In Russia, some 189,500 people worth $1 million or more collectively control about $1.1 trillion of assets, Capgemini estimates. Surveys show that as many as 70 percent of these people consider “wealth succession” among the biggest problems they’ll face over the next 10 years, data compiled by Knight Frank show.
Evtushenkov’s on-the-record comments about his own succession plans are rare for a mogul in Moscow, where commercial and personal secrecy is prized. Just as unusual, given his past run-ins with authorities, is where he was when he made them—inside the Kremlin Concert Hall, at an event attended by Putin.
Back in 2014, Evtushenkov was placed under house arrest and shackled with a tracking anklet after investigators accused him of money laundering and other alleged crimes connected to Sistema’s acquisition of Bashneft, an oil company that formed the bulk of what was then a $7 billion fortune.
Local media were quick to predict his doom, drawing parallels to the prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, then Russia’s richest man, a decade earlier. But those were different times. Evtushenkov’s legal odyssey began just as Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis were beginning to bite and the Kremlin was determined to maintain unity among the elite.
Within three months, the Sistema chief was cleared of all charges, but only after Bashneft—and most of his wealth—was nationalized. Four years later, right before the New Year, he was happily sharing a room with Putin, 66, during an awards ceremony for the Russian Geographic Society, an organization that he sponsors and is dear to the president’s heart.
Undeterred by having his fortune slashed to $1.8 billion, the serial investor is showing no signs of slowing down. A former engineer, he set up Sistema with partners after communism collapsed to trade oil and dabble in construction. He then started what became Russia’s largest cellular operator before branching out to banking, media and even retail. Now he’s moving into e-commerce and agriculture.
“Sistema isn’t like a single business,” Evtushenkov said, explaining the operational complexities confronting his son. “We’ve got 13 different companies ranging from textiles to who-the-hell-knows what. You need to understand all of this—and of course you need to have influence and so on.”
The financial elite are closely watching what happens with these interfamilial transactions
Many Russian tycoons don’t want their kids to follow in their footsteps, with some even hiding the true extent of their holdings. One respondent to an anonymous questionnaire that Skolkovo sent to children of the ultra rich said he had no idea his father was a billionaire until he happened to see a magazine article that identified him as one.
Other magnates are supporting their kids’ business aspirations in different ways. A son of Roman Abramovich, a longtime Putin ally, is overseeing a project to invest as much as $750 million in greenhouse projects in Russia’s Far East. Abramovich’s partner in steelmaker Evraz Plc, Alexander Frolov, is an investor in Alexander Jr.’s Target Global fund, which has 700 million euros ($800 million) under management.