Putin’s Net Worth: Here’s How Much the Russian President Earns

Vladimir Putin’s net worth has long been the subject of investigations, both at home—by courageous independent journalists—and beyond the Federation’s borders.

After all, we’re talking about one of the most powerful men—if not the most powerful—in the world, responsible for the outbreak of the war in Ukraine after pulling the strings behind the scenes of numerous conflicts across various continents.

Vladimir Putin is so powerful due to a combination of political, economic, and personal factors that have allowed him to consolidate his control over Russia for over two decades.

Above all, Putin is said to be incredibly wealthy, so much so that some consider him the richest person in the world, not Elon Musk as indicated by Forbes.

In theory, however, officially, Vladimir Putin’s earnings aren’t so lavish, as they resemble those of a simple Italian MP.

The main reason for the Russian president’s wealth is believed to be his indirect control over Russia’s enormous economic resources, with several assets allegedly hidden thanks to the widespread use of front men.

Let’s try to understand how much Vladimir Putin earns by taking a look at the Russian president’s salary, his tax returns, and his net worth.

Vladimir Putin’s Net Worth

With the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the West has attempted to target the supposed wealth of the Russian president and his most trusted associates with various sanctions packages.

Previously, a journalistic investigation by the Occrp and Novaya Gazeta teams attempted to shed more light on Putin’s real earnings. Thanks to a dense network of front men, the Russian leader is said to have amassed wealth amounting to $24 billion.

But some speculate on a much more substantial secret fortune, estimated to exceed the wealth of those listed by Forbes as the richest men in the world.

During testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Bill Browder, former CEO of Hermitage Capital Management (an investment fund specializing in the Russian market), stated that Putin’s fortune is actually estimated at $200 billion.

“My calculations suggest Putin’s fortune is around $200 billion.” These were the words of Bill Browder, well-informed about Russia internal affairs given his past as CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.

A fortune that Putin is said to have amassed thanks to various illegal activities managed by more than 10,000 officials who work secretly under the Russian president.

In the past, several investigations have attempted to understand how much Vladimir Putin truly earns. In 2007, investigations conducted by the CIA, when Barack Obama was in the White House, suggested the Russian prime minister’s secret assets were worth 40 billion dollars.

Vladimir Putin’s Salary

In theory, Vladimir Putin’s only income is his salary as president. According to a ranking by The Guardian, Putin would rank ninth in this special ranking of world leaders, with an annual salary of $136,000.

Not a lot, considering that this figure is almost a third of what the American president earns, and is also lower than the annual salaries of his colleagues in France, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

This salary alone is clearly incompatible with the Russian president’s lifestyle of private jets, luxury yachts, and opulent residences.

Putin’s Tax Returns

In addition to his annual salary as president, Putin boasts assets consisting of the 153-square-meter apartment he lives in and other properties, such as a 1,500-square-meter plot of land and another small 77-square-meter apartment.

However, only this apartment would appear on the 2021 tax return, with Vladimir Putin declaring earnings of €114,000 for the 2020 tax year.

To be eligible to run in the 2024 presidential elections, Putin had to file a tax return for the last six years: during this period, his total earnings would have been $753,974, or approximately $125,000 per year.

In addition to the presidential salary we’ve already discussed, as Quotidiano.net reports, Putin’s sources of income are also reportedly other.

Income from bank deposits (including 10 bank accounts with a fund of 54,416,604 rubles, equivalent to $606,190, ed.), bonds and stocks (230 shares of the St. Petersburg bank), his military pension as a former KGB agent, and some property sales.

Vladimir Putin’s real wealth, however, is said to be much greater than declared in official documents, including secret villas and accounts held by front men who act as a shield for his assets.

Putin’s Alleged Hidden Earnings: Journalistic Investigations

In the former Soviet Union, Vladimir Putin gained experience in the KGB, moving from positions in the secret services to those in Boris Yeltsin’s government, taking over the reins of the country after the former Russian president’s resignation.

In practice, it can be said that Vladimir Putin has been leading Russia since December 1999, although in theory there was a brief period of office held by his heir, Dmitry Medvedev, given the impossibility, at the time, of running for a third consecutive term.

Loved and hated, his political opponents have often tried to figure out how much Vladimir Putin really earns in an attempt to undermine his rule.

The problem, however, is how to prove that this enormous flow of money is in any way attributable to Putin. An investigation by Occrp and Novaya Gazeta attempted to address this issue.

The journalists were able to trace a dense network of front men, including friends and relatives of the Russian president, who, despite their humble origins and current roles, boast stakes in strategic companies in the country that have yielded staggering dividends over the years.

Here are the examples of Mikhail Shelomov, son of a cousin of the leader, followed by Pyotr Kolbin and Nikolai Shamalov, both longtime friends of Vladimir Putin and all sharing the same fate.

Shelemov owns a company connected to the powerful SMP Bank, Kolbin owns 10% of Gunvor, a gold trading company, and Shamalov, also rumored to be Putin’s father-in-law given that his son married a supposed daughter of the prime minister, made a fortune in the medical equipment business for the country’s health centers.

Vladimir Putin has often been accused of placing trusted men at the top of major state giants, who are said to have enriched themselves exponentially thanks to Russia’s numerous resources.

These front men could therefore be Putin’s method of somehow cashing in on the huge profits from these companies. Ultimately, the investigation estimates the sums attributable to the president at $24 billion. An investigation published on YouTube by the team of Alexei Navalny—a longtime opponent of the president who recently died in prison—attempted to shed light on Vladimir Putin’s properties, focusing primarily on a huge palace on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, a lavish villa spanning 78 million square meters and estimated to be worth $1.4 billion.

Vladimir Putin’s Villas

An important aspect when discussing Vladimir Putin’s alleged wealth is his more or less secret villas.

An investigation by Alexei Navalny in 2021 revealed videos and floor plans of the Black Sea Palace, a 17,000-square-meter villa reportedly worth $1 billion.

Located on an island near St. Petersburg and not far from the Finnish border, there is reportedly Villa Sellgren, a sort of secret Putin hideaway accessible only by sea or helicopter.

Then there is the Villa in Sochi, a famous Russian seaside resort, as well as several luxury facilities with saunas and indoor pools in the Altai Region and Siberia.

The Kremlin, however, has always denied that these residences are owned by Putin, even though several investigations have attempted to prove otherwise.

Original article published on Money.it Italy. Original title: Il patrimonio di Putin, ecco quanto guadagna il presidente russo