Richest Man In The World? How Much Is Putin REALLY Worth?
People have speculated for a long time about the wealth of Vladimir Putin.
Just how much money does he have? Is he really the richest man in the world and not Jeff Bezos?
Fox Business reported,
The Russian president, who is notoriously private, is also secretive about his net worth. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the reigning richest man in the world with a net worth of around $131 billion. However, former Hermitage Capital Management CEO Bill Browder, an opponent of Putin, estimated the Russian leader’s net worth at $200 billion.
“I estimate that [Putin] has accumulated $200 billion of ill-gotten gains,” Browder told the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017.
Broder estimates $200 billion? That would definitely put Putin at the top of the list for richest man in the world.
But is it accurate?
Celebritynetworth.com has a more conservative estimate of around $70 billion, well short of the richest man in the world title. According to the website, “Official disclosures list Putin’s annual Presidential salary at $187,000 (5.8 million rubles). Putin also claims to have a relatively meager net worth consisting of $180,000 in a savings account, a few Russian-made automobiles and a 16,000 square foot plot of land in the Moscow suburbs. Putin’s wife Lyudmila controls bank accounts totaling $260,000. In total, they claim their net worth totals less than $500,000.”
The more likely answer to this question is, we just really don’t know.
Putin must remain low-key about his massive fortune. This is because it has all been obtained illegally by stripping wealth and resources from Russian businesses, according to Åslund, who published a summary of his findings on the Atlantic Council blog.
“Naturally, Putin and his cronies cannot enjoy their wealth. It is all about power,” the economist wrote on the think tank’s site. “If they are not the wealthiest, they fear they will lose power.” (Inquisitr)
Putin is very secretive about his wealth though he may appear to be transparent about it at times.
He has often been spotted wearing very expensive jewelry; we’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars.