The author of this autobiography, at least in his early career, could be the poster child for the workaholic type A, American capitalist on Wall Street, reliably clueless when it came to social graces. With a Stanford MBA, he defied his family background as leaders of the American Communist Party, and became the prototype capitalist setting up his own hedge fund investing in undervalued Russian assets. His Hermitage Fund became one of the fastest growing profitable investment portfolios in the world, worth more than four billion dollars at one point -until he ran afoul of billionaire crooks in the post-Soviet Russia of Vladimir Putin.
This account of his conversion from a high-flying globetrotting financier to a dedicated human rights activist with connections to prominent politicians and media personnel, following the 2009 arrest, torture and murder of his friend and Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky reads like a fictional international spy thriller, except that the events detailed are real, horrendously cruel, and not even now widely known.
Unable to forget the murder of his friend and the rampant corruption and ludicrous public statements about it in by Russian police, bureaucrats, and media, Browder effectively utilized his worldwide network of contacts and his considerable wealth to expose and reduce the prevalent human rights abuses in Russia.
In spite of his hard-hitting obsessive pursuit of profit early in his career, and of human rights and justice later, there is a very human tender side of the man. He moved Sergei Magnitsky’s widow and son to London, England, and shows great affection for his family, flying from Moscow to London every other weekend to keep contact with his son who is living with his ex-wife, even early in his career. He sobbed uncontrollably when the European Parliament passed a Magnitsky Act while he sat in the balcony with Sergei’s widow.
He admits, in the final chapter, that writing the book is in some respects a countermeasure to the ongoing threats to his life by the Putin oligarchs, well aware of the murders of other defiant truth-tellers. “I have to assume that there is a very real chance that Putin or members of his regime will have me killed some day.,,,,,I can’t mention most of the countermeasures I take, but can mention one: this book. If I am killed, you will know who did it.”
The one undisclosed aspect of his career is what has become of his relationships with his American communist parents and family.
I am in no position to pass judgement on Browder’s character or even all of his actions. Hedge fund manages are usually featured in the news when their greed, misappropriation of investor’s money, and shady tax evasions gets them into trouble with the law-think Bernie Madoff- so it is very refreshing to read about one who morphed into a hard-working effective human rights campaigner. And a man who repeatedly risked his life to find the truth, and expose the crimes of others has to be admired and taken seriously.
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Thanks, Beth and Vera.
The Passionate Reader 