In 1990 he graduated from MIREA (now Russian Technological University MIREA) as a radio engineer.

After working on distribution at the Research Institute, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his father, a staff officer, and entered the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. Military service was not to his liking, and in 1992 he began his entrepreneurial career after leaving the Academy.

Talent, focus on results and ability to allocate resources competently were revealed in commercial activities. Already in 1993 Khlestov became one of the founders of the ATM-B firm, which later became a part of the founders of the Moscow Stock Exchange.

In 1995, he became a pioneer in the direction of Dietary Products in our country, having founded the company Dia Food. Having found the business of his life and becoming an expert in the field of healthy eating, in 1996 he founded DIADAR, which laid the foundation for the development of production and trade Group of Companies DIADAR, which currently holds a leading position in the market of healthy, healthy and sports nutrition.