With each year, a new line-up of movers and shakers emerge in the business world as ones to watch over the coming months – and for 2025, Kazakh investor and entrepreneur Timur Turlov is at the top of the list.
The founder, CEO and majority shareholder of Freedom Holding Corp., a company he established in 2008, Turlov has been making quite the name for himself in the sphere over recent years, with the corporation growing into an international diversified financial services enterprise with a presence in 22 countries.
Back in 2019, he took Freedom public and listed it on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol FRHC, with the company’s value increasing five-fold over the five years since. As an investor and entrepreneur, he is building a comprehensive ecosystem of services which includes stock brokerage, banking and insurance businesses, as well as a variety of consumer service offerings.
As we head into the new year, the upward trajectory of his business endeavours shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon – and neither, by all accounts, does Turlov himself.
From humble beginnings
Turlov has come a long way since beginning his career at the tender age of just 16, when he started working as a trader at the American investment company World Capital Investments (WCI). Later, he joined Uniastrum Bank, where he was instrumental in developing infrastructure for U.S. stock market access within the bank’s subsidiary.
In 2008, Turlov founded Freedom Finance – a brokerage firm that provides access to U.S. stock exchanges – and four years later, in 2012, he expanded into Kazakhstan, where he successfully built a brokerage company that later grew to include banking, insurance and consumer services.
By 2019, these had all been consolidated, now operating under the ‘Freedom Holding Corp. umbrella, and since then, Turlov’s endeavours have continued to go from strength to strength.
Tatler Kazakhstan
Turlov has an exciting year ahead of him, and multiple projects already well underway – but one of the most exciting has got to be taking forward the newly launched Tatler Kazakhstan, which was announced to much fanfare in December at the historic Abai Kazakh National Opera and Ballet Theatre. The move marked the magazine’s debut in Central Asia through a partnership between Turlov and Tatler Asia.
Making a debut to remember at a glittering, star-studded event attended by over 200 of Kazakhstan’s most prominent business leaders and cultural influencers, the magazine is set to be published in Kazakhstan for the first time this month and is poised to become a new cultural and social voice in the region.
As part of the partnership, plans are also afoot to publish Tatler in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan in 2025.
Tatler Kazakhstan will be published in both Kazakh and Russia – with a digital version also available – and a strong social media presence. Turlov will serve as chairman of the supervisory board of the new venture, which will be managed under Turlov Private Holding Ltd.
The launch of the first issue is just the beginning, and Tatler Kazakhstan is gearing up to acquaint its audience with the country’s rich cultural heritage as well as highlighting its many talented directors, musicians, designers, and artists.
A glittering 2025 ahead
With its sparkling launch and dedication to celebrating the country’s most influential figures and achievements, Tatler Kazakhstan has positioned itself as a beacon of culture, style and society in Central Asia. It’s certainly a departure from Turlov’s usual endeavours, but by all accounts, it’s set to become a huge success, and might just be one of the most exciting developments in the region this year.
As for Turlov? Well, he’s a man with big ambitions – and no doubt has some other exciting plans up his sleeve for the year ahead. When it comes to the individuals to keep your eye on in the business world in 2025, he’s up there with the best of them, and the sky, it seems, is the limit when it comes to just how much he can achieve.
