Who is Umar Kremlev, the Russian oligarch who reportedly helped pay for Donald Trump Jr’s wedding?

Umar Kremlev: Russian Business Executive Named in Reports on Funding for Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding

Umar Kremlev, a Russian business executive referenced in media reports about financial support for Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding in the Bahamas, has operated in Russian business and sports circles with connections to government figures. Born in 1982 in Serpukhov, an industrial town roughly 60 miles south of Moscow, Kremlev has stated that he participated in boxing until age 19 without turning professional.

Court records show convictions for extortion in 2004 and assault in 2007. In the mid-2010s he worked as a boxing promoter through an organization called Patriot, which included former American world champion Roy Jones Jr. on its roster; Jones later received Russian citizenship. Kremlev changed his surname from Lutfulloyev to Kremlev during this period.

Kremlev attended events organized by the Night Wolves, a biker club whose leaders maintain documented ties to Russian government officials, according to reporting by the investigative outlet Proekt. At one such event he met Alexei Rubezhny, a major general in Russia’s federal protective service. Proekt reported that Kremlev is married to Rubezhny’s sister. Rubezhny served on the supervisory board of the Russian Boxing Federation after Kremlev became its secretary general in 2017. Igor Sechin, chief executive of the state oil company Rosneft, has also served on that board.

In 2020 Kremlev was elected president of the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur, later renamed the International Boxing Association. The International Olympic Committee withdrew recognition from the organization in 2023, citing concerns over governance, finances, and refereeing. Kremlev has continued to hold IBA events in countries whose federations maintain affiliation with the body and has stated that the organization provides financial support and constructs boxing facilities. The IBA reinstated Russian and Belarusian boxers to compete under their national flags and anthems; Kremlev has publicly opposed restrictions on Russian athletes in international competitions.

Kremlev is reported to hold interests in three major Russian betting companies and benefited from regulatory changes in the gambling sector, according to two people familiar with the matter. In 2024 he acquired Rolf, Russia’s largest car dealership group, following its nationalization and seizure from founder Sergei Petrov, who had left the country and criticized the government. Kremlev joined a business delegation that accompanied President Vladimir Putin to China before traveling to the Bahamas.

In a 2024 video interview Kremlev stated that opportunities to earn money and expand business activities exist “thanks to one person… our president, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.” Reports that Kremlev contributed to costs associated with Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding have appeared in several outlets; those reports have not been independently verified by court documents or official statements from the parties involved.