The Achievements of Freedom Holding Corp. and Its Founder, Timur Turlov

In mid-July, a Kazakhstan delegation led by Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed over 70 commercial agreements worth nearly $15 billion in Shanghai. Freedom Holding Corp. has entered into several partnerships with Chinese tech giants - Alipay, WeChat Pay, Alibaba Cloud, Baidu, and Geely.

In addition to expanding eastward, Timur Turlov's Freedom Holding operates in Europe, Central Asia, and the United States — 22 countries in total. Despite the company's current scale, it was originally conceived as a local broker. How Timur Turlov built an international fintech with a market capitalisation of approximately $9 billion in 18 years — let's explore this using open data.

July Highlights: Kazakhstan, China, Turkey, and France

The largest agreement signed in Shanghai relates to payments: Freedom Bank reached a deal with WeChat Pay and Ant International on cross‑border settlements. Users of the Freedom SuperApp will be able to pay in tenge on Chinese marketplaces such as Taobao, AliExpress, and 1688, as well as via QR codes in PRC retail outlets. Conversely, Chinese tourists in Kazakhstan will be able to use their familiar digital wallets through Freedom Bank's terminal network.

Together with Alibaba Cloud, the Holding is developing cloud services based on the Akashi data centre in Astana - according to the company, the first Tier IV‑certified data centre in Central Asia. In partnership with Geely and SK, Freedom will build a national network of fast‑charging stations for electric vehicles, with integration into the SuperApp. With Baidu, the company will adapt the Apollo Go autonomous taxi service for Kazakhstan roads. As Timur Turlov noted following the visit, a commercial revolution is unfolding right now, and Freedom has already been testing pilot drone delivery services in major cities for the past six months.

Alongside these Chinese partnerships, the Holding's regulatory standing is also strengthening in Kazakhstan. On 7 July, Freedom Bank became the first bank in the country to upgrade its banking licence from basic to universal.

A universal licence grants the right to perform all banking operations without restrictions. Obtaining it requires passing an additional audit by the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market.

At the same time, Freedom Holding Corp. is pursuing bank development in new jurisdictions. This summer, Turkish regulators, BRSA and the country's antitrust authority, approved the acquisition of 99.32% of Turkish Bank A.Ş. Using this financial institution as a foundation, Freedom will build an integrated ecosystem in Turkey, combining it with the existing brokerage business.

Timur Turlov aims to replicate the Kazakhstan scenario in the largest market in the Turkic world – in just under two years, Freedom SuperApp has gained 5.67 million users in its home market.

In Europe, Freedom Holding has submitted an application for a banking licence to the French regulator ACPR and announced plans to invest €500 million over a five‑year horizon in a digital bank and related infrastructure. France could provide the Holding with access to the entire EU banking services market.

Meanwhile, the brokerage company Freedom24 is already well‑known in the European market and manages around 600,000 accounts with $11 billion in client assets. Furthermore, the travel service Freedom Travel is set to launch in the region this year. Together, these businesses will enable the creation of a full‑scale ecosystem in Europe, encompassing both fintech and lifestyle services.

$800 and the First Brokerage Trade: Timur Turlov's Early Steps

Timur Ruslanovich Turlov was born on 13 November 1987, in Lobnya, a town near Moscow. According to the entrepreneur himself, his family lived in poverty. His mother, formerly a scientist, raised him alone, and the 1990s were marked by a constant lack of money.

'Meat was rarely on our table - but that was the 1990s. I'm talking about an inner hunger caused by the constant shortage of everything. That hunger turned into a thirst — to earn money, to find a profession that would eventually bring income,' Turlov recalled.

The teenager's first funds for investing came from an inheritance: his grandfather left him $800.

At the age of 15, Turlov invested this sum in preferred shares of Dalenergo, opening a brokerage account on the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange. "I deposited the money into a brokerage account and started trading," he later recounted. The investment resulted in a loss; he had to sell the securities, and a few months later, their price surged several‑fold. The entrepreneur still recalls this lesson in patience.

At 16, while still a school student, Turlov joined the Moscow branch of the American investment firm World Capital Investments as a trader, having completed an unpaid internship and passed an IQ test. Later, he worked on developing infrastructure to provide access to the US stock market at Uniastrum Bank.

Building His Own Business and Relocating to Kazakhstan

During the peak of the global financial crisis in 2008, Timur Turlov co‑founded the brokerage firm Freedom Finance with former colleagues.The initial capital was approximately $100,000, pooled by the co‑founders.

The first months were challenging. Turlov personally conducted around a hundred cold meetings with potential clients, none of which initially led to a deal. Market conditions helped; starting in March 2009, one of the strongest rallies in the history of US indexes began, and the company attracted its first investors on this wave.

In 2011, Turlov discovered Kazakhstan. His father, whom the entrepreneur does not remember, was from Shymkent, the third‑largest city in Kazakhstan. After visiting the country, Turlov was impressed by its resources and opportunities. He appreciated the optimism and entrepreneurial spirit of Kazakhstanis, the open and transparent government policy, and the focus on economic growth.

Moreover, competition among brokerage firms was less intense than in the Russian market. In 2011, Turlov acquired the Kazakhstan brokerage Amat Finance, and subsequently moved with his family to Almaty.

In 2013, the company acquired an investment firm in Kazakhstan and joined the People's IPO program - an initiative for the initial public offering of shares in major national and quasi‑government companies on stock exchanges, enabling nationals to become shareholders of leading enterprises, receive dividends, and generate investment income.

The Holding's Listing on Nasdaq

In 2015, the consolidated Freedom Holding Corp. was incorporated in the US, and in 2019, the company became the first broker from the CIS to list on Nasdaq - an event Turlov describes as the main achievement of his career. Since its Nasdaq listing in 2019, FRHC shares have appreciated more than tenfold, reaching a historic high of $190 per share last summer.

In 2022, Timur Turlov divested his Russian assets and obtained Kazakhstan citizenship, renouncing his Russian and Saint Kitts and Nevis passports.

By 2025, Timur Turlov had entered the Forbes "40 Under 40" global ranking of self‑made billionaires - those who built their fortunes rather than inheriting them. As of late July 2026, Forbes estimates Turlov's net worth at $6.5 billion, placing him among the 600 richest individuals globally.

Key Performance Indicators of Freedom Holding Corp.

Financial performance allows the Holding to scale its business and remain profitable. For the FY 2026 ended March 31, Freedom's revenue reached $2.19 billion, versus $2 billion the year before, and net income doubled to $153.3 million, or $2.56 per share. The Holding's assets exceeded $13 billion.

The financial sector remains the primary source of profit. According to the latest company data, the net profit of the bank, brokerage, and insurance businesses amounted to $372 million, $84 million, and $22.7 million respectively. Meanwhile, the bank's customer base doubled to 5.03 million people, while the number of brokerage accounts grew by a quarter to 858,000. The lifestyle segment brought $97.4 million for the Holding in FY 2026, a 143% increase from the previous year.

About the Author: Daniel Harper is a Senior Market Analyst at Freedom Finance specializing in cross-border capital flows and fintech ecosystems. With over 12 years of experience in equity research and macro strategy, he focuses on emerging markets and technology-driven financial expansion.