Can someone explain "oligarchs" to me.

[George K]

Yeah, I get it. These guys are all fabulously rich from income derived in less-than-above-board ways, I guess.

Do they all have ties to Putin, as in a "wink-wink" type of thing where he'll ignore the corruption as long as they don't cause him trouble?

I really don't understand the relationship. I suppose Putin holds a knife at their necks, threatening to stick it in, unless they support him. But, how much is that support really worth? I would think Putin supporting the oligarchs is a much more valuable relationship to the oligarch.

[jon-nyc]

@George-K

They were originally pretty independent. In the early 2000s Putin subordinated them to him and the state and jailed the non cooperators. I think he only had to jail one (Kodorkhovsky) and the others fell in line.

[Klaus]

I think many of the oligarchs stem from the Boris Jelzin era. Some of the oligarchs have continued their business with Putin, others not so much.

[89th]

Russia and (Brazil?) are some of the only countries where the top 0.01% have more than the bottom 80%.

[Aqua Letifer]

@89th said in Can someone explain "oligarchs" to me.:

Russia and (Brazil?) are some of the only countries where the top 0.01% have more than the bottom 80%.

We'll get there, too.