Text 5. Summarise in 10-12 sentences.

Sergei Yurievitch Polonsky (born 1 December 1972) is a Russian businessman. Owner and head of one of the largest real estate companies Mirax Group (2004–2011). He was one of the richest men in Russia before the late-2000s financial crisis.

In 2000, he set up the Moscow office of Stroymontazh, which was renamed as Mirax Group in 2004. In 2000, Polonsky graduated from the St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. He qualified as an economist and manager with a specialization in Economics and Management of Building Enterprises. In 2002, he defended his Ph.D. thesis on Formation of Functional Procurement Strategies in Construction.

In March 2008, Polonsky refused to defend his doctorate thesis in the State Commission for Academic Degrees and Titles and organized a public defense in his blog. Polonsky arranges regular master classes for university students (MSU, MGIMO others), the most popular topics of his master classes and lectures are enterprising, personal development and success strategies in business.

In 2004 Sergey Polonskiy prepared for a spaceflight to the International Space Station, completing a full cosmonaut training course, but the flight did not take place; because of his height there was not enough room for his legs under the console, which could have led to injury as the spacecraft landed.

In summer 2008, Polonsky officially banned the use of faxes in the company and backed the ban by a demonstrative destruction of a fax with the following comment: “I don’t want people in my company to use outdated technologies. All faxes in MIRAX have been dumped. It does not affect the working efficiency, but, on the contrary, brings it up.”

On 10 October 2008, Sergey Polonsky announced that he would eat his tie if the elite apartments’ prices did not rise by over 25% in 1.5 years. The forecast came true with a half a year delay, and on 31 May 2011 Polonsky ate a piece of a true tie at Minaev LIVE, a TV-show hosted by Sergey Minaev.

In March 2010, Sergey Polonsky threw a few company board members’ mobile phones against the wall at the Board of Directors meeting, thus putting an end to the corporate habit of using phones and other gadgets at business meetings. Exception could be made only for answering a call worth a million dollars to the company.

In spring 2011, the company management announced that a candidate to be employed, among other things, must have a Facebook account with not less than 20 friend links. The same applies to the company staff. According to Polonsky, having a Facebook account, regardless of the position in the company, encourages intellectual development, helps social adaptation in virtual environment, gives confidence when searching for information on the Internet, boosts mental performance and expands cognitive horizons....

In October 2011, Sergei Polonsky was noted by the Forbes magazine as one of the 9 most unusual Russian businessmen - fantastical fellows, cranks and eccentrics.