Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Followers (27)

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Born

in Moscow, Russian Federation

June 26, 1963

Website

https://khodorkovsky.com/

Twitter

mbk_center

Genre

Memoir, Russia, Politics

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Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky (Russian: Михаил Борисович Ходорковский), sometimes known by his initials MBK, is an exiled Russian businessman and opposition activist, now residing in London. In 2003, Khodorkovsky was believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia, with a fortune estimated to be worth $15 billion, and was ranked 16th on Forbes list of billionaires. He had worked his way up the Komsomol apparatus, during the Soviet years, and started several businesses during the period of glasnost and perestroika in the late 1980s. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in the mid-1990s, he accumulated considerable wealth by obtaining control of a number of Siberian oil fields unified under the name Yukos, one of the major companies to em Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky (Russian: Михаил Борисович Ходорковский), sometimes known by his initials MBK, is an exiled Russian businessman and opposition activist, now residing in London. In 2003, Khodorkovsky was believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia, with a fortune estimated to be worth $15 billion, and was ranked 16th on Forbes list of billionaires. He had worked his way up the Komsomol apparatus, during the Soviet years, and started several businesses during the period of glasnost and perestroika in the late 1980s. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in the mid-1990s, he accumulated considerable wealth by obtaining control of a number of Siberian oil fields unified under the name Yukos, one of the major companies to emerge from the privatization of state assets during the 1990s (a scheme known as "Loans for Shares").

In 2001, Khodorkovsky founded Open Russia, a reform-minded organization intending to "build and strengthen civil society" in the country. In October 2003, he was arrested by Russian authorities and charged with fraud. The government under Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, then froze shares of Yukos shortly thereafter on tax charges. Putin's government took further actions against Yukos, leading to a collapse of the company's share price and the evaporation of much of Khodorkovsky's wealth. In May 2005, he was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison. In December 2010, while he was still serving his sentence, Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were further charged with and found guilty of embezzlement and money laundering, Khodorkovsky's prison sentence was extended to 2014. After Hans-Dietrich Genscher lobbied for his release, Putin pardoned Khodorkovsky, releasing him from jail on 20 December 2013.

There was widespread concern internationally that the trials and sentencing were politically motivated. The trial was criticized abroad for the lack of due process. Khodorkovsky lodged several applications with the European Court of Human Rights, seeking redress for alleged violations by Russia of his human rights. In response to his first application, which concerned events from 2003 to 2005, the court found that several violations were committed by the Russian authorities in their treatment of Khodorkovsky. Despite these findings, the court ultimately ruled that the trial was not politically motivated, but rather "that the charges against him were grounded in 'reasonable suspicion'". He was considered to be a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. ...more

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Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s books

Average rating: 3.99 · 944 ratings · 99 reviews · 6 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Russia Conundrum: How the West Fell for Putin’s Power Gambit – and How to Fix It 4.09 avg rating — 408 ratings — published 2022 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Fellow Prisoners by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Михаил Ходорковский 3.79 avg rating — 321 ratings — published 2014 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Тюрьма и воля by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Михаил Ходорковский, Наталия Геворкян 4.09 avg rating — 166 ratings — published 2012 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How to Slay a Dragon: Building a New Russia After Putin 3.96 avg rating — 78 ratings — published 2022 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Статьи, диалоги, интервью by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Михаил Ходорковский really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Russia Conundrum: How the West Fell for Putin's Power Gambit—and How to Fix It by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Martin Sixsmith, Jonathan Keeble (Narrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Mikhail Khodorkovsky (?)

“My favourite is the story of the Kremlin lackey who rushes in to give Putin the results of the presidential election. ‘Mr President, I have good news and bad news,’ the lackey says. ‘What is the good news?’ Putin asks. ‘You won the election,’ comes the reply. ‘And what is the bad news?’ ‘No one voted for you.”
― Mikhail Khodorkovsky, The Russia Conundrum: How the West Fell for Putin's Power Gambit--and How to Fix It

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“Being in prison is akin to acquiring a sensory disability, where one failing sense is compensated for by the others becoming sharper. In place of absent external stimuli comes a greater sensitivity to the remaining ones, the hidden clues that betray people’s real intentions.”
― Mikhail Khodorkovsky, The Russia Conundrum: How the West Fell for Putin's Power Gambit--and How to Fix It

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“By rewriting history, Putin wishes to create a narrative of continuity between the eras of tsarism, communism and the present day, in which Russia appears as an imperial power, equalling and rivalling the West, exerting strength and influence across the globe.”
― Mikhail Khodorkovsky, The Russia Conundrum: How the West Fell for Putin's Power Gambit--and How to Fix It

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