For anyone who thinks money beats power: Mikhail Khodorkovsky was the richest man in Russia — until he challenged Putin on corruption, on camera. Inside: the real February 2003 confrontation footage, the glass-cage trial, how a $50 billion empire was dismantled piece by piece, and the ruling Russia still refuses to pay. This is how a government took $15 billion without ever calling it theft — how the highest arbitration tribunal on Earth billed Russia $50 billion for it — and why no court in the world can force a nuclear-armed state to pay. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Man in the Glass Cage 0:50 $15 Billion — Russia's Richest Man 1:12 The Meeting, Live on State TV 1:40 The Deal He Named Out Loud 2:30 The Jet on the Runway 3:20 Where a Crackdown Becomes a Heist 4:10 The Shell Company Nobody Had Heard Of 5:00 Nine Years — Then Another Ten 6:15 The Victory Lap 6:40 The $50 Billion Ruling 7:30 Why Nobody Can Make Russia Pay 7:55 What It Was Really About A NOTE ON THE $50 BILLION The 2014 ruling was awarded to Yukos's former majority shareholders (GML) — not to Khodorkovsky personally. He signed his stake over in 2005 and has renounced any claim to the money. A Dutch court set the award aside in 2016; it was reinstated on appeal and made final by the Netherlands' Supreme Court. With interest it now exceeds $60 billion. Russia has never paid it. SOURCES Yukos shareholders v. Russia (Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukos_shareholders_v._Russia Forbes — Why Russia's onetime richest man won't see a penny of the $50 billion https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/2020/02/19/why-russias-one-time-richest-man-wont-see-a-penny-of-the-50-billion-putin-destroyed/ NPR — Court orders Russia to pay former Yukos shareholders $50B https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/07/28/336059424/court-orders-russia-to-pay-former-yukos-shareholders-50b De Brauw — Yukos shareholders secure victory in $50 billion arbitration dispute https://www.debrauw.com/matters/yukos-shareholders-secure-victory-in-50-billion-arbitration-dispute Khodorkovsky.com — The Yukos cases https://khodorkovsky.com/resources/yukos-cases/ ERASED is a series about the people power tried to delete. Nº1 · Russia. Subscribe so you don't miss Nº2. #Khodorkovsky #Putin #Russia #Yukos