Russian President Vladimir Putin might be the world’s wealthiest person on earth. Yes, he could be ahead of Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
The actual wealth of President Putin is not in public domain. Putin’s wealth is distributed across a secret web of company holdings, real estate, and other people’s accounts, so it’s tough to decipher the actual figures.
President Putin’s former advisor told media that Putin’s wealth could be between US$ 40 billion and US$ 200 billion, this could put him on top of the Forbes top 10 charts. The Russian leader is believed to have major stake in oil companies, Putin holds 37% stake in Russia’s largest oil firm Surgutneftegaz.
The President has major stake in a Gas company Gazprom – it made $93 billion in revenue in 2012.
These small investments can not make him the world’s wealthiest person. President would have a huge chain of companies through his proxies and associates.
What’s visible is Putin’s Palace in the Black Sea, it’s price tag is about US$1 billion. It has a private theatre and three landing pads for helicopters.
This isn’t the only Palace Putin own, there are 20 such other palaces like this. Putin has a collection of several US$ 400,000 watches.
Putin’s office has down played his wealth, most of the Russian’s are finding it tough to make ends meet and it’s leaders are living a high and mighty lifestyle.