What is Bill Browder's Net Worth?
Bill Browder, a financier and political activist, boasts a net worth of $100 million. As the co-founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, Browder’s firm was once among the largest international investors in Russia, managing over $4.5 billion in assets at its peak.
Infamous for his confrontations with corrupt Russian companies, Browder faced deportation to the UK and was declared a Russian national security threat in 2005. His continuous efforts to combat human rights abuses in Russia have entangled him in conflicts with Vladimir Putin’s administration.
In 1998, Browder relinquished his U.S. citizenship to sidestep taxes on foreign investments. Despite a decade of business in Russia, he was denied entry in 2005. Browder played a pivotal role in the signing of the Magnitsky Act by President Obama, aimed at penalizing Russian human rights violators. In 2017, he testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.
Vladimir Putin Wealth Claims
Browder has been one of the most prominent critics of Vladimir Putin, frequently highlighting the alleged vast wealth Putin has accumulated at the expense of Russian citizens. Browder has steadfastly claimed that Putin could be the richest man in the world.
In a notable February 2015 CNN interview, Browder told Fareed Zakaria that he estimated Putin’s net worth to be around $200 billion. He pointed out the misuse of funds that should have been invested in public services like schools, roads, and hospitals, which instead ended up in various private assets controlled by Putin and his associates.
He elaborated further that the early years of Putin’s leadership were marked by rampant money laundering, leading some, including Browder, to believe Putin is the wealthiest individual globally, holding hundreds of billions of dollars.
Early Life and Education
Born on April 23, 1964, in Princeton, New Jersey, Browder was raised in Chicago, Illinois. He is the son of Felix Browder, a distinguished mathematician, and the grandson of Earl Browder, who led the Communist Party USA and spied for the Soviet Union. His brother, Tom, is a particle physicist.
Browder pursued higher education at the University of Colorado, Boulder, before transferring to the University of Chicago, where he earned a BS in Economics. He later obtained his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1989.
Career Beginnings
After graduating from Stanford, Browder entered the financial sector, starting with the Eastern European practice of the Boston Consulting Group in London. He then worked for Robert Maxwell's MCC conglomerate and managed the Russian proprietary investments desk at Salomon Brothers. He became a British citizen in 1999 after relinquishing his American citizenship in 1998.
Hermitage Capital Management
In 1996, Browder co-founded Hermitage Capital Management with Edmond Safra, aiming to invest $25 million in Russian companies during the post-Soviet privatization era. Through Hermitage, he championed shareholder activism, challenging major Russian corporations like Gazprom and Surgutneftegas by exposing significant corporate malfeasance. Hermitage was a major international investor in Russia from 1996 to 2006.
Conflicts with the Russian Government
Browder's activism led to his deportation in 2005 and designation as a national security threat in Russia. Hermitage’s Moscow offices were raided in 2007, and documentation was fraudulently used to re-register the company’s holding under a criminal’s name. Sergei Magnitsky, Browder’s lawyer assigned to investigate, was arrested and died in prison. Browder’s lobbying led to the 2012 Magnitsky Act, signed by Barack Obama, which sought to penalize Russian human rights violators.
In 2013, Browder and the late Magnitsky were tried in absentia in Russia, convicted of tax fraud, and sentenced to prison. Interpol regularly rejected Russian warrants for Browder’s arrest, deeming them politically motivated. However, he was briefly detained in Spain in 2018 on a new Russian Interpol warrant but was released after two hours.
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Books
Bill Browder has authored books based on his fights against Russian corruption. In 2015, he published “Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice.” He followed it up with “Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath” in 2022.
Honors and Awards
Browder has earned multiple accolades for his leadership and activism. In 2018, he received the Henry Crown Leadership Award from the Aspen Institute and the Integrity Award from the Coalition for Integrity. Other notable awards include the 2019 American Spirit Award for Citizen Activism and the Lantos Human Rights Prize. Trinity College Dublin also honored him with the Trinity SMF Award for his contributions to finance.
Personal Life
Bill Browder is married to Russian businesswoman Elena, and they have three children. Their son Joshua is the founder of DoNotPay, an online legal service and chatbot that leverages artificial intelligence to provide legal advice.
