It turns out that the sanctions that have been implemented
against Russian oligarchs are working the way that they were intended to work.
And now, oligarchs are shocked, and
chagrined that it's impacting their standard of living.
So one of them actually spoke to the press, and
is not very happy about the fact that he might not be able to afford a driver.
You know what it's time for, another edition of when rich men cry.
>> I care.
It's it.
>> Now that was Leon Cooperman, an American oligarch, but
let's go back to the Russian oligarchs.
One in particular, his name is Peter Aven who is not too happy about the sanctions.
He recently had an interview with the Financial Times where he said quote, well,
I'll get to his quotes in a minute.
But first, a few details on what he's experiencing.
The wife of the oligarch Peter Aven,
spent time in London traveling around cash machines, taking out as
much money as she could to prepare for the EU and UK sanctions on him.
The sanctions froze his bank accounts and assets,
including a top floor duplex flat in London's affluent St Jame's neighborhood,
and an art-filled mansion in a commuter suburb.
And so, Bloomberg estimates that he is worth $5.6 billion,
I guess that's presanctions, and
most of his money came from oil investments that he had made in the 1980s.
But those investments were very hard work, according to him.
And now, everything that he's built has been destroyed in early March,
even stepped down from the $22 billion investment firm LetterOne which he
cofounded with Mikhail Fridman, another sanctioned Russian oligarch.
The two billionaires also reportedly resigned from the board of
the Russian banking company Alfa-Bank, days after the EU sanctioned them.
The sanctions meant he was banned from doing business in, and
traveling to the EU and the UK.
Now, he's very worried about the impact that these sanctions have already had on
him and his family, but also what's to come in the future.
His life changed overnight.
He says, with a snap of his fingers, it is a life for which he may not be prepared.
He says, quote, will I be allowed to have a cleaner, or a driver?
I don't drive a car.
Maybe my stepdaughter will drive.
We don't understand how to survive.
He says, speaking at a table laden with fruit and
snacks in his London flat, with its double height dining room.
What is he gonna do Jake?
I mean, did Biden go too far?
Did the UK and EU go too far?
I mean, what does he, he doesn't know how to drive a car.
>> Guys, this story has so many interesting elements to it.
So first of all, the hilarity of how unsafe of where he is.
Is that amazing?
Look, I tell you all the time on the show,
the hardest thing in the world to escape your own perspective.
And so, he said all those quotes with a straight face,
not understanding that the overwhelming majority of us will have
absolutely no sympathy for a Russian oligarch helping to destroy Ukraine,
and helped to finance killing all those Ukraine's.
But he thought we would have sympathy for him,
that he no longer has a driver, or a cleaner.
>> Now the second part of it is, he said, we don't know how we're gonna survive,
and we're told this myth of meritocracy that the people that rise to
the top are the smartest, the brightest, the hardest working.
The guy doesn't know how to survive without a driver, and a cleaner.
Do you know how to survive without one?
You do, don't you?
Congratulations.
You're smarter than a guy who has $5.6 billion.
No, they didn't do it through being incredibly smart or hardworking,
they did it through corruption, they did it through shamelessness.
So, and they've lost touch with any kinda reality.
So I love these sanctions.
I hate how it affects the actual Russian population because they didn't ask for
this, and they're being dragged along, and there are more victims of Putin, and
the oligarchs, okay.
But the reason why I love these sanctions is because they're
apparently hitting the intended target,
which is Russian billionaires who are financing Putin, and his invasion.
So you can tell because they're crying in public.
And the guy went on to talk about, my God, I don't know how we're gonna live,
we don't have any money.
How do you people do it?
Right? So they're not all right,
they're hurt dog, and that's good because that means they're
gonna create a ton of pressure on Putin to retreat.
>> Exactly.
I mean, I'm just, you're right about how disconnected this guy is from reality,
where he's like, must I dust my faberge eggs on my own.
He's shocked that he is going through this.
But more importantly, he's shocked at what typical people do literally on a daily
basis to survive, right?
Most people do their own cleaning.
Most people do their own driving, and they're perfectly fine, homeboy,
time to trade in that private jet for a swiffer wet jet, okay.
It's just, it's life.
And he's making these complaints as Ukrainian civilians are being
targeted by Russian troops, as corridors meant to help these
individuals get to safety are being targeted by Russian troops.
As mothers are watching their own children die as a result of the Russian
shelling that's taking place, in places like Mariupol, get a grip bro.
Like the fact that he has the audacity to complain about not having
a driver anymore, is again a perfect example of how rich people did not
get to where they are based on their own merit, but
more importantly, b, just have no real empathy for people.
It's all about themselves, and what they're going through, and
what their lived experiences.
It's just, it's really shameful.
Yeah, so he did mention a quote about he's,
look I know as people are dying I'm not trying to complain.
No, that's exactly what you're doing, you're complaining,
and crying about not having your chauffeur,
or not having anyone to pass you gray poupon from limo to limo while
people are having their kids killed by your buddy, Vladimir Putin.
So but look, it's definitely working.
Those oligarchs are really worried.
In fact, that leads us to Abramovich.
He is one of the top Russian oligarchs.
He also owns Chelsea which is a giant soccer club, football club in the UK,
one of mubthe most successful in the world.
And so, he's so worried about it.
He's actually in the middle of negotiations,
he's talking to the Ukrainians and talking to Putin directly,
and he's trying to mend fences here and get to a peace treaty, so
that he his fortune isn't sanctioned out of existence at least.
He's being proactive about it.
And what did he get for his efforts?
He was poisoned.
>> He alleges, yeah.
No I believe him for sure.
So in a particular peace negotiation, they walked out and
then, he wound up, both him, and the Ukrainians in that
negotiation wound up with all the symptoms of poisoning in that
particular case including being blinded for several hours.
So that must have been super scary as he,
must have thought that he was about to die.
As it turns out that poison was not as toxic as it could have been.
He regained his sight, and he did not die and neither did any of the Ukrainians.
And so, it's not clear that Putin did that.
The going theory is that the hardliners in Russia they tryna end the peace
negotiations, trying to poison Abramovich in the Ukrainians.
But you can tell super high stakes, and some people in the Russian
government are used to poisoning anyone that crosses them.
And so, but Abramovich is taking all those chances anyway because they're
about to lose all of their money.
So these sanctions are definitely working.