Len Blavatnik rakes in $7 billion from Lyondell Play Len Blavatnik and Alan Faena at a beach party in Florida. IT'S the stuff financial dreams are made of. Len Blavatnik, a Ukrainian born billionaire, has international markets abuzz with a legendary deal known as the "Lyondell Play" that has raked in more than $7.5 billion in a few short years. It began in 2005, when 56-year-old Blavatnik - who has a $17.8 billion dollar portfolio including investments in fashion, oil and music - decided to get into the chemical industry, the Independent reports. He bought Dutch chemical producer Basell for $5 billion, using $1.1 billion of his own money and borrowing the rest, in a plan to buy up other firms and merge them into a chemical giant. In 2007 he borrowed more money to buy another chemical company, US-based Lyondell, for a whopping $20 billion - a price that was regarded as 'suicidally high' at the time. Within a year the financial crisis had hit and the merged companies, now known as LyondellBasell, filed for bankruptcy with Blavatnik at least $1.2 billion in the whole. But here's the genius part. As the share price tanked, Blavatnik spent another $1.8 billion buying shares while others cut their losses and ran. The company has since recovered and he has raked in more than $7 billion through the improved share price and dividends, according to the Independent . Blavatnik said he was "gratified" by the results and his belief in the company had never wavered. We'll be watching his next investment closely.