considering adding a banking business, with options including obtaining a fintech license or partnering with a local bank.
Freedom’s approach in other countries helps explain what this expansion could look like. Rather than bringing individual products to each new market, the holding wants to recreate the model it built in Kazakhstan: establish a financial business as the foundation, combine banking and brokerage services, and then connect them with insurance and everyday digital services through the Freedom SuperApp. In Turkey, Freedom has already acquired a local bank and obtained a brokerage license. In France, it has applied for a banking license, building on its existing European brokerage business.
Timur Turlov believes the next stage in Freedom’s development is evolving from a regional fintech ecosystem into a global digital service comparable to Google or ChatGPT. “Google is used all over the world; 70-80% of all AI inference is concentrated in 1-2 companies. I am sure that the same thing will happen with digital banking. People will use the best technology worldwide. Nobody needs the best bank in Kazakhstan; they need the best bank in the world,” he explains.
