Palaces, superyachts, Swiss accounts. How rich is Putin and can sanctions hurt him?
WASHINGTON — On paper, the U.S. decision to freeze Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal assets looks like an empty gesture.
Although widely considered one of the richest men in the world, official Russian documents say all he owns are a couple of old cars, a small apartment, and whatever savings the 69-year-old former KGB agent has squirreled away from a salary of around $140,000.
Nobody believes the official documents present the real picture. Most experts say his vast assets are secretly held by a circle of cronies — the so-called Russian oligarchs, their families and relatives.
—So how big is Putin’s secret fortune likely to be?
Forbes, the magazine known for ranking the world’s billionaires, says it’s been grappling to answer that question for 20 years, and that one of its editors was gunned down in Moscow while he was looking into Russia’s early oligarchs.
Despite the zealously protected secrecy, the Russian president’s worth runs well into the billions of dollars.
William Browder, a one-time leading investor in Russia who was
