Andrey Yakunin was born in 1975 in St. Petersburg and spent his formative years (ages 9–16) in New York before returning to Russia for university. He holds a diploma in econometrics and a PhD in finance and credit from Saint Petersburg State University, where he also taught economics as an associate professor (a path taken by other investors such as Michael Dearing). He later completed the Executive MBA Global jointly delivered by London Business School and Columbia Business School — the latter chosen in part because of his early immersion in the United States, his familiarity with American business culture, and his long-standing comfort in New York.

Yakunin credits a formative internship under Sir Rocco Forte as critical in learning how to operate luxury hospitality. In 1999, he joined the finance department of the Pribaltiyskaya hotel. After working for nearly seven years transforming the post-Soviet hotel into a modern complex, the property was sold to Norway’s Wenaas Group for approximately $100 million in 2006. Yakunin, along with other senior managers, received a share of the investment profit, which he reinvested into VIY Management (VIYM). VIYM, a private equity and real estate fund, was co-founded by Andrey Yakunin in 2006 in the UK.

Among landmark projects, Yakunin led the decade-scale rescue and conversion of the Lion Palace into the first Four Seasons in Russia. Under Yakunin’s leadership VIYM grew and sold Regional Hotel Chain to Sistema and executed Radisson Blu Park Royal Palace Vienna, among other achievements in the interest of investors. Since 2016, he, along with his team, has led the development of the upscale countryside Antognolla estate featuring branded residences, a 71-key hotel, 2,700-square-metre wellness centre, and three-time award-winning 18-hole golf course. Upon completion both the resort and residences will be operated by IHG’s Six Senses.

Yakunin is an Arctic expedition sailor and has pledged related compensation to science and culture charities.

Business Dealings and Notable Investments

Yakunin’s investment practice is defined by control-oriented hospitality and mixed-use redevelopments where value can be created through re-planning, heritage preservation, brand conversion, and operational discipline. The core playbook — to acquire distressed or mis-positioned assets, carefully re-develop, re-design and re-flag, institutionalise operations, and exit — has been successfully executed repeatedly across jurisdictions and cycles.

Lion Palace → Four Seasons, Russia

A canonical deep-value case: a historic palace, 20+ years poorly maintained, missing interior fabric, presumed “unbankable”. Together with his team, Yakunin orchestrated the capital structure, heritage preservation, mindful reconstruction and operator alignment for its 2010s relaunch as Russia’s first Four Seasons hotel. The project reset the city’s luxury benchmark and demonstrated bankability of brownfield heritage risk under institutional stewardship.

Regional Platform Build-Ups Through Regional Hotel Chain: Marriott / Park Inn flags

Yakunin led distributed-market hotel growth across Russia, culminating in a 2016 sale to Sistema for, as per media reports, 6.6B Rubles. Parallel Alpine and Vienna transactions followed a similar pattern: acquire, brand, stabilise, exit — exemplified by Radisson Blu Park Royal Palace in Vienna.

Branded Residences & Cross-Utility Resorts

Yakunin pursued brand-anchored real estate to compress sales velocity and pricing risk — e.g., Gloriettes (Vienna), His flagship European commitment is Six Senses Antognolla (Umbria): a medieval estate acquired in 2016 with €150M invested to deliver a resort, spa, golf course and 77 branded villas under Six Senses. The concept is explicitly sustainability- and heritage-led, with PwC attributing material projected economic uplift and regional job creation to the scheme.

In the News

In his position as Chairman of Antognolla’s Board of Directors, Yakunin was featured in an April-2025 article in BusinessWire noting his confidence in the company’s newly appointed CEO Federico Ricci’s leadership to drive the development of Antognolla Resort and Residences. He emphasized strategic vision, with the aim to position Antognolla as a premier destination in the Mediterranean, reflecting his commitment to innovative hospitality and residential investments in line with evolving lifestyle trends.

Exploring the redevelopment of Antognolla, a feature on Umbria TV from September 2024, Andrey Yakunin discussed the scale and vision behind the transformation of the historic estate in Umbria. The report traces Antognolla’s centuries-old heritage from its medieval abbey and Byzantine-style frescoes to its later ownership by the Oddi, Guglielmi, and Agnelli families, before detailing how Yakunin revived a previously stalled luxury resort project after acquiring the property in 2014. He explained that Central Italy’s long-term potential in hospitality, combined with a timely personal introduction to the opportunity, motivated his investment. Yakunin highlighted the partnership with Six Senses, whose focus on wellness, nature, and sustainable design aligns with Umbria’s character. He emphasized the significant economic impact anticipated for the region, including job creation and integration into IHG’s global network.

In September 2023, Andrey Yakunin, appeared in an article in the Corriere Dell’Umbria speaking about the upcoming renovation of the Antognolla Golf in Perugia. The piece focuses on the property’s significant expansion and its ability to attract important events such as the Annual Antognolla’s Golf Tournament – Antognolla Open , which attracted 210 attendees, including 90 golfers. Throughout the article, not only does Yakunin discuss the facilities within the new complex but explains the potential impact on local tourism in the region.