SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Less than $3 per week
Vladimir Putin earns a modest annual salary of $140,000, according to official Kremlin documents.
The Russian president reportedly lives the life of a “humble statesman,” and his declared assets are an “800-square-foot apartment, a trailer and three cars,” Fortune said.
But some experts believe the 72-year-old is one of the wealthiest people on earth, with potentially billions in undisclosed income and assets.
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts, news, as well as research from multiple angles.
Vladimir Putin and the “little kings”
Vladimir Putin’s secret children
The men who could succeed Vladimir Putin
Putin is “often seen sporting high-end luxury watches that are retailed for multiple times his supposed annual income”, said Fortune, and he is rumoured to be the owner of multiple homes and hundreds of cars, as well as dozens of aircraft and helicopters.
His “lavish lifestyle has been highlighted,” the British Foreign Office said in May 2022 following the outbreak of the war with Ukraine and the announcement of new sanctions against Russia. The branch said reports had revealed links to a £566 million yacht and the so-called “‘Putin’s Palace’ valued at £1 billion, officially owned by a close associate, Arkady Rotenberg. “
Where Putin’s wealth has come from publicly remains somewhat of a mystery. One theory is that he has “strongarmed Russia’s oligarchs” into handing over cash and shares in companies, “threatening them with arrest or worse” should they refuse, said CNN.
Another is the “mafia model”, said Forbes, in which Putin helps friends and family members “become rich by awarding them government contracts or ownership in businesses” and in return receives “kickbacks”.
It is also noted that Putin may have “little money” but “likes others to think he has it. ” The “appearance of having” is sufficient and the “power that would otherwise bestow” is available. through his unassailable position in the state, meaning Putin would likely not “need private wealth. “
Tracking Putin’s wealth is “probably the most elusive puzzle in the pursuit of wealth,” reported Forbes, which says it has been grappling with the Putin mystery for “20 years. “
Putin’s Russia has been described by Transparency International as a kleptocracy – or “one of thieves”.
When the UK announced it would personally sanction Putin following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, then-foreign secretary Liz Truss said the Russian president’s lifestyle was “funded through a cabal of family, friends and elites” and that their “reward is influence. “. . . on the affairs of the Russian state, which goes far beyond its formal positions. “
In a rare insight into the personal finances of those around him, the 2016 Panama Papers revealed a network of secret offshore deals and loans worth $2 billion that targeted Putin.
“Although the president’s call does not appear in any of the documents, the knowledge shows a trend,” The Guardian said. “His friends have made millions from deals that couldn’t have been made without his support. “
Given that “Russia’s richest people added $72 billion to their fortunes” in the year ending April, the punitive sanctions are unlikely to have had much effect on Putin’s private assets, Reuters said.
The country’s “war-focused economic growth” has “stifled the impact of Western sanctions”. However in the long-term that economic bounce is “masking problems” related to Russian living standards.
Effective sanctions have long been a challenge for the West, because “the formula that built Putin’s wealth has also thwarted American and European efforts to punish him,” USA Today reported in 2022. “Each sanctions circular raises new questions about “If these efforts can be effective, the type that considers the wealth of an entire country its own. “
Richard Windsor is a freelance editor for The Week Digital. He began his journalism career writing about politics and games while reading at the University of Southampton. He then worked in football publications before specialising in cycling for almost nine years, covering primary races including the Tour de France and interviewing some of the sport’s most productive cyclists. He ran Cycling Weekly’s virtual platforms as editor for seven of those years, helping to build the publication into the UK’s largest cycling website. He now works as an editor, editor and freelance consultant.