Despite the denials, insiders at Prokhorov's company feel that they are being warned -- not necessarily to sell the media assets but perhaps to censor them to avoid angering Putin again. That would be consistent with the pattern of previous attacks on business leaders who defied Putin, such as the media tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky, the oil man Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the telecom billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov and the airport owner Dmitri Kamenshchik. For Khodorkovsky, it ended in imprionsment. Gusinsky suffered asset loss and was forced to emigrate.
Prokhorov is not going to be publicly ornery, as Gusinsky and Khodorkovsky were. Russian billionaires have learned their lesson. Osetinskaya, who was planning to leave for a year's sabbatical at Stanford University, was pushed out on long-term leave at least a month earlier than intended. This sends a clear message to the staff: Even if the company is not sold, investigating Putin's family and friends can be bad for the owner's other, much more valuable businesses.
Putin now controls almost every wide-reaching news outlet in Russia through state ownership, his friends who have bought companies with the Kremlin's backing, or owners worried about their prospects in Russia. All he needs to do is jerk the leash from time to time.
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