Timur Turlov is best known as the founder of Freedom Finance and the chief executive of Freedom Holding Corp. His election as president of the International Chess Federation in September 2026 gave him a second high-profile responsibility: helping set the direction of chess worldwide.
For Turlov, chess was already more than a sponsorship opportunity. He had led the Kazakhstan Chess Federation since 2023, supported international tournaments and helped establish an organization dedicated to chess in schools. His new position gives him a chance to apply those interests across FIDE’s member federations. It also puts his decisions under closer scrutiny.
The path from finance to chess
Turlov was born in 1987 and began working in financial markets at a young age. After gaining experience in trading and brokerage, he founded Freedom Finance in 2008. The company developed services for people seeking access to international stock markets and expanded its presence in Kazakhstan. Its businesses were later consolidated under Freedom Holding Corp., which was listed on Nasdaq in 2019.
Freedom Holding is now a wider financial and digital services group. Its operations include brokerage, banking and insurance, alongside payments and other consumer services. For the year ended March 31, 2026, it reported $2.19 billion in revenue and $153.3 million in net income. Those figures show the size of the business Turlov leads; they do not represent his personal income.
Born in Russia, Timur Turlov renounced Russian citizenship in 2022 and became a Kazakh citizen. Freedom Holding completed the divestiture of its Russian business units the following year. Kazakhstan is now the base for much of the group’s activity and for Turlov’s work in chess.
A new role at FIDE
The FIDE presidential election was held on September 26, 2026, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Turlov faced two other candidates and won in a second round of voting, defeating Wadim Rosenstein 110 to 85. At 38, he became FIDE’s eighth president.
His campaign pointed to practical areas for change: more support for smaller national federations, greater use of digital services, chess education and stronger measures against cheating. Each aim presents a different challenge. Online tools need funding and adoption, education programs depend on local partners, and fair-play measures must earn the confidence of players and organizers.
Turlov also enters office amid debate over Russia’s place in international chess. Before the vote, he said FIDE should follow the relevant Court of Arbitration for Sport rulings that restrict Russian team participation. How his administration handles that issue will be closely watched.
Questions that remain
Turlov’s business record includes rapid growth, but it also includes unresolved regulatory scrutiny. Freedom Holding disclosed that it and Turlov received Wells notices from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff in March 2026. The notices arose from an investigation covering matters including trading practices, accounting, disclosures and internal controls. They are preliminary steps toward possible enforcement action, not findings of wrongdoing. Freedom says it and Turlov have challenged the staff’s preliminary determination.
As FIDE president, Turlov will be measured less by the scale of his business than by what chess federations, organizers and players experience during his term. His election sets out an ambitious agenda. Delivering it across a global sport is the work that comes next.
