Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska is a Russian oligarch and billionaire. Deripaska began his career as a metals trader after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He used accumulated funds from trading to acquire stakes in the Sayanogorsk aluminum smelter from a consortium of businessmen who privatized it in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Sayanogorsk aluminum smelter served as the foundation of what later became the world's largest aluminium company Rusal.