Bill Browder: Hunted and Tortured by Putin

Written by Kanpat Vesessook | Edited by David Bang | Designed by Akkarasorn Opilan and Damrongrat Siriwanna (Pooh) | Admin by Akkarasorn Opilan

Who is Bill Browder?

Bill Browder: one of the first people to invest in the Russian privatization market. The investor who turned $2000 into millions. His career first started with a company called Soloman Brothers, which was where he saw an opportunity to invest in Russia. He wanted to invest in Russia because the Russian government was trying to turn a nation of communists into capitalists, and because the country used to be communist, the common person didn’t have a lot of money. This led to the stocks being super cheap. For example, he once saw that a company had a billion dollars worth of ships, but he could buy 51 percent of the company for only 2 and a half million dollars.

This sounds great, but how did he end up getting hunted by Putin?

Although it sounded amazing, there was a twist. Soon after the Russian privatization market was created, the Russian oligarchs realized that they could take advantage of the market, and so they did. They proceeded to defraud and rip off minority shareholders and foreign shareholders. Back then, it was considered fair play because it was similar to the wild west. People would light tires on fire and leave them on the road to prevent someone like Bill from coming to the auction. In this corruption climate, Bill wanted a change, so he became a shareholder activist. He ended up having to hire a few dozen bodyguards in order to protect his safety from the oligarchs, most likely including Putin.

There were many consequences of being a shareholder activist in such a corrupt place. One was that everytime he went to court, he would always get shut down, even if he was correct. The most severe consequence was when his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was arrested and tortured to a false confession. Sergei Magnitsky refused and ‘coincidentally’ died in custody soon after. Bill Browder, in honor of his lawyer, started supporting the Global Magnitsky Act.

What is the Global Magnitsky Act?

The Global Magnitsky Act includes 2 separate laws which were named after the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The first law, called the Magnitsky Act, or formally called the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, restricts travel and freezes the assets of the individuals who have violated human rights in Russia. The second law, called the Global Magnitsky Act, is mostly the same as the Magnitsky Act, but the difference is that it allows the president to give authority to institute travel bans and freeze the assets. The Magnitsky Law has been approved in the United States of America, Estonia, United Kingdom, Canada, Lithuania, and Latvia. Since this is ChooseChange, these are some things that you can do to improve the situation.

Spread the word about The Magnitsky Act and ChooseChange

If possible (I know I’m being optimistic), pass the Magnitsky Act in Thailand.

Resources:

Harbinger, Jordan. “Bill Browder: Hunted by Putin.” Jordan Harbinger, 2019 Jordan Harbinger, 6 Jan. 2020, www.jordanharbinger.com/bill-browder-red-notice-episode-3/.

Browder, William. HERMITAGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT. 14 Jan. 2020, uploads.guim.co.uk/2020/02/17/4_Sub_-_William_Browder.r.pdf.

“Q&A: The Magnitsky Affair.” BBC News, BBC, 11 July 2013, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-20626960.

Williams, Greg. “Inside Bill Browder's Blood Money Battle with Vladimir Putin.” WIRED, WIRED UK, 18 Jan. 2019, www.wired.co.uk/article/bill-browder-russia-red-notice.

Yaffa, Joshua, and David Remnick. “How Bill Browder Became Russia's Most Wanted Man.” The New Yorker, 2020 Condé Nast, 13 Aug. 2018, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/08/20/how-bill-browder-became-russias-most-wanted-man.