Once upon a time in Russia : the rise of the oligarchs -- a true story of ambition, wealth, betrayal, and murder
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Originally published: New York : Atria Books, 2015.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 363-366).

Once Upon a Time in Russia is the true story of two larger-than-life billionaire oligarchs who surfed the waves of privatization to reap riches after the fall of the Soviet regime: "Godfather of the Kremlin" Boris Berezovsky, a former mathematician whose first entrepreneurial venture was running an automobile reselling business, and Roman Abramovich, his dashing young protégé who built a multi-billion-dollar empire of oil and aluminum. Locked in a complex, uniquely Russian partnership, Berezovsky and Abramovich battled their way through the "Wild East" of Russia with Berezovsky acting as the younger man's krysha -- literally, his roof, his protector. Under Berezovsky's krysha, Abramovich built one of Russia's largest oil companies from the ground up and in exchange made cash deliveries -- including 491 million dollars in just one year. But their relationship frayed when Berezovsky attacked President Vladimir Putin in the media and had to flee to the UK. Abramovich continued to prosper. Dead bodies trailed Berezovsky's footsteps, and threats followed him to London, where an associate died painfully and famously of Polonium poisoning. Then Berezovsky himself was found dead, declared a suicide.

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