Newsweek: Why Putin is not in the Forbes billionaire list

“On Monday, Forbes released its annual list of the world's richest people. The 29th ranking included 1826 billionaires with a total net worth of $7,05 trillion, but the conspicuous absence of one person whose wealth many have long speculated about is Russian President Vladimir Putin,” writes Newsweek.

Forbes deliberately excludes from its list members of royal families and “dictators who gained wealth solely as a result of being in power,” says the author of the article, Polly Mozendz.

Asked about Putin, a Forbes spokeswoman told Newsweek: "Vladimir Putin is not on the list because we were unable to verify that he owns assets worth $1 billion or more." Forbes spokeswoman and assistant editor Kerry Dolan would not comment directly on whether the magazine considers Putin a dictator.

“In 2012, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (an independent association of journalists. - Approx. Ed.) conducted a thorough analysis of the president's income and found that, according to official records, he and his wife had less than half a million dollars in the bank at the time. According to this investigation, Putin’s salary was only $140 a year,” writes Mozendz.

“Still, when it comes to property, Putin has palaces and yachts at his disposal, and he has received numerous gifts, such as a $200 watch. An official representative of the Russian government refused to comment to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism whether these objects are the property of the president or the state,” the publication notes.

Political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky, in an interview with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, estimated Putin's wealth in 2012 at approximately $70 billion, citing his contributions to Gazprom and Surgutneftegaz, Newsweek recalls. “In 2007, Belkovsky believed that Putin’s fortune was $40 billion. Bloomberg columnist Leonid Bershidsky pointed out that Belkovsky’s figures are exaggerated and cannot be confirmed,” the author of the article reports.