Boris Berezovsky 1946 – 2013

Biography

A mathematical prodigy who became one of post-Soviet Russia’s most influential and controversial power brokers, Boris Berezovsky leveraged his early training in mathematics and engineering into a meteoric rise through Russia’s chaotic 1990s. He transformed himself from academic to oligarch, wielding enormous influence over media and politics during the Yeltsin era, and became a key architect of the political machinery that shaped modern Russia during its most turbulent decade of transformation.

Berezovsky’s larger-than-life persona made him as famous for his bold business moves and political machinations as for the dramatic exile that followed. After falling out of favor with the Kremlin, he fled Russia and spent his final years in London, becoming a polarizing figure—celebrated by some as a visionary entrepreneur and condemned by others for the ruthless tactics that defined his rise. On March 23, 2013, he died by hanging in Ascot at age 67, leaving behind a complex legacy that embodied both the promise and the brutal realities of post-communist capitalism.