(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, March 17, 2022) Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that he made only $140,000 a year, lived in an apartment that was only 800 square feet (about 22.5 ping), and declared a trailer and three cars. Yet some financial experts say he may actually be the richest man in the world. Or, if not the richest man, at least the second richest man. (Russian President Vladimir Putin may be the richest man on earth. Photo from Associated Press)

According to the Irish newspaper The Independent, if you look at Bloomberg's list of billionaires, as of March 12, the world's richest man was Tesla CEO Elon Musk, with a personal net worth of $2,060 billion, followed by Bezos with a net worth of $1,700 billion. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Musk, the world's richest man on the "table", actively assisted Ukraine with corporate resources such as his "Starlink" satellite communication equipment.

The US "Fortune" magazine (Fortune) once reported that Putin loves watches, likes to relax in a mansion worth 1.4 billion US dollars on the Black Sea, and has a collection of 58 planes and helicopters. One of them, the "Flying Kremlin", is worth $716 million, and there is also a toilet made of gold.

The richest man "under the table" once choked: "I have my private life, which is not allowed to be interfered with, and needs to be respected."

At a time when the Western world has slapped tough sanctions on Russia's wealthy and corporations, the focus is now on just how wealthy the strongman who waged the war against Ukraine is.

Putin portrays himself as a moderate, earnest civil servant who enjoys a simple, middle-class life, but is often spotted wearing high-end luxury watches. Judging from his photos, he wore a Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar watch with a price tag of $60,000.

The $500,000 A. Lange & Sohne Toubograph and other uniquely designed models have also been featured in Putin.

The outside world also believes that a 190,000-square-foot (about 5,300 ping) villa overlooking the Black Sea belongs to him. It is said that this mansion will cost 2 million US dollars a year just to maintain the garden.

The Kremlin has denied Putin is the owner of the property, saying it is owned by a wealthy entrepreneur. Analysts, however, pointed out that no property of any businessperson would be guarded by the Russian Federal Security Service, and that the sky above is also a no-fly zone.

Putin also drove a $100 million superyacht to sea, and the Russian Navy nuclear submarine factory built the yacht for him.

The Irish newspaper The Independent said Putin's fortune was worth $2,000 billion, a figure financier Bill Browder put forward when he testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017. Browder believes Putin ordered Russia's oligarchs to hand over half of their wealth to him after the 2003 arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the founder of Yukos oil company, who was once Russia's richest man.

In this way, Putin’s net worth is a little worse than Musk’s, but the ceotodaymagazine website pointed out that Musk’s worth follows the stock market, so it fell below the $200 billion mark at the end of February. The reason is that the war between Russia and Ukraine caused the stock market to plummet. Musk's worth has since returned to more than $2,000 billion, and Putin's actual wealth is difficult to estimate, so it is not easy to determine who is the richest person on the face of the earth.

In any case, Putin should have already started to protect his assets. Last month, German media reported that Graceful, a superyacht believed to be owned by Putin, quietly sailed out of the Port of Hamburg before the scheduled maintenance was completed.

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)

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