The surname of Gusinsky, along with Abramovich, Prokhorov and dozens of other oligarchs who "rose" in the 90s, has long become a synonym for unreal wealth and power in Russia. Gusinsky (Gusman) Vladimir Aleksandrovich in just 10 years was able to create one of the largest joint-stock companies of Russia “Bridge”, which includes more than 40 enterprises, as well as become the country's most famous media tycoon. The businessman has been living abroad since 2000, but continues to influence the political and public mood of Russians. So, many call him the secret sponsor of the opposition.
Biography of Vladimir Gusinsky
Not much is known about the family of the runaway oligarch. There is evidence that his grandfather was shot in 1937 as an enemy of the people, and his grandmother was sent to the prison for 9 years. Vladimir Alexandrovich was born in 1952, after school he entered the prestigious Institute of the Petrochemical and Gas Industry, but after 2 years he was expelled for poor grades.
The young man went to the army, where he served for 2 years in chemical troops deployed in Ukraine. After the demobilization, unexpectedly for all, he entered the Lunacharsky Institute of Theater Arts. Here he graduated from the directing department, and the mentor of Vladimir Gusinsky was the honored cultural figure Boris Ravensky. The final production was the play "Tartuffe" by Moliere.
Education and early activities
After graduation, he decided to continue his creative activity and was a director of the theater in Tula for several years. But after 2 years the young man decided to move to the capital. Here he actively joined the bohemian life of Moscow, directed the staging of the youth festival, organized various mass events: weddings, anniversaries, holidays, and even was the main director of the stay program for foreign guests at international Goodwill games. In general, the young man tried in every possible way to earn money, and big, and in his spare time he even engaged in private carriage.
However, already in 1986, Vladimir Gusinsky came into the view of law enforcement agencies. A case was opened against him under the article “Fraud”. Today it is not known for certain what became the real cause of the conflict, but there are suggestions that Vladimir Alexandrovich simply did not pay the debt on time. But the proceedings soon ceased with the wording “In connection with a change in circumstances”. Whether reconciliation of the parties took place or influential friends stood up for the active man remained a mystery.
First business
In the same 1986, Gusinsky Vladimir Alexandrovich organized his first cooperative "Metal", Boris Hait became its co-founder. The company was engaged in the production and marketing of metal products of various directions. Among the items appeared bracelets for the "treatment" of chronic diseases, jewelry and even garages-shells.
But the enterprise did not bring a lot of money, then the novice businessman decided to go from the other side and, together with other sponsors, opened a new private company, Infax. The cooperative provided advisory and informative services, although many assume that the company formed public opinion, published those stories from an angle that was beneficial to the customer. Most likely, it was at this time that the businessman found influential friends.
Career
In 1989, there was a rapid rise in the welfare of Vladimir Gusinsky. On May 24, Most was established, where 50% of the property belonged to a young businessman, the other half to a well-known American law firm. By the way, Gusinsky soon bought this share, becoming the rightful owner of a successful company.
At that time, Most Bank, created a little earlier, became one of the largest in Moscow, with a capital of more than 18 billion rubles. The financial success was simply amazing, in just a few months, the bank of Vladimir Alexandrovich began to cooperate even with the government of the capital. Many explained this success by Gusinsky’s close acquaintance with the head of the leadership, namely Luzhkov. Together, they brought together a common activity with his wife, Elena Baturina, who then began to actively earn money on everything in a row.
"Dark" schemes
In his book about Vladimir Alexandrovich Gusinsky, Alexander Chernyak writes that cooperation with the mayor of the capital brought the businessman practically for nothing hundreds of buildings and territories in the center of Moscow. The circuit was simple and efficient. The company Most seems to have won the right to buy certain real estate or build a place in its place at fair bidding. Paid the market value, part of which the administration then transferred to one of the subsidiaries of Most for repair or construction. Then these buildings were sold and leased already at fabulous prices.
NTV
The group of companies "Bridge" was only the beginning of the grandiose plan of Vladimir Gusinsky about the media center, about the desire to master the entire informative sphere of the country. In those years, the manipulation of the media meant almost complete power over the powers that be, and over simple "working bees." The first brainchild was the newspaper Segodnya, which is still published today. He lured talented journalists from Izvestia and Moscow News to the new edition, among them were Mikhail Leontyev, Sergey Parkhomenko and Alexander Becker.
But this didn’t seem enough to Gusinsky, and in 1993 he decided to create his own television company. It is hard to imagine that the initial organization NTV took only 10 thousand rubles, and in a few years the channel’s audience will be over 100 million people. The controlling stake, naturally, belonged to Vladimir Alexandrovich.
Doubtful channel work
The new team shared responsibilities, and the work began to boil. For his close associates, Gusinsky did not spare money, the NTV employees had just a grandiose salary at that time, even among ordinary workers. Leading managers and people on the screen received not only money, but also houses, cars. It was here that the famous Russian journalist Evgeny Kiselev began his career. True, Alexander Chernyak in his famous book "Media" speaks about him in extremely negative colors. Here Evgeny Kiselev appeared as the mouthpiece of Gusinsky's ideas and his faithful subordinate.
Some, including law enforcement, were questioned by the “charitable” activities of large companies in relation to NTV. Such financial monsters as Gazprom have repeatedly allocated money to help develop the channel. Although experienced people said that it was nothing but a veiled racket. Without money, NTV could have any unpleasant program about executives or top managers of a company …
The channel also took a strange position during the Chechen campaign, exposing the Dudaevites not as terrorists, but as freedom fighters. Modern investigations confirm this theory, the oligarch was negotiating with the separatists and, possibly, the condition of Vladimir Gusinsky was built on money for promoting the new regime in the Caucasus Republic. The same “bribed” look was also traced during the bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO bombers. The reporting of journalists was designed in such a way as to show peaceful American soldiers and brutalized Serbs. Whereas at that time thousands of inhabitants of peaceful Serbia were dying on the streets of cities.
Jewish question
Vladimir Alexandrovich had an amazing foresight. Back in 1996, he began to prepare for himself a kind of escape route. Since European businessmen were very distrustful of the overly active Russian and could impede his work and living abroad, Vladimir Gusinsky unexpectedly remembered his Jewish roots for his entourage and in 1996 created and headed the REC - the Russian Jewish Congress, thereby leading many friends in the promised land.
Officially, the REC was dealing with the problems of Jewish society in Russia, in fact, "Jewish" capital was actively invested in the strategic activities of the country. So, the greatest interest of businessmen and special services of Israel aroused the idea of insurance of military personnel. It was on this basis that the notorious Insurance Gate company, headed by long-time friend and associate of Gusinsky Hight, rose.
Berezovsky was very interested in the activities of the REC, he did everything he could to strengthen the organization and its leader. Therefore, in contrast to the REC, in 1999 another FEOR Congress of Jews was created and even a new rabbi was chosen. The brainchild of Boris Berezovsky was “blessed” from the Kremlin.
Subsequently, such assistance to the Jewish brothers turned for Vladimir Alexandrovich an additional bonus. When problems arose with law in Russia, he easily obtained an Israeli passport, and later political asylum in Spain. Without “his roots”, a businessman would hardly have succeeded.
Political dreams
All the activities of the unrealistically wealthy Gusinsky were directed into the political channel. He dragged his people to the Government, the Federation Council and the State Duma. His global goal was to become the shadow leader of the country, a kind of hidden puppeteer of President Yeltsin. However, these dreams were not destined to come true. All this time, Gusinsky was very persistently opposed by another well-known manipulator - Boris Berezovsky.
Problems with law
Boris Abramovich purposefully set up power and Yeltsin against the impudent media tycoon, moreover, he repeatedly looked for an artist to physically eliminate a competitor, even turned to Korzhakov, the head of the presidential guard for help. His action took effect, Boris Nikolaevich ordered the operation "Muzzle in the snow." On December 2, 1994, a special unit of the Kremlin’s internal troops surrounded the building of the Most Group. Gusinsky was madly scared, and even more at that moment when all his influential friends refused to help him in confronting Korzhakov.
The action was awesome, but very productive. Vladimir Alexandrovich quickly left for England and forever learned this political lesson.
We dug for a businessman for a long time, purposefully and, as it turned out, very productively. In June 2000, Gusinsky was arrested on charges of large-scale fraud and was put into the famous Butyrka for several days. But soon the court released the oligarch on bail, but in vain. Vladimir Alexandrovich safely left the country, and the prosecution began a search through Interpol. The oligarch was caught and detained in Spain, but the judge, having examined the case, came to the conclusion that all the charges were caused by political motives, Gusinsky was released on bail of 5.5 million euros.
It is worth noting that Berezovsky unexpectedly stood up for the businessman, who came to him in a Madrid prison and offered help. US officials were particularly fenced off by the runaway oligarch, calling the Kremlin’s actions an anti-democratic act.
Emigration
Even in the first years of his exaltation, the future oligarch Vladimir Gusinsky irritated many in the country's government with his activity and excessive greed. No wonder he tried several times to create a union of entrepreneurs whose goal was to take control of the political situation in Russia. Even under Yeltsin, they tried to “cut wings”, but the enterprising Gusinsky circumvented all the traps. And only with the appointment of Putin against the oligarch did a full-scale action unfold.
After the emigration, the photos of Vladimir Gusinsky practically did not leave the Russian media. All media sources are almost divided into two camps. Adherents of the businessman accused Putin and all his approach of intentionally distorting the facts and called the cause of the criminal prosecution the tycoon’s reluctance to adjust the broadcasting of his channels to please the Kremlin.
Asset Valuation
The magnitude of the state of Vladimir Gusinsky can be judged by the list of real estate that is known to journalists, the real amount of capital of a runaway oligarch is difficult to determine. He decided not only to invest his first millions in a new business, but also to invest in houses and apartments abroad. So, he bought a house in London, in the most expensive and hyped area of the English capital. His wife and son settled here, and the businessman himself visited them on the weekend. He later bought apartments in New York, a villa in Spain and on the coast of Israel. In Russia, the entrepreneur lived in an indecently rich castle on Rublevka.
Personal life of Vladimir Gusinsky
He met his second wife at Most, she was a financial expert and advised management on economic issues. The businessman has three sons, the eldest (from his first marriage) Ilya graduated from Stanford University, where he studied finance.
