Arie Zorin-Most Inspiring Global Finance Leaders 2025

My background is rooted in Odessa, a cosmopolitan port city shaped by international influences and a strong musical heritage. Violins and pianos filled our home, yet what influenced me most were the people who surrounded my parents. Many of their friends, like themselves, were international musicians of exceptional calibre—disciplined, exacting, and quietly authoritative. Watching them rehearse, perform, and interact, I understood early on that leadership does not begin with position or power. It begins with mastery. When excellence is consistent and visible, authority follows naturally.

Because my parents travelled and migrated extensively, by the age of thirteen, I had already lived in seven cities across four countries. As the eldest son, this constant movement shaped me deeply. It fostered independence and adaptability, but it also sharpened my awareness of group dynamics. I learnt to read people quickly, to understand how influence forms within a group. Very early, I came to believe that leadership is largely innate. Talent cannot thrive without hard work. You can recognise it at school, among friends, or on a football field. Some individuals set the tone effortlessly—not through dominance, but through presence, credibility, and example.

I played several instruments as a child, yet at the age of 9, I decided not to pursue music professionally. Growing up immersed in art paradoxically pushed me to step outside that world and carve my own path, while remaining faithful to the values I had inherited. That decision helped me develop a sense of singularity and comfort with being an outsider. I have always believed that difference, when combined with discipline, becomes a strength rather than a limitation.

During adolescence, my ambitions evolved constantly. I imagined myself as a journalist, then as a diplomat and even an entrepreneur. In my early twenties,  I spent a year and a half at the French Embassy in Moscow, working closely with the French Ambassador. Each experience added perspective, but none felt fully aligned. That clarity came later through the study of law in France and England and my admission to the Paris Bar. For twenty years, I practised as a transactional lawyer, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, investments, and complex negotiations with major international law firms such as Gide, Ashurst, and Herbert Smith. In 2005, I founded Zorinlaw International in Paris, reflecting my entrepreneurial instinct. Law gave me rigour and structure, yet I was always drawn to creative solutions and the human dimension behind transactions.

My transition into private banking came after I had gained maturity. Starting with no clients, leadership initially meant earning trust one conversation at a time. As the business grew, it became about building teams, delegating responsibility, and inspiring rather than controlling. Looking back, my shift from music to law and finance feels less like a career decision than a continuation of a deeper legacy. My great-great-grandfather was a first-guild merchant in Odessa, authorised for large-scale international trade. Today, leading in Dubai, I feel that same continuity—between a city that once connected worlds and a hub shaping the future of global finance.