Exiled Russian Tycoon Berezovsky Dead at 67

Putin critic had gotten rich after collapse of Soviet Union
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 23, 2013 1:55 PM CDT
Updated Mar 23, 2013 2:20 PM CDT
Exiled Russian Tycoon Berezovsky Dead at 67
Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky in London on Aug. 31, 2012.   (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

One of Russia's famed "oligarchs" who became unimaginably rich after the collapse of the Soviet Union has been found dead in his London home at age 67, reports the BBC. The cause of Boris Berezovsky's death remains unclear, but the news is drawing lots of attention because the exiled tycoon was a big critic of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. He rose to fame and power in the 1990s with the help of Boris Yeltsin and became "one of the most extraordinary and revealing stories of the immediate post-Communist era," writes the Telegraph.

Berezovsky had survived multiple assassination attempts, including one in 1994 that killed his chauffeur. Last year, he lost a multi-billion-dollar legal fight with fellow Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich that involved accusations of blackmail and extortion on both sides. Berezovsky also is linked to the infamous 2006 poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko because Litvinenko worked for him. Berezovsky won a libel suit against Russian state television for a report implicating him in the death. (More Boris Berezovsky stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X