Tamir Sapir

Tamir Sapir
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An immigrant from the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Tamir Sapir (birth name Temur Sepiashvili) arrived in the United States in 1973, becoming a taxicab driver in New York City. Saving up to buy an electronics store, he catered primarily to Russian clientele. Eventually he made contacts with the Soviet contingent to the United Nations in New York, and traded electronics for oil contracts, which he then sold to American companies. Investing the profits in Manhattan real estate, he became a billionaire by 2002, less than thirty years after his humble beginnings in New York.[1] Sapir is often referred to as America's "billionaire cabbie."

[edit] References
$40 Million Man Forbes.com Real Estate News article, January 12, 2006
#410 Tamir Sapir The World's Richest People, Forbes Magazine
Cabbie buys a Duke-dom New York Daily News, January 10, 2006
"It's not easy being a billionaire." January 10, 2006
Timur Sapir. The Long Road to Wealth May 2006 interview by NewTimes.ru