Russia’s Richest Woman Handed Over A Third Of Her Fortune. Then Things Turned Deadly.

Forbes

The richest woman in Russia left her husband in April and quietly gave away a third of her company, Wildberries, in a surprising merger in July. Now two people are dead. Here’s the inside story of what may have led to the tragedy.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2024/09/18/russias-richest-woman-handed-over-a-third-of-her-fortune-then-things-turned-deadly/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Russia's richest woman handed over a third of her fortune, then things turned

00:07deadly.

00:09One of Russia's most compelling entrepreneurial tales has turned into a deadly nightmare.

00:14On Wednesday, at least two people died and seven others were injured after a shooting

00:18at the Moscow headquarters of Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, according

00:24to media reports.

00:26Tatyana Bakalchuk, the self-made billionaire who founded Wildberries, a $5.9 billion in

00:32sales retailer comparable to Amazon in the U.S., blamed her estranged husband and co-founder

00:38Vladislav Bakalchuk, who she said led a group of armed people into the e-commerce giant's

00:43headquarters in an attempt to seize operations.

00:47In a telegram post in the hours after the shooting that Forbes translated into English,

00:52Bakalchuk, the richest woman in Russia, said, quote,

00:55This is a hostile takeover, or rather, an unsuccessful attempt.

01:00She added that she's appealed to law enforcement, quote, to take control of the situation.

01:05Both of the people killed were Wildberries security guards, according to Russia's Interfax

01:10news agency.

01:12On Thursday, Vladislav was arrested and charged with murder, the outlet reported, citing his

01:18defense team.

01:19Dozens of others were also arrested in connection with the shooting.

01:23Vladislav has maintained his innocence, arguing that Wildberries officers fired on him and

01:28his security team unprovoked when he arrived for a pre-organized meeting, leaving some

01:33of those who joined them wounded.

01:37Wednesday's tragic events appear to be the latest escalation in a months-long battle

01:41between the Bakalchuks, who have been married for at least 20 years, over the future of

01:46the e-commerce giant they long ran together.

01:49Tatyana left Vladislav in April, and then said in July she'd filed for divorce.

01:55One month before filing the divorce petition, Wildberries announced its plan to merge with

01:59Russ Outdoor, a Russia-based billboard and outdoor advertising operator once owned by

02:04billionaire Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., but sold multiple times before landing with little-known

02:09Russian businessman Gregory Sidoyan.

02:12The business's day-to-day operations seem to be run by brothers Robert and Levon Mirzoyan.

02:19While Tatyana endorsed the merger as a way to grow the Wildberries business, Vladislav

02:23came out publicly against the deal.

02:26Enlisting the help of Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of President Vladimir

02:31Putin and Putin's self-described, quote, foot soldier, Vladislav and Kadyrov released a

02:37video in which they accused Russ Outdoor of seizing Wildberries.

02:41In the same video, Kadyrov vowed to, quote, return Tatyana to the family and protect a

02:46legitimate business.

02:49New reporting by Forbes, however, sheds more light on why these tensions may have bubbled

02:54over.

02:55In the months since the merger, publicly available documents reveal that Wildberries transferred

03:00all of its valuable assets into a joint venture with Russ.

03:04Wildberries moved 27 of its 30 subsidiaries into the new company, RWB LLC, according to

03:10Spark Interfax, a platform that shows the ownership of private companies in Russia.

03:15The three remaining subsidiaries do not appear to contain any significant portion of the

03:19business.

03:20Russ, meanwhile, transferred nothing, but gained a 35% stake in the new venture.

03:27Wildberries took 65%.

03:30Pakalchuk doesn't appear to have gained a stake in Russ as part of the transaction.

03:35The result?

03:36Russ's richest woman effectively gave away a 35% stake in her company, worth an estimated

03:41$3.4 billion.

03:44Her net worth has dropped to $4.1 billion from $7.9 billion, according to Forbes' estimations.

03:52Her fortune is also down due to exchange rates.

03:56In an interview before the shooting, Vladislav raged against the deal, which he argued Tatyana

04:01had been tricked into.

04:03Prior to the deal, Vladislav, who claims to have been closely involved in building and

04:07running the business, told Russian media that the couple did not sign a prenup and told

04:11Forbes he believes he is entitled to half of the Wildberries business.

04:16There has been much scrutiny over the reason for the Russ-Wildberries merger in the first

04:19place.

04:21Despite a significant size difference — Russ recorded around $300 million in revenue last

04:26year, about 5% of Wildberries' 2023 sales — the two companies touted the merger as

04:32part of a broader plan to build the nation's largest and most high-tech digital marketplace

04:37focused on Russia, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

04:42For full coverage, check out Jemima McAvoy's piece on Forbes.com.

04:48This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:50Thanks for tuning in.

Category

Transcript

Recommended