cover of episode Roman Abramovich: Premier League oligarch

Roman Abramovich: Premier League oligarch

2024/11/11
logo of podcast Good Bad Billionaire

Good Bad Billionaire

Chapters

Roman Abramovich's background and early life are explored, highlighting his rise from a hard-up orphan to a billionaire with significant influence in the business and football worlds.
  • Abramovich is known as the 'stealth oligarch' before becoming famous for owning Chelsea football club.
  • He made his fortune from post-Soviet privatization, aided by Boris Berezovsky and close ties to Vladimir Putin.
  • Abramovich is currently worth $9.7 billion and is a big football fan with a passion for yachts.

Shownotes Transcript

Roman Abramovich was known as the "stealth oligarch" before he stepped into the limelight as Chelsea football club’s sugar daddy owner. The man loves a yacht: his largest cost $427m, and has bullet-proof windows and an escape submarine. Abramovich made his fortune from post-Soviet privatisation, aided by a man known as the “Godfather of the Kremlin”, Boris Berezovsky, and close ties to Vladimir Putin in the early years of his presidency. But with recent reports of a suspected poisoning and sanctions against him in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, Abramovich’s luck might be changing.

BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng track Abramovich’s meteoric rise from being a hard-up orphan to making billions from oil and aluminium. Then they decide if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.