Alexey was born into a fairly average household on Exalos. His parents worked for the New Amendment Union and when he got old enough so did he. Instead of becoming an employee, his aptitude for organization made him a perfect candidate for supervisor. Once in that role he excelled and had the ear of his local manager.
Only a few years into his supervisor job he proposed something new to his manager: start a mining operation in a nearby system: Echenor. Impressed with his plan, the manager brought the project forward to the stakeholders who approved it. Alexey left Aias with a small work force and built the Alexey Tolstoy Project. Barely a year later he started selling the majority of the mined gas to outside manufacturers while supplying the New Amendment Union with enough product for them not to become suspicious.