Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev (Russian: Алекса́ндр Евге́ньевич Ле́бедев, IPA: ; born 16 December 1959) is a Russian businessman, referred to as one of the Russian oligarchs.
In early 2008, he was one of the golden 100 top Russian billionaires listed as the 39th richest Russian worth an estimated US$3.1 billion by Forbes magazine, but by October 2008 he was worth only $300 million. In March 2012, he was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the richest Russians with an estimated fortune of US$1.1 billion. His fortune has since declined, and he is no longer considered to be a billionaire. He is part owner of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and owner of two UK newspapers with son Evgeny Lebedev: the Evening Standard and The Independent.
Alexander Lebedev was born in Moscow. His parents were part of the Moscow intelligentsia. His father, Yevgeny Nikolaevich Lebedev, was an elite athlete–a member of the Soviet national water polo team, and later a professor at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow's highest technical school. After graduating from Moscow Pedagogic Institute, Alexander's mother, Maria Sergeyevna, worked in a rural Sakhalin school and later taught English in a Moscow tertiary school.