GUESSING at the supposed—and secret—personal wealth of President Vladimir Putin is a favourite pastime for Russia-watchers, with much talk (and few facts) about opaque beneficiary companies, Swiss bank accounts, and intermediary oligarchs. In 2007, as Mr Putin’s second term was coming to a close and talk of succession swirled in Moscow, a rumour-monger called Stanislav Belkovsky said (without citing sources) that the Russian leader's covert holdings in some of Russia’s largest energy and trading firms amounted to $40 billion.
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