Putin's Net Worth: Is Russian President Richer Than Billionaire Bill Gates?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has left for India and is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi Thursday evening for a two-day state visit as part of the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit. Ahead of his arrival, as questions abound about his security arrangements and rumours of body doubles, many are also asking: "How wealthy is Vladimir Putin really?"

Official Kremlin disclosures paint the picture of a modest public servant. Putin's declared annual salary stands at roughly $140,000, and his listed personal assets include an 800-square-foot apartment, a small plot of land with a trailer, and three vehicles, as per Reuters. The Kremlin has consistently portrayed him as a leader who lives simply.

How Rich Is Putin

Putin could be worth as much as $200 billion, financier Bill Browder, once the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia, has long claimed. Browder told the US Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017 that much of this hidden wealth was amassed after the 2003 arrest of oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

If true, this would place Putin among the richest individuals in the world, surpassing even Microsoft's Bill Gates and former Alphabet CEO Larry Page.

Putin's Net Worth: Yachts, Watches, ‘Palaces'

While his official filings are sparse, Putin is frequently photographed wearing luxury watches worth several times his declared annual income.

A 2022 release by the UK Foreign Office showed links between Putin and extravagant assets. A £566 million (Rs 6,000 crore) superyacht and the infamous $1 billion “Putin's Palace” on the Black Sea, officially owned by close associate Arkady Rotenberg.

Reports over the years have also tied him to multiple lavish residences, fleets of cars, and dozens of aircraft and helicopters, none of which appear in Kremlin records.

How Putin Built His Wealth

Putin's financial empire remains almost entirely hidden, but researchers and investigators outline two broad mechanisms.

Extortion of oligarchs - International media, including CNN, have reported assessments that Putin demanded shares or cash from Russia's wealthiest businessmen in exchange for protection from prosecution. Browder has described this as “massive theft from state funds.”

A vast patronage network - According to Forbes, Putin has facilitated lucrative contracts and business ownership for loyalists, relatives and childhood friends. In return, they allegedly funnel kickbacks to him. The structure is often compared to a mafia hierarchy, with Putin as the ultimate boss.

How The Money May Be Hidden

For 20 years, Forbes says it has tried and failed to conclusively trace Putin's wealth, calling it “the most elusive riddle in wealth hunting.”

Economist Anders Aslund estimates Putin's hidden fortune to be between $100 billion and $160 billion, held through a network of trusted associates, security officials, and family members.

The 2016 Panama Papers showed a web of offshore loans and companies worth around $2 billion linked not directly to Putin but to his closest friends.

The Guardian reported that the patterns “pointed unmistakably to wealth held by proxy.” Some analysts suggest Putin may not “own” vast amounts in a traditional sense, but he simply controls access to them as long as he holds power.

Sanctions

Despite sweeping Western sanctions since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, there is little sign that Russia's elite or Putin have been financially weakened. Russia's richest individuals gained $72 billion in the year to April 2024 fuelled by wartime demand and the takeover of foreign assets at steep discounts, Reuters reported.

The Forbes list of Russia's richest shows 123 billionaires in December 2021, before the war and 125 billionaires by December 2024.

Around 40 per cent of sanctioned oligarchs actually grew richer, according to CEPR researchers.