Richest man

Chapter 10 Europe: Khodorkovsky (2)
——In 1998, the Russian financial crisis broke out, and many banks failed, and Menatep was not immune.Huo quickly transferred Menatep's high-quality assets to other financial institutions under his control, and the administrator appointed by the bankruptcy court was unable to obtain Menatep's complete financial status at this time-this is partly because all A truck with financial documents mysteriously falls into the Volga.Huo then persuaded the banks that lent him money to accept his proposed three-year repayment plan, secured by Yukos' oil exports rather than shares.The largest creditors, Daiwa Bank and Western Commercial Bank, refused to accept the plan, and turned their mortgages into 29% of Yukos shares, which greatly shook Huo's control over Yukos.Unexpectedly, after the negotiations between the two parties completely broke down in the summer of 1999, the two banks sold their Yukos shares in the market, and the proceeds were only half of the original loan.

…………

Despite having billions of dollars in property, Khodorkovsky's series of illegal practices have ruined his image. Western media even described him as Russia's "robber baron".

All of this seems to belong to history. In 2000, Khodorkovsky completed a change of image in a short period of time, becoming the most upright and even kindest man in today's oligarchs.

Explaining his own transformation, he cited Rockefeller as an example. He said: "He was not the most innocent person, his son was better, and his grandson was a perfect upright person. It took 100 years, It took me a few years to do it." Maybe no one will know why he has such a major change, but it is largely related to Putin's appointment and the restoration of law and order in a chaotic Russia.

——In June 2000, the Yukos board of directors voted and passed the resolution of "good corporate governance". Among the 6 directors, 11 are overseas experts.Yukos has started to report its past earnings in accordance with US GAAP and pay dividends to shareholders: an anomaly among Russian companies.Huo's also compensated depositors who suffered losses during Menatep's bankruptcy.He even preached to other oligarchs about the importance of "responsibility" and "transparency".Yukos, which was known for violating the rights and interests of minority shareholders in the past, has suddenly become a model of transparent corporate governance among large Russian companies.

——In 2001, Khodorkovsky announced to the outside world that Yukos would become Russia's first real multinational company.Huoshi began to introduce "airborne troops", including chief financial officer Bruce Misamo who jumped over from the US Pennz Energy oil company.This move was praised by a large number of Western media.

——In the same year, Khodorkovsky imitated Soros' "Open Society" fund and established the "Open Russia" fund.Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and British philanthropist Sir Rothschild are both members of the board.

——Since 2000, Khodorkovsky took the initiative to communicate with the editors-in-chief of famous newspapers such as "New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal". He made frequent donations, and his recipients include American think tanks and the Library of Congress.In 2002, Laura Bush's favorite "National Book Festival" project also received a donation of 10 US dollars from Huoshi.

The change is all-round, and the handsome and charming Khodorkovsky is even refreshing in appearance-he replaced the Soviet-style glasses he used to wear with the rimless glasses respected by Westerners.

Khodorkovsky seems to be trying to make his image more acceptable through Western society. After these efforts, he was received by US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney, and had a meeting with the Bushes. Group photo.In his office, there are photos of him with dignitaries from various countries. In July 2002, he met with the U.S. Secretary of Energy to discuss U.S. energy policy. When former U.S. President Bush Sr. visited Russia in September of that year, he attended a banquet hosted by Huo Shi and gave a speech.

In addition to these dazzling political rather than economic star glory, Khodorkovsky's wealth has also begun to grow wildly, and Yukos' market value has risen from US$3.5 million that year to US$2002 billion in 200.Khodorkovsky told the media that he holds a 36.3% stake in Yukos.He became the first of all Russian oligarchs to officially disclose his wealth.

"Yes, I have changed a lot now, but people change with time, and they mature from it." Khodorkovsky said to others.In addition to the sudden change in corporate behavior, the many living habits and hobbies revealed by Khodorkovsky have increasingly made people wonder whether he is a Russian oligarch: he also watches action movies, reads science fiction, dances disco, and usually wears He wears a suit without a tie, and wears an ordinary watch with a plastic strap. His biggest hobby is collecting wallets and folders.

How Khodorkovsky went from a suave, well-connected, apolitical tycoon to an outspoken "democracy fighter" seems a mystery, not even to himself.While some other oligarchs are keen on the traditional pastimes of the rich, such as making friends with international celebrities or showing off their wealth, Khodorkovsky chose differently. He lived a very modest life. He took his family to Finland Vacationing, the house you live in is not much different from the house most upper-middle-class people live in.He believed that inherited wealth corrupted the soul.He told the media that he plans to leave about $100 million to each of his four children.He sees his second vocation as returning the wealth he has earned to Russia.

Khodorkovsky's wealth is no longer a mystery, but he began to make people wonder.

Original sin that cannot be washed away or an economic czar who crossed the line
Life can be divided into two parts, but the origin of wealth will always be investigated.

Perhaps recognizing this, as early as 2000, Khodorkovsky began to publish a distinctive concept of wealth, which he believed to be "nominal": If Russia's political and economic climate continues to improve , the value of Yukos right now is underestimated; if it goes bad, the value of wealth means nothing.

It is a pity that while Khodorkovsky continued to downplay the influence of wealth on individuals, he began to rely on wealth to move to another field. In 2001, Khodorkovsky said: "I know how to end my business career, I will build the best company in Russia and internationalize it." His timetable is: 2007 On its 45th birthday, Yukos became truly international and stepped down from its post.

The announcement of this timetable seems to be the beginning of a nightmare. Observers analyzed that this timetable of Khodorkovsky shows that he will enter another field: by 2008, according to the Russian Constitution, Putin, who has been re-elected for two terms The president must leave office.

The speculation is well-founded, and a series of interesting phenomena are the foreshadowing of his desire to leave the economy and turn to politics.

As early as 2001, he told the media: "Making money doesn't mean anything, building a society is meaningful." Grubovich, the financial director of Yukos, who has been with Huo for 15 years, said: " Khodorkovsky's broad imagination does not allow him to be just a businessman, and his firm will, strategic thinking, and management talent all make his transition to the political field inevitable."

In addition, Khodorkovsky, who started his career relying on politics, obviously has a clearer understanding of the evolution of Russia's capital process. He knows that those companies that got rich overnight in the first stage must transform into holding companies, investing huge sums of money in industry, Raw materials and real estate fields.In Russia, oil industry giants are considered the most effective lobbyists in the Duma, with long-term influence on tax and regulatory policies.On the basis of this analysis, Khodorkovsky chose a two-way bet: he has his own representatives in parliament and spends heavily on opposition parties.According to sources, in April 2001, Huoshi reached an agreement with the leaders of the two major opposition parties in the Duma, and transferred tens of millions of dollars to the accounts of these opposition parties during the parliamentary election on December 4, 2002.

On July 2003, 7, at the time of the arrest of Platon Lebedev, chairman of Russia's Menatep International Financial Group, who is also a major shareholder of Yukos oil company, Khodorkov Sky publicly said: "I have never said that big business must not touch politics." He said: "Like every citizen in this country, every big business has the right to engage in politics. In this country, big business's One mission is to maintain a certain amount of political and economic influence."

In early October of the same year, in a speech at the "Carnegie Foundation" in Washington, Huo said: "Russian society will have to adapt to the fact that people can do whatever they want with money."

The confrontation between two men who are considered the most powerful contemporary Russia begins.In fact, Putin, who believes in "manageable democracy", has always allowed the existence of different political opinions, but hates those who really threaten his power. He believes that Khodorkovsky, who has huge wealth, may be the only one in Russia that can single-handedly attack Putin. A political attacker, from the perspective of personality, he is also a person who dares to challenge everything.

After Khodorkovsky was imprisoned, media analysts believed that Putin had actually given Khodorkovsky several opportunities, but he turned a deaf ear.

The first confrontation between Huoshi and Putin began in February 2002.At that time, Putin met with the oligarchs, and the entire meeting was broadcast live on TV."Corruption is spreading in this country," Hobson told Putin in the live broadcast, which was watched across Russia, referring to state-owned Rosneft's takeover of a small oil company, which Hobbit said was $2 million. The purchase price in dollars is too high, and someone may be profiting improperly from this transaction.

Putin responded: Huoshi himself obtained huge oil assets from the state. "The question is, how did he get it," Putin said.

After this confrontation, Huo Shi did not heed the political signals sent by Putin, but continued to give generously to the opposition party as always.Huo's also sparred with the government over oil pipelines.In Russia, pipelines are controlled by the government to ensure control of the oil industry, and controlling the oil industry is equivalent to controlling more than half of the entire Russian industrial field-in today's Russia, the oil and gas industry accounts for the government. The market capitalization of energy companies accounts for 40%-75% of the total market capitalization of the Russian stock market.Yukos has long clamored to build its own pipeline that would allow it to send oil to northern Russia and eventually to the United States.

After this confrontation, Putin began to publicly warn the oligarchs on more occasions. He told the reporter of the New York Times: "Some people in Russia suddenly became rich and became billionaires... Now, they feel that God seems to be Snooze, they can do whatever they want. In fact, they tried to create an oligarchic system in Russia, that is, some well-known politicians in the front stage hide some oligarchs who don't want to show their faces, but these oligarchs formulate Political decision-making in the sense of the whole nation. These oligarchs are very good at manipulating public opinion, and now they also want to control the mass media in the same way they seized state-owned assets back then, making it serve their group interests and replace national interests with group interests."

When he said these words, what was Khodorkovsky doing? He was inspecting various federal subjects in Russia.According to Russian media, Huo's tours in various places are almost the same as the specifications of the president and prime minister. The schedule includes meeting with governors, entrepreneurs and elites of the knowledge society.Everywhere he went, he made a wish to invest and support the local government, and promised to pay for the construction of schools and online schools. His purpose was to establish an "equal and open civil society" in Russia.In addition to these so-called "inspections" that are highly political in the country, Huo Shi also criticized on international issues. He believes that the Russian government should stand with the United States on the issue of the Iraq War.He also bought the Moscow News, a newspaper known for its criticism of Putin's policies, as a front from which to attack the government.

In the eyes of the Kremlin, Hobson's most provocative move may be his secret plan to turn Russia into a purely parliamentary political system and install himself as prime minister.Until his imprisonment, Huoshi firmly believed that because he was Jewish, he would never be elected president.To do this, he needs to change the political system, including amending the constitution so that he can be prime minister in the new system.People close to Huo Shi said that he did have this intention.Berezovsky, who is also one of the seven oligarchs and is now in exile, provided a more extreme version: Huoshi told him that in the spring of 2002 he had a meeting with Putin. During the meeting, Huoshi suggested that Russia should Transition to a true parliamentary democracy.In this system, he becomes prime minister and Putin becomes the ceremonial leader.

Unlike many Russian oligarchs who once clamored to participate in politics, Khodorkovsky has almost washed away his "original sin".If he stops here, maybe he is still the richest man in Russia now, but he chooses to directly confront politics.

(End of this chapter)