In his interview with “Exclusive” on YouTube this April, Timur Turlov, the founder of Freedom Holding Corp., shared his views on entrepreneurship and revealed why his company is so successful.

According to Turlov, many key business decisions are made amidst shortages of resources. “We're used to accepting many more risks than anybody else. I mean, business risks… We’ve never used our Kazakhstani business’s revenue for paying out dividends. Instead, we reinvested all this money in the business to make it grow,” Turlov said, adding that he doesn't possess a castle somewhere in France or an account in a Swiss bank or even a significant sum of cash. “My banking card balance is $43,000. I’ve put all my money into the business. My funds have always been there,” he highlighted.

This approach is already bearing fruit. According to the company’s financial statement for the last nine months of 2023 (ending on December 31), its revenue doubled, reaching $1.17 billion, and net profit grew to $279 million. The company is always funding the increased development of its business. As Turlov noted, the lion's share of these funds goes to increase Freedom Bank’s capitalization as this is necessary to secure its further expansion and market share. Even though the Bank is already ranked among the top ten banks in terms of assets, the financier believes it might be among the overall leaders.

In December 2023, the company issued a $200 million bond-secured loan to finance the development of its telecommunication operator. This nascent project is very ambitious. This is why a lot of investment in infrastructure is needed. Freedom is going to use the funds it raised for purchasing data processing centers, base stations, laying fiber optic cables and other capital expenditures. Turlov is quite excited when he talks about this business line. He believes that the quality of internet connection in Almaty would be improved dramatically if there were 4,000 base stations ($3,000 each), not less than 1,000 as it is now. The price tag of such a project would be about $10 million.

The new telecom operator is expected to strengthen the company’s digital financial ecosystem with the help of retail services such as fast and high-quality internet connection. Furthermore, due to low customer acquisition costs, the telecommunications company may become a new point of growth for the entire enterprise.

As of today, Freedom’s companies render services to more than 5 million clients, providing them with brokerage, banking and insurance services, as well as flight and event booking, and grocery delivery from an online supermarket, etc. The company also operates in the U.S., Europe and Central Asia, running more than one hundred offices in 19 countries.

Freedom’s shares have been traded on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FRHC since 2019.

Projects beyond business

In January 2024, a new online project called Qalam was presented in Kazakhstan. Its focus of interest is the history and culture of Kazakhstan and Central Asia as a whole. The project was initiated by the CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., who noticed a lack of good culturally specific entertainment content available in Kazakh and Russian languages. The new media outlet is expected to fill this gap, offering its readers a fresh perspective on the region’s past. Turlov isn’t doing this for public praise. “I am doing this because I can, and because it’s good for everyone…including me,” he explained.

It's worth noting that Freedom is one of the most socially responsible companies in Kazakhstan. News about the company participating in social projects comes out almost every month. In March, the media reported that Freedom would build a new education building at SDU University. In April, it supported a project aimed at the Aral Sea ecosystem restoration by planting saksaul trees. Recently, the company allocated $2.2 billion as a relief for those who were hit by the spring floods in several regions of the country. Moreover, Turlov has served as the president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation since 2023. Under his leadership, Kazakhstan hosted the FIDE World Chess Championship for the first time in its history.

The financier wants to make the world around him a better place by creating as many social elevators as possible. He believes that this is the true meaning of corporate social responsibility. “I am going to live my life in a way where I would be able to say, 'I’ve done everything possible to make my country a better place.' I also hope that my company will introduce some new practices in the area of financial ecosystems, lending facilities, or any other standards. Bank of America did something like this by creating a plastic card and now it is our turn to build a great legacy,” said the CEO of Freedom Holding Corp.