# Evgeny Lebedev (Евгений Александрович Лебедев)
**Evgeny Alexandrovich Lebedev** (Евгений Александрович Лебедев; Ukrainian rendering Євген Лєбедєв) is a British-Russian newspaper proprietor and life peer who, with his father [Alexander Lebedev](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexander-lebedev), co-owns the London *Evening Standard* and a stake in *The Independent* through Lebedev Holdings Ltd, and who sits in the [House of Lords](https://www.edgepedia.org/house-of-lords) as Baron Lebedev.[1](https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-55063981) • [2](https://peerages.historyofparliamentonline.org/people/2554) He became the first Russian-born member of the House of Lords when he was introduced on 19 November 2020.[3](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a35417152/evgeny-lebedev-russian-lord/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full title | Baron Lebedev, of Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and of Siberia in the Russian Federation; life peer created 2020[4](https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-281607) |
| House of Lords | Member from 19 November 2020 (letters patent of that date)[5](https://members.parliament.uk/member/4900/career) • [2](https://peerages.historyofparliamentonline.org/people/2554) |
| Newspaper holdings | Co-owner with his father of Lebedev Holdings Ltd, covering the *Evening Standard* and *The Independent*[1](https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-55063981) |
| Independent shareholding | Lebedev 41 per cent, Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel 30 per cent (bought 2017), Justin Byam Shaw 26 per cent[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html) |
| Financial record | The Lebedevs' newspaper companies lost more than £150m over 11 years; the *Standard* lost £84.5mn in six years before ending daily print in May 2024[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html) • [7](https://www.ft.com/content/c2872cf7-f887-44a7-8e57-bb66020c0b04) |
| Other ventures | Co-owner of the London restaurant Sake no Hana and the boutique hotel Palazzo Terra Nova in Italy[1](https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-55063981) |
| Citizenship | Dual British and Russian citizenship[7](https://www.ft.com/content/c2872cf7-f887-44a7-8e57-bb66020c0b04) |
## Early life, family, and identity
Lebedev is the elder son of Alexander Lebedev (Олександр Лєбедєв in the Ukrainian-language BBC's rendering), a Russian businessman and former KGB agent who bought the *Evening Standard* and later the *Independent* titles.[1](https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-55063981) • [6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html) The elder Lebedev was listed by Forbes in 2008 as worth $3bn, largely from shares in Russian state businesses, and co-owns the Russian newspaper *Novaya Gazeta*.[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html) • [8](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/01/style/the-rise-of-evgeny-lebedev.html)
By 2015 the younger Lebedev had lived in London for two-thirds of his life and held British citizenship; he also retains Russian citizenship.[8](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/01/style/the-rise-of-evgeny-lebedev.html) • [7](https://www.ft.com/content/c2872cf7-f887-44a7-8e57-bb66020c0b04) In 2007 he bought the Stud House at Hampton Court.[8](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/01/style/the-rise-of-evgeny-lebedev.html)
## Ownership of the Evening Standard and The Independent
In 2009 Alexander Lebedev bought a controlling stake in London's *Evening Standard*; within a year he had also bought *The Independent* and the *Independent on Sunday*. Evgeny became a director at 29.[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html) By 2013, aged 33, he was chairman of Evening Standard Ltd and of Independent Print Ltd, and the family had poured £86m into their UK papers over the previous four years.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/sep/01/evgeny-lebedev-mediaguardian-100-2013) Father and son co-own the holding company Lebedev Holdings Ltd.[1](https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-55063981)
The *Independent* is not wholly owned by the Lebedevs. Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel, a Saudi investor, bought a 30 per cent share in 2017; Lebedev holds 41 per cent and Justin Byam Shaw 26 per cent.[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html) Abuljadayel's 30 per cent stake in the *Standard* was cited by Lebedev as a primary factor in the decision to end its daily print edition.[7](https://www.ft.com/content/c2872cf7-f887-44a7-8e57-bb66020c0b04)
## The Independent: from print closure to digital growth
*The Independent* had a circulation of 400,000 before the Lebedev purchase; by the time the family bought it, circulation had fallen to 185,000, and print readership fell a further 70 per cent in the following six years.[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html) In 2016, after years of losses, the Lebedevs closed the print editions, ending 314 editorial jobs and continuing the title in digital form only.[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html)
The digital model was profitable in 2021. In 2021 the *Independent* made a £4m profit on £41m of revenue and employed nearly 250 journalists.[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html) In early 2023 Lebedev appointed Geordie Greig, former editor of the *Daily Mail*, as the *Independent*'s editor-in-chief.[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html)
## The Evening Standard: decline and end of daily print
The *Evening Standard*'s revenue fell 60 per cent between 2016 and early 2023. [George Osborne](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-osborne)'s editorship, from 2017 to 2020, oversaw losses of £37m in three years.[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html) Across the two *Independent* companies and Evening Standard Limited, losses exceeded £150m over 11 years.[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html)
In 2024 the *Standard* announced it would stop printing daily and lay off staff, having lost £84.5mn in six years. Lebedev described the decision as primarily the shareholders' and said he "really should have done it four years ago"; he planned a new weekly print product to follow.[7](https://www.ft.com/content/c2872cf7-f887-44a7-8e57-bb66020c0b04)
## House of Lords peerage and vetting controversy
In July 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson nominated Lebedev for a life peerage.[1](https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-55063981) [Letters patent](https://www.edgepedia.org/letters-patent) were issued on 19 November 2020, creating him Baron Lebedev, of Hampton in the [London Borough of Richmond upon Thames](https://www.edgepedia.org/london-borough-of-richmond-upon-thames) and of Siberia in the Russian Federation, in the [Peerage of the United Kingdom](https://www.edgepedia.org/peerage-of-the-united-kingdom).[2](https://peerages.historyofparliamentonline.org/people/2554) • [4](https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-281607) He has been a member of the House of Lords since that date.[5](https://members.parliament.uk/member/4900/career)
The appointment was contested. According to reporting cited by the *New Statesman* and *Town & Country*, the House of Lords Appointments Commission asked the prime minister to reconsider after a confidential briefing from the UK security services viewed Lebedev as a security risk because of his father's links to Moscow; Johnson reportedly pushed back against the commission's initial advice, and a [Downing Street](https://www.edgepedia.org/downing-street) spokesman defended the appointment by citing Lebedev's "outstanding contribution to the UK".[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html) • [3](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a35417152/evgeny-lebedev-russian-lord/) [After Russia](https://www.edgepedia.org/after-russia)'s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, scrutiny intensified when it emerged that Johnson had insisted on the peerage despite the initial, later withdrawn, doubts of the security services.[7](https://www.ft.com/content/c2872cf7-f887-44a7-8e57-bb66020c0b04)
Lebedev rejected the security-risk characterization and the cronyism accusations, describing himself as proud to be the first Russian-born member of the Lords.[3](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a35417152/evgeny-lebedev-russian-lord/) By early 2023 he had appeared in the Lords chamber on four occasions since his peerage.[6](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html)
## What has changed since 2023
Two structural changes followed. The *Evening Standard* ended its daily print edition in May 2024, with a weekly print product planned.[7](https://www.ft.com/content/c2872cf7-f887-44a7-8e57-bb66020c0b04) On 20 January 2026 the *Financial Times* reported that the media group co-owned by Lebedev planned for the *Independent* to take over operations of the *Standard* while retaining the print product, describing the move as intended to "future-proof" the business.[10](https://www.ft.com/stream/dc9d2514-3198-4b88-875a-cb1c74cb6313)
## Public profile and other ventures
Beyond newspapers, Lebedev is co-owner of the London Japanese restaurant Sake no Hana and of the boutique hotel Palazzo Terra Nova in Italy.[1](https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-55063981) At the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, he used the *Evening Standard* to publish an open letter pleading with President Vladimir Putin to end the war; Reuters described him as "the ennobled British-Russian media boss and son of a former KGB spy".[11](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-british-businessman-lebedev-pleads-with-putin-end-ukraine-war-2022-02-28/)
## References
1. [Королева дала титул "барона Сибіру" сину російського олігарха, BBC News Україна](https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-55063981)
2. [Peerages: Evgeny Alexandrovich Lebedev, History of Parliament Online](https://peerages.historyofparliamentonline.org/people/2554)
3. [The Social Rise of Russian Scion Evgeny Lebedev, Town & Country](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a35417152/evgeny-lebedev-russian-lord/)
4. [Lebedev, Baron, Who's Who](https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-281607)
5. [Lord Lebedev, Parliamentary career, UK Parliament](https://members.parliament.uk/member/4900/career)
6. [What does Evgeny Lebedev want?, New Statesman, 8 February 2023](https://magazine.newstatesman.com/2023/02/08/what-does-evgeny-lebedev-want/content.html)
7. ['I was collateral damage' – an interview with Evgeny Lebedev, Financial Times](https://www.ft.com/content/c2872cf7-f887-44a7-8e57-bb66020c0b04)
8. [The Rise of Evgeny Lebedev, The New York Times, 2015](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/01/style/the-rise-of-evgeny-lebedev.html)
9. [64. Evgeny Lebedev, MediaGuardian 100 2013, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/sep/01/evgeny-lebedev-mediaguardian-100-2013)
10. [Evgeny Lebedev topic stream, Financial Times](https://www.ft.com/stream/dc9d2514-3198-4b88-875a-cb1c74cb6313)
11. [Russian-British businessman Lebedev pleads with Putin to end Ukraine war, Reuters, 28 February 2022](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-british-businessman-lebedev-pleads-with-putin-end-ukraine-war-2022-02-28/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Periodicals and publishing › Newspapers › Newspaper industry › Newspaper companies, chains, and press dynasties › Contemporary newspaper publishers and executives (people)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license