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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (792031)	7/18/2025 3:59:43 PM
From: skinowski	2 Recommendations Recommended By Alan Smithee Tom Clarke Respond to of 793964

I read Bill Browder’s book when it first came out. The interesting part was about his activities in Russia. He went to Russia (from London) because he expected that in all the commotion with privatizing the previously government-controlled economy - there was money to be made. The government issued every citizen a voucher - representing that individual’s part of the value of the national economy. Very quickly, several people - the future millionaire “oligarchs” - started buying up those vouchers in large quantities, using them to gain control (ownership) of various enterprises. When it came to vouchers, the total was worth a lot more than the sum of individual vouchers. Trading in vouchers became big business - if someone could accumulate, let’s say, 100 — it was worth a lot more than the cost of buying them up one by one. It was worth for people with financial backing to pay premium for large packages - and to use them to buy up businesses and enterprises. The price was still small compared to their value. So, Browder’s “secret” was that he figured all this out - and started doing exactly the same thing. This is how his hedge fund, for a period of time, was the number 1 in the world, offering the best returns. It wasn’t all so simple. He had issues with local competition - and with politicians. Long story short, eventually he was accused of tax evasion - and had to leave the country. I found the book interesting and fairly well written. The man is perceptive and a good story teller. Towards the end, he tells the story about Magnitsky - and about his efforts to get passed the Magnitsky Act. But, the book was also self serving - as if he was a hero and a fighter for justice - while there wasn’t anything heroic about his story. Overall, it sounds like he was trying to outplay the emerging Russian oligarchs - which he did, in part successfully, due to his investors. But, eventually, it sounds like the locals preferred to have their own people to become the big winners - rather than a foreign hedge fund with deep pockets.