Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

William Browder on Human Rights in Russia

Livi Anna Masso Blog

William Browder: “It’ll have an enormous impact on the human rights situation in Russia, if there are real consequences to the people who violate human rights.”

William Browder is the co-founder and CEO of the investment fund Hermitage Capital Management currently based in London, a former client of the late lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and an initiator of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act. Interview with Iivi Anna Masso, published in Diplomaatia 96 / August 2011 (also in Estonian).

IAM: You did a great career in Russia as an investor and ended up as a public enemy of the Kremlin. How did your story in Russia begin?

WB: I have a connection with Russia that comes from my family. My grandfather was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the US and he lived in Russia in 1927–1932. My grandmother was Russian and my father was born in Russia.

My teenage rebellion against my Communist family was to become a businessman. I graduated from Stanford Business School in 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down. When trying to figure out what to do with my life, I decided to go to Russia. I thought that with my background, it would be a good idea to do something in the post-Communist world.