Russian oligarch and owner of the Russian version of Forbes magazine Magomed Musaev, in private conversations with partners in June, announced that he had become the new owner of the entire Forbes media group. Writes about this The Washington Postreferring to five audio recordings and one video recording received in which Musaev allegedly spoke about this.
“I just bought global Forbes,” Musaev told one of his associates, referring to the Forbes media group, which includes the American editorial office of the magazine.
WP writes that according to the recordings, Musaev repeated this statement “over and over again” and called it “the deal of his life.”
“You understand, when you have in your hands the key to the world’s most authoritative brand, this key will give me access to anyone,” the Russian oligarch said in one of the recordings.
In May 2023, it became known that American entrepreneur Austin Russell had entered into an $800 million agreement to purchase an 82% stake in Forbes Global Media Holdings.
However, according to WP, Musaev called Russell the “face” of the deal and insisted that his own participation be kept secret.
“I do it more subtly… You understand, I work not with a sledgehammer or a scalpel, but with a laser,” WP quotes Musaev.
In comments to The Post, Russell denied Musaev’s involvement in the deal: “There is not a single dollar of capital from any Chinese or Russian citizen or entity, including Musaev.”
Musaev told The Post that any suggestion that he controlled the deal is “absolute nonsense” and a “monstrous myth,” and that he was not included in the deal documents. He denied telling colleagues he had bought Forbes, but did not respond to subsequent requests for comment on the posts.
As reported by the Russian propaganda resource RBC, Forbes Russia development director Dmitry Ozman said that Russian Forbes knows nothing about the deal, and in a personal conversation Musaev does not comment on this issue.
Editor-in-chief of Forbes Ukraine, former editor-in-chief LIGA.net Boris Davydenko reportedthat he doesn’t know if the WP information is true, and is “as surprised as you are.”
He suggested that the deal is not closed, and if this is true, then “it is unlikely to be closed.”
“If this is true and the deal is closed, then there will be a time for decisions,” Davidenko added, indicating that this is his personal position.
- In August 2018, Musaev became owner Russian version of Forbes magazine.
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Source: liga.net
