Speedo-clad Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov floats in London

He sold his last business to Roman Abramovich and posed in his autobiography wearing nothing but skintight, neon Speedos.

Meet Oleg Tinkov, the Russian billionaire and serial entrepreneur who has just bypassed the Chelsea FC owner to sell his latest venture to the British public.

Yesterday, Mr Tinkov – a miner by training – launched the London Stock Exchange flotation of his Russian credit-card business Tinkoff Credit Systems. As well as giving new investors a chance to take a punt on the expected growth of credit in Russia, the float will see Mr Tinkov cash in tens of millions of dollars worth of his stake.

Mr Tinkov, who started in business trading lipsticks and jeans while at the Leningrad Mining Institute in the early 1990s, went on to launch an electricals chain, a beer and restaurants empire and a ravioli business – later snapped up by Mr Abramovich.

His daughter, Daria, is said to be studying at university in the UK.