Sergey Galitsky

Childhood and youth

Sergey was born and raised in the village of Lazarevskoye in the Krasnodar Region. His birth name was Arutyunyan. He took his wife's surname after their wedding. As a child, Sergey was fond of chess and football, and from the 6th or 7th grade, he began to earn extra money: he collected and sold hazelnuts at the market and worked as a loader. Galitsky's business biography began with an article entitled “On the Question of Financial Liquidity.” He wrote it while studying in his second year at Kuban University, majoring in economic and social planning. The article was published in the magazine Finance and Credit, and the head of a local bank read it and invited Sergey for an interview. As a result, Galitsky worked there from 1989 to 1994 and resigned from his position as deputy manager because he saw no prospects for the company's development.

The founding of Transasia and Tander companies

Immediately after leaving his job, Sergey and his classmates took out a loan of $30,000 and founded the company Transasia. It distributed cosmetics and perfumes from Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Avon. How to get a business loan: instructions for individual entrepreneurs A year later, in 1995, the business was split up: Procter & Gamble did not like the fact that Transasia was working with their competitors, and the company requested a separate distributor for itself. Sergey's partners got Transasia and the contract with Procter & Gamble, while Galitsky used the proceeds from the split to start a new project, Thunder. He received investment for development from banker Alexey Bogachev, who bought 25% of the shares for $100,000.

The emergence and development of the Magnit chain

In 1998, Galitsky opened a chain of small wholesale stores selling cosmetics and household chemicals in a cash & carry format through his company Thunder. Sergey experimented for two years and eventually changed the format to discount stores. The name was also changed to Magnet, short for “low-price stores.” Galitsky had seen similar discount stores in Germany. Russia had not yet recovered from the 1998 crisis, and people liked the Magnet format. Magnit stores were opened in small towns to avoid competition with large foreign companies. By 2001, Sergey Galitsky already owned more than 160 stores. In terms of the number of stores, he had already overtaken his competitors — Pyaterochka, for example, only opened its 100th store in 2004. At the same time, Magnit's revenue lagged behind its competitor, so in 2006 Galitsky held an IPO and raised $368 million. As a result, in 2013, Magnit finally surpassed its main competitor, Pyaterochka, both in terms of revenue and the number of stores in the country. It took Sergey 15 long years to achieve this.

Departure from Magnit

In 2018, when the company had 16,350 stores of various formats, Galitsky decided to step down. He sold 29.1% of the company's shares to VTB for 138 billion rubles. He kept 3% for himself and became a minority shareholder, i.e., a shareholder who cannot directly participate in the management of the company. Magnit continues to develop without Sergey Galitsky — the chain has 30,000 stores, ranks first in terms of the number of outlets and third in terms of revenue among retailers. Two places above it is its main competitor, X5 Group, which includes Pyaterochka and Perekrestok stores. Sergey Galitsky's main assets are now the Krasnodar football club and the Galitsky & Galitsky winery. He also owns the investment company Investstroy LLC.

The foundation of the Krasnodar football club

Galitsky has been passionate about football since childhood: he played himself until the age of 14, followed matches, and traveled to the 2006 World Cup. The entrepreneur tried to promote the Avangard team in his native Lazarevskoye, but left the club due to financial machinations by officials.
In 2008, Sergey founded FC Krasnodar and invested around $1 billion in it: he obtained a license, assembled a team, built a home stadium, and opened an academy to train football players.
In September 2017, Galitsky Park was opened near the Krasnodar Stadium, which is also fully funded by Sergey. He spent more than 4 billion rubles on its construction. Every year, the park undergoes a transformation. For example, in 2023, a Japanese garden appeared there, and in 2024, a new location called Cloud Park.

Opening of the winery

In 2016, together with his wife's brother, Sergey Galitsky Jr., Sergey founded the company Russian Terroir, which began producing wines under the Galitsky & Galitsky brand. The elder Galitsky owns 51% of the company, while the younger owns 49%. The elder Galitsky provides money for development and shares his entrepreneurial experience, while the younger Galitsky is involved in operational management. The business idea came about by chance: Galitsky Jr. was looking for a small plot of land for a family winery and found 200 hectares in the unique Krasnaya Gorka terroir. He suggested that Sergey open a winery together, and Sergey agreed. The Galitsky winery produces single-varietal still wines and blends priced from 2,768 to 9,690 rubles per bottle.