Lesin was born in
Moscow to a
Jewish family involved in military construction. He spent his childhood years in
Mongolia while his father, Yuri, worked on military construction projects. From 1982 to 1987, he worked in engineering at
Minpromstroy (Industrial construction ministry) in Moscow and in
Ulan Bator. In 1988, as head of the
Alexander Zavenovich Akopov () founded 1988 cooperative "Igrotekhnika" () which produced television shows, Lesin became aware of the items, obtained them, and with support from Yuri Zapol (), Akopov, and others he established Video International through Ingrotekhnika and
RTR (Russia Television and Radio which is often called Russia) () and obtained a studio in Spain to upgrade its video equipment and editing techniques after the horrible presentation in Russia of the
1992 Olympics in
Barcelona. In the early 1990s, Lesin established
Video International, which became a multibillion-dollar
advertising agency with exclusive advertising rights on
NTV and in 2015 was still one of Russia's largest agencies. In 1994, he left Video International. From 1993 to 1996, he was Head of Commercial Department, Deputy General Director and General Director of
RIA Novosti. It was counter to the Western approach, which would have ended state owned media by promoting a free press that is not state owned and operated. In an agreement for the charges to be dropped, Gusinsky's immense private media holdings, "Media Most", were to be transferred to
Gazprom-Media, which, at the time, had recently acquired
NTV, the only nationwide state-independent television in Russia and a highly critical opponent of the
War in Chechnya, the Kremlin's handling of the
Kursk incident, Vladimir Putin, and the Unity bloc. Gusinsky subsequently was brought under arrest as a fugitive from Russia and while incarcerated refused to agree to the terms for the transfer. However, in 2001 with Lesin acting as mediator, "Media Most" assets were transferred to Gazprom-Media under the terms of Protocol No. 6, which allowed
oligarchs to escape prosecution and be given the freedom to leave the country if they turned over their assets to the state. In the 2002
Telegrand (), the Expert Council of the National Research Center of Television and Radio named Lesin as "the most influential person of Russian television and radio". From 2010 to 2011, Lesin was on the board of directors for National Telecommunications (NTC), which at the time belonged to the
National Media Group. Lesin's old friend Alexander Shapiro, a former vice president of
Warner Bros., is a co-producer with Anton in several films. In April 2014, he became chairman of the
Russian Association of Film and Television Producers. He resigned from Gazprom-Media in December 2014, citing family reasons. After retiring, he spent several months in Switzerland for treatments to a spinal injury that he received while skiing and then returned to his home in California. ==Corruption allegations==