As part of his 2024 re-election campaign, Russian President Vladimir Putin released financial disclosures that showed relatively modest declared wealth, consisting primarily of his official government salary and a limited portfolio of reported assets.
How much money does Putin really have?
But critics and financial investigators say this image is more illusion than reality. They argue that the disclosures leave out vast hidden wealth, potentially worth billions, routed through shell companies, loyal oligarchs, and state-linked corporations that quietly bankroll the Kremlin’s inner circle.
Putin only made $753,000
In early 2024 Putin’s financial disclosure revealed that he earned 67.7 million rubles or $753,000 over the past six years, and most of that was from his salary as the president of Russia according to a report from the Moscow Times on the financial disclosure.
The Russian President owns two small apartments
The 71-year-old Putin’s military and civilian pension rounded out the cash he earned, as well as funds gained from the sale of some property. Almost no assets were listed in the disclosure aside from two small apartments in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Putin still has his infamous Volga GAZ M-21 cars
The financial disclosure also showed that Putin still owned his infamous Volga GAZ M-21 cars, one of which was produced in 1960 and the other in 1965, as well as a 1987 camper trailer and 2009 Lada Niva.
Doubts about Putin’s real wealth
Putin’s 2021 financial data was released by the Russian media and the Kremlin. But publications like The Washington Post, Fortune, Business Insider, and others looked into Putin’s possible wealth and assets at the time. Most of what has been claimed didn’t make sense.
Fortune previously defined Putin’s real estate as an “unsolvable mystery” and wrote that he had a fortune of some 200 billion dollars. Included in this fortune was a watch collection, a $1.4 billion Black Sea villa, and 19 other properties (not in his name), plus helicopters, planes, and miscellaneous cars.
