Russia's wealth disparity is off the charts. Just over 100 billionaires hold a third of the country's wealth.
That's largely down to Russia's chaotic 1990s. Enterprising and ruthless men (and they are practically all men) took hold of huge chunks of the former Soviet Union's rapidly privatised industries, or made millions bringing in highly sought-after exports from the west.
More recently, they haven't limited their interests to Russia. In the past 15 years, a handful of oligarchs have been snapping up companies in the West, too.
Some of the oligarchs no longer call Russia home: They have moved to the UK and US, or other post-Soviet countries. But they've all gained major interests in Europe and North America, controlling flashy organisations like football clubs, and huge, under-the-public-radar industrial groups.
Alisher Usmanov - Arsenal
Usmanov is Russia's richest man, with most of his wealth coming from mining interests. He also owns Mail.ru, Russia's largest internet firm, and its second-largest mobile network operator.
Usmanov’s holding company, Red & White, owns about 30% of Arsenal’s shares. He splits that with Farhad Moshiri, another steel magnate.
That share has climbed from 14.65% when the holding company first bought in, slowly accelerating. He’s made comments in the past that indicate he’d like an even bigger stake. For now, US billionaire Stan Kroenke is the majority shareholder.
Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev - Evening Standard/Independent
34-year old Evgeny Lebedev and his father, Alexander Lebedev, are joint owners of British newspapers with a combined circulation of more than one million copies per day: The Independent, i, and the free Evening Standard make up an impressive UK media empire.
Russian oligarchs have made a big deal of expanding their influence in their home country (Alexander Lebedev is part owner of Russia’s liberal Novaya Gazeta), but foreign media empires are rarer. Lebedev built his fortune in banking, navigating Russia’s turbulent 1990s.
Oleg Deripaska - Strabag SE
Oleg Deripaska is chairman of RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminium company, and is closely connected with Russian politics. He made major investments in the construction of the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.
Deripaska now has a blocking minority of shares in Strabag: It’s not one of the most glamourous companies on the list, but it’s massive. It’s one of Europe’s biggest construction companies, with revenues of over €10 billion, and more than 70,000 employees.
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