Roman Abramovich: billionaire oligarch, Chelsea owner, Kremlin ally – and, apparently, pals with Jared and Ivanka
The story of their relationship is that of today’s trans-global elite: a web of money, power, art and philanthropy connects the world’s rich in ways that transcend borders
As federal investigators probe possible Kremlin links with the Donald Trump campaign, one connection that hasn’t received much attention is that between Jared Kushner and one of Russia’s most powerful and influential billionaires: Roman Abramovich.
The men have met three to four times in social settings, and their wives have been friends for a decade, facts that Kushner and Ivanka Trump revealed on their security-clearance forms to join the White House staff, according to a person familiar with the filings.
The form, SF-86, asks applicants whether they have had “close and/or continuing contact with a foreign national within the last seven years with whom you, or your spouse or cohabitant are bound by affection, influence or common interests”.
In 2014, the Kushners spent four days in Russia at the invitation of Abramovich’s wife, Dasha Zhukova. The couples sat at the same table along with a few other people during a high-powered fundraising dinner for Moscow’s Jewish Museum. Kushner also was invested in an online art business of which Zhukova is a founding partner. Ivanka Trump, Kushner and his brother, Joshua, have accompanied Zhukova to sporting events in the New York area.
Abramovich is the biggest shareholder of Evraz Plc, Russia’s second-largest steelmaker, and the owner of London’s Chelsea football club. In 2005, he was the first oligarch permitted by the Kremlin to sell his oil company to a state firm. He took in US$13 billion in the deal approved by President Vladimir Putin.