When people talk about Timur Turlov, they tend to think of Nasdaq, Freedom Holding, multi-billion-dollar capitalization, and rapid growth. Behind the numbers, the headlines, and the public speeches lies a much deeper story — the story of a man who not only built a business, but developed a philosophy around it. A philosophy in which money is not an end in itself, but a tool. Success is measured not only by income, but by how you change the society around you.
Timur Turlov began his career as a trader — in his youth, he was fascinated by the stock market, the dynamics of decision-making, analysis, and intuition. In 2008, when many believed the financial world was collapsing, he founded a company that would later become Freedom Holding Corp. — one of the fastest-growing financial holdings in Eurasia. It was not just a business, but a challenge: to prove that it was possible to build an open, transparent, and ambitious financial ecosystem in a region often overlooked by global investors.
But even then, Timur Turlov was thinking on a broader scale. He saw finance not just as an opportunity to make money, but as a tool for creating a more mature society — through education, digital infrastructure, honest analysis, and an investment culture.
Today, Freedom Holding is not just about brokerage, banking, and insurance. It invests in education, sports, digitalization, media, healthcare, and culture. Behind each initiative is a concept that reflects Timur Turlov’s belief: if you want your business to grow, you must also grow the environment around it.
He often says he doesn’t believe in “short money” and considers investing in human capital to be the priority. “Talent is the most important currency today. In this world, it’s not the biggest that wins, but the most capable,” he says.
That is why he personally oversees projects such as Freedom Academy, analyst training programs, partnerships with universities, and the launch of the Oninvest platform — an analytical resource designed to become a bridge between complex financial markets and a broad audience.
For Timur Turlov, it is about growing the right way. He speaks openly about the need for companies to be part of the solution, not the problem. This explains his deep interest in the ESG agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In 2023, Freedom Holding Corp. became a member of the UN Global Compact, and Turlov himself was elected chairman of its Advisory Committee for Central Asia.
He believes the future of business lies in responsibility — that sustainability is not a buzzword, but a survival strategy.
“Investment is not only about money. It is about people, their development, their security, their awareness. By investing in education, healthcare, and the environment, we strengthen our own business for decades to come,” he says.
Despite his billionaire status, Timur Turlov remains someone who thinks in terms of meaning. He is convinced that by building an ecosystem, he is also building the social infrastructure of the future.
It’s no coincidence that Freedom Holding Corp. invests in chess, girls’ sports, digital healthcare, and content in the Kazakh language. These are not “side initiatives,” but building blocks of a new reality that Timur Turlov seems genuinely committed to creating.
He speaks of money as a resource — but not the main one. The main resource, he believes, is trust. And perhaps that’s why his strategy works: investors believe not only in the company, but in the person behind it.
Timur Turlov’s story is not one of easy success or a fairytale rise. It is a story of systematic, thoughtful, and consistent progress — from markets to meaning, from capital to culture. He has built a business that knows how to make money. More importantly, he is building a culture that knows how to create. And that is where the real strength lies.
