KING OF THE (UNDER)WORLD

In 1996—long before he criticized Vladimir Putin, fled to London and died by apparent suicide in 2013— Boris Berezovsky may have been the most powerful person in Russia. Forbes Russia editor Paul Klebnikov shed light on Berezovsky’s ties to corruption and crime in a groundbreaking story that led Berezovsky to sue Forbes for libel in London, a case that dragged out for six years before it was eventually settled.

In this violent world Boris Berezovsky looms like a giant shadow. Berezovsky recently claimed that he and six other top businessmen control 50% of the Russian economy. He is certainly one of the country’s first dollar billionaires. His base is Logovaz, Russia’s largest car dealership, but this is only the most visible tip of a golden iceberg. In a recent interview with Forbes, Berezovsky said: “Russia is undergoing a redistribution of property on a scale unprecedented in history. No one is satisfied— neither those who got nothing, nor those who got something, since even they feel they did not get enough.” —Forbes, December 30, 1996