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Russian billionaire says a single Instagram post cost him $9 billion: ‘I was like a hostage’
Oleg Tinkov, a former Russian banking tycoon, claims his Instagram post against the Ukraine war cost him $9 billion
A former Russian banking tycoon has said that a single Instagram post condemning the Ukraine war cost him $9 billion. Oleg Tinkov said he was forced to sell his stake in his bank for a fraction of its real value because of the post, calling it an example of how Russia controls dissent.
Who is Oleg Tinkov?
Oleg Tinkov is a Russian-born former billionaire, entrepreneur and businessman. As the founder of Tinkoff Bank, he was once one of Russia’s wealthiest bankers.
What did he post on Instagram?
In 2022, Tinkov shared an Instagram post condemning the war in Ukraine as “insane”. He said that the Russian military is ill-prepared to handle a war and riddled with corruption.
The banking tycoon also claimed that 90% of Russians are opposed to war, and the remaining 10% who support it are “morons”.
“I do not see ONE beneficiary of this insane war!” Tinkov wrote in Russian in his Instagram post, according to CNBC. “Innocent people and soldiers are dying. The generals woke up from a hangover, realized they had a sh---y army.”
“And how will the army be good if everything else in the country is s--t and dirty in nepotism,” he wondered.
A loss of $9 billion
In a recent conversation with the BBC, Tinkov revealed that days after he made the Instagram post, he received a call from the Kremlin.
He was told that either his stake in the bank would be sold and his name removed from the brand, or that the bank would be nationalized. Tinkov said that it was not a negotiation but coercion under threat.
“I couldn’t negotiate the price. I was like a hostage,” he told The New York Times. He ended up selling his stake in the bank in April 2022, shortly after his Instagram post.
Tinkov told the BBC that the forced sale valued his stake at barely 3% of what it was actually worth, effectively erasing nearly $9 billion from his fortune.
After the sale, Tinkov left Russia and later renounced his Russian citizenship. He claimed the campaign against him went beyond financial losses, alleging pressure to strip his name from the bank’s brand and attempts to erase his role in building the institution that once bore his name.
