An oligarch's sudden death
He was a man of demonic energy, always in ten places at the same time. He spoke
fast, quietly and articulately; words popped out of him like little, neatly
shaped balls. He used his mental faculties to convince his interlocutor of his
own rightness, never to be convinced by the other. Berezovsky epitomised the
1990s with all its opportunities, ruthlessness, colour and energy. Had it not
been for Perestroika, he probably would have made a brilliant career as a
mathematician. He certainly had ambitions for it, dreaming of a Nobel prize even
though there is none for mathematicians.
He persuaded Yeltsin and his family to hand over to him and his partners
effective control over Channel One, Russia’s main television channel which he
would use to bolster Yeltsin’s falling popularity. He then convinced the
Kremlin, as part of the notorious loans-for-shares deal, to sell him and his
partners Sibneft, an oil company, in order to finance Channel One, which he used
as a blunt and effective tool of propaganda.
