Mikhail Prokhorov's wealth is estimated at $10.2 billion, but a tiny portion of his assets — a media company with a market cap of just $32 million — is putting the rest of his Russian business at risk. President Vladimir Putin is willing to tolerate relatively independent media companies, as long as they're small and don't get too close to subjects that are uncomfortable for him. Prokhorov owns a popular media operation that has been too unafraid to show its teeth.
Prokhorov is something of a rarity among Russian billionaires. Cash and market investments make up almost half of his fortune, and the most expensive asset he controls is in the United States, not Russia — the Brooklyn Nets and the NBA team's arena. Yet he has significant Russian assets, too, such as large stakes in Uralkali, the world's biggest potash company, and Rusal, Russia's No. 1 aluminum producer. That makes him hostage to Putin, who considers Russia's billionaires — formerly known as oligarchs — merely as temporary holders of state property.
In 2012, Prokhorov ran for president against Putin and performed moderately well in Moscow. The degree of independence of his run was unclear, but his political ambitions were genuine. They have since been stymied by new regulations that banned politicians from owning any foreign assets. Yet, to the billionaire's credit, he never used RBC, his media company, to further his political agenda. He has been an arms-length, almost disinterested owner since he acquired the company in 2010 for $80 million and restructured its $220 million in debt. His role largely has been limited to approving the hiring of experienced media managers and waiting for them to show results.