Stroganov family
It was Hovhannes who moved the family's operations from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. He was the intermediary between Count Grigory Orlov and Shaffrass, a Persian millionaire (and supposedly his wife's uncle), in the purchase of the Great Mogul Diamond, which came to be known as the Orlov Diamond. His great wealth allowed him to buy from the Stroganov family some important steel works and 115 000 hectares of land in the Northern Urals, where he also set up several new mills. At the time of his death he owned more than 16 000 male serfs.