After Criticizing Putin's 'Crazy' War, Sanctioned Russian Tycoon Sells His Bank To Country's Richest Man
Almost a week after slamming President Putin's invasion of Ukraine, sanctioned Russian billionaire and founder of Tinkoff Bank Oleg Tinkov has sold the digital bank to Russia¡¯s richest man, Vladimir Potanin.
Sixteen years after establishing it, sanctioned Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov has sold his family¡¯s entire stake in the Tinkoff Bank. Over a week after he slammed President Putin¡¯s invasion of Ukraine, the tycoon has sold the digital bank to Russia¡¯s richest man, Vladimir Potanin.
Russia¡¯s richest man Potanin¡¯s Interros Capital is said to be buying Tinkov¡¯s 35% stake in TCS Group owned Tinkoff bank, Interros said in a statement yesterday, as per a report in BloombergQuint.
However, the terms of the deal were not disclosed yet.
The 54-year-old tycoon Tinkov, who is worth $3.5 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, was sanctioned by the U.K. in March 2022 and accused of being complicit in Russia¡¯s war on Ukraine.
EPA
Last week, he published a post about Russia¡¯s ¡°crazy war¡± on his Instagram page where he has over 668k followers. This was a rare example of a prominent Russian businessman publicly criticizing the invasion.
After the comments, Tinkoff¡¯s co-chief executive officers quit and the bank distanced itself from its founder, calling him just one of its 20 million clients. The bank had also announced plans to drop his name from the brand.
TASS
Also Read: UK Government Freezes Assets Of Sberbank, Russia¡¯s Largest Bank In Latest Sanctions
Billionaire Tinkov reportedly said he was retiring to focus on his health and family, according to the statement.
In 2020, he announced about receiving treatment for leukemia. That same year, he had reportedly pulled out of a deal to sell the bank to Russian internet giant Yandex NV in a deal that would have valued TCS at $5.5 billion.
It's worth noting here that unlike many of Russia¡¯s richest people, the richest man Potanin has not been targeted by U.S., U.K. or European Union sanctions, though he was recently hit by Canada, as per a BloombergQuint report.
Also, this stake purchase of Tinkoff bank will be Potanin¡¯s second bank acquisition in April 2022, after his company Interros Capital bought Rosbank PJSC from Societe Generale SA, which sought to pull out of Russia after the Ukraine invasion that began more than two months ago on February 24th 2022.
Also Read: US Seizes Russian Billionaire Vekselberg¡¯s $99 Million Superyacht In Spain
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