Boris Berezovsky (businessman)

Boris Abramovich Berezovsky (Russian: Борис Абрамович Березовский, Hebrew: בוריס ברזובסקי; 23 January 1946 – 23 March 2013),^[5][6] also known as Platon Elenin,^[7] was a Russian business oligarch, government official, engineer and mathematician and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He had the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation.^[8]

Berezovsky had an estimated net worth of $3 billion in 1997, having made it via the privatization in Russia of state property in the early 1990s, primarily the main television channel, Channel One. However, by the time of his death in 2013, he was impoverished and severely depressed after losing legal battles against his former friend, Roman Abramovich, forced sales of his assets, and a large divorce settlement with his former wife.^[9][10] Berezovsky helped fund Unity to get Vladimir Putin elected, expecting that the status quo and the influence of the oligarchs would be maintained.^[11] Berezovsky was elected to the State Duma in the 1999 Russian legislative election, running as a Putin-loyalist.^[12] However, following the 2000 Russian presidential election, Putin instead consolidated power and became more autocratic, demanding loyalty from all oligarchs; Berezovsky then went into opposition and resigned from the Duma.^[13] Berezovsky remained a vocal critic of Putin for the rest of his life.^[14]

In late 2000, after the Russian Deputy Prosecutor General demanded that Berezovsky appear for questioning, he did not return from abroad and moved to the United Kingdom, which granted him political asylum in September 2003.^[15][16] After he moved to Britain, the Russian government took over his television assets,^[17] and he divested from other Russian holdings. In Russia, Berezovsky was convicted in 2007 via trial in absentia of fraud and embezzlement. The first charges had been brought during Yevgeny Primakov's government in 1999.^[18] Despite an Interpol Red Notice for Berezovsky's arrest, Russia repeatedly failed to obtain the extradition of Berezovsky from Britain; the situation became a major point of diplomatic tension between the two countries.^[19][20][21]

In late 2011, an Israeli private investigator ordered the mercenary Indian hack-for-hire firm Appin to hack Berezovsky and his lawyers.^[22][23] In 2012, Berezovsky lost a London High Court case he brought over the ownership of the major oil producer Sibneft, against Roman Abramovich, in which he sought over £3 billion in damages.^[24] The court concluded that Berezovsky had never been a co-owner of Sibneft.^[25]

Berezovsky was found dead in his home, Titness Park, at Sunninghill, near Ascot in Berkshire, on 23 March 2013.^[26] A post-mortem examination found that his death was consistent with hanging and that there were no signs of a violent struggle.^[27] However, the coroner at the inquest into Berezovsky's death later recorded an open verdict.^[28]