Usmanov: Arsenal's Saviour Or Dangerous Scoundrel?
Usmanov, that wobbly-jawed, walking Rouble, first came to most Gooners attention in 2007. This was the year he breached the previously impenetrable group of shareholders. The people who technically owned our club were part of an illustrious group that still held the values of Arsenal aloft to the rest and showed that a successful team could still be maintained without a major foreign-investor. The dusty, mahogany-filled boardroom, much like Ron Burgundys house, was an example to all clubs. It was serene, untouched, untroubled. Fans never really had cause for concern in that regard. We were in fact, proud that the traditional values were still in place. Until 2007.
We had become a valuable commodity. Thanks mostly to our manager, we were making waves in the financial pool and the smell of a crisp note wafted to the ever-pricked nostrils of the savvy Uzbek.
His investment, when everyone found out about his net-worth, was greeted by a fair portion of fans with positivity. Thanks to Abramovich resurrecting a club that was on its knees to a lofty position fighting for honours it had no cause to fight for previously, it would seem that a slice of Gooners wanted that for themselves. They wanted us to suckle on the teat at the expense of our scruples. With Usmanov's comment in an interview with Bloomberg stating that his stake with Arsenal is "a business interest", does this pull back the hood on the Oligarch's intentions and reveal the sharp incisors bared in anticipation?
Let me blast some background at ya'll, all gleaned from everybody's favourite reference tool, Wikipedia. Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov was born in Uzbekistan. His father was a State Prosecutor, so not quite the humble beginnings that we imagined. Alisher naturally followed daddys' leanings and progressed through University to earn a Degree in International Law. Now comes the fun part. The cash. He earned his first millions with investing in metal and mining, but the breakthrough came when he invested in Metalloinvest, of which he is now the majority shareholder. So far, so Abramovich. This company now is the sponsor of Dinamo Moscow, so if they face us, expect Alisher to purchase ALL the half 'n' half scarves.
It would seem that once the moolah started rolling in, that ole' ABU got a taste for the success and power, because he started to cut a swathe through most of Russia's power companies. He not only did that, but they were shrewd moves as well. He invested in media. A lot of it.
Kommersant, the rather large Russian newspaper, formerly owned by Boris Berezovsky, yup, the same Boris who was the Russian tycoon who was in exile in the UK, facing tax embezzlement charges after disagreeing with the Kremlin, also found dead by suicide in 2013. Well, Kommersant was bought by Usmanov. ABU also co-owns Megafon, the 2nd biggest mobile phone operator in Russia. ABU also dipped his toes into the internet, he co-owns the biggest company based on the web in the Russian-speaking world. So Newspaper, telecommunications and the internet. That's quite a portfolio. No stopping for portly Alisher though, for his corpulent frame belies his rapier business sense. In 2013 he bought shares in Apple. In 2014, he sold them. No doubt for a juicy profit. He also owns shares in Facebook, Zynga and Groupon, not to mention everybodies favourite soapbox, Twitter. I'm having second thoughts as to putting this blog out........
I worry for legitimate reasons, for our chubby shareholder is a former jailbird. The conviction was vacated upon further inspection in 2000, but 20yrs earlier, he was doing bird at the Kremlins Pleasure, serving 6yrs out of an 8 year stretch for Fraud. It is sometimes hard to hide your millions under the mattress......
Read on for the crux of the issue with Usmanov
