He survived the NBA lockout, but now New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov wants to take on Vladimir Putin, said Miriam Elder in the London Guardian. Prokhorov, Russia’s third-richest man, with a fortune estimated at $18 billion, announced this week that he was running for the Russian presidency in March. The 46-year-old metals magnate, who previously had close ties to the Kremlin, “has tried his hand at politics before.” He took over a pro-business party this summer before leaving after a few months, calling it the “Kremlin’s puppet project.”
The sight of the “young, slick” Prokhorov, who at 6’8” towers over other politicians, makes it “hard not to feel a pang of sympathy for Russia’s ruling strongman,” said Simon Shuster in Time​.com. But upon closer inspection, Prokhorov may be “the best opponent Putin could possibly ask for.” He’ll quiet protesters, and maybe even garner some votes, but he’s “fundamentally unelectable.” Prokhorov, who has a reputation as a playboy, is often associated with the hated oligarchs, and there is “a ready dossier of alleged scandals” to discredit him. And since Russia’s political system resembles an “elaborate puppet show,” people are already accusing him of being a Kremlin stooge. Prokhorov swears he’s legitimate, saying he’s made “probably the most serious decision of my life.”
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