Alexander Leonidovich Mamut , born January 29, 1960 in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 to a family of lawyers, is a businessman and investor

Investor

An investor is a party that makes an investment into one or more categories of assets --- equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, derivatives such as put and call options, etc...

. He was previously an advisor to the former Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n government of Boris Yeltsin

Boris Yeltsin

Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...

, and was a friend of Yeltsin's daughter Tatyana Dyachenko

Tatyana Dyachenko

Tatyana Borisovna Yumasheva is a daughter of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin. She was trained in computer science.She worked at the Salyut Design Bureau and later at Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center until 1994....

. He is best known outside Russia for his investment in LiveJournal

LiveJournal

LiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....

 via a media company which he co-owns, SUP Fabrik

SUP Fabrik

SUP is an international online media company, founded in Moscow in mid-2006 by Andrew Paulson and Alexander Mamut...

. In May-June 2011 Mamut's firm A&NN Capital Fund Management bought the book chain Waterstone's

Waterstone's

Waterstone's is a British book specialist established in 1982 by Tim Waterstone that employs around 4,500 staff throughout the United Kingdom and Europe....

, and Mamut was listed with the Waterstone's managing director James Daunt

James Daunt

James Daunt is a British businessman. He is the founder of the Daunt Books chain, and since May 2011 has been managing director of the book chain Waterstone's.-Life:...

 at fourth place in a 2011 Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

list of the top 100 people in the British books industry.