As a reporter in Russia in the 1990s, I covered the ways in which a handful of oligarchs made out like bandits in the post-Soviet anarchy of the times. Following a pact hatched in Davos, they intervened heavily to help secure the re-election of president Boris Yeltsin in 1996. That led to what was called the semibankirshchina — or rule of the seven bankers — until some of the oligarchs fell out among themselves and, more terminally, with Yeltsin’s successor Vladimir Putin.
As is sometimes said, history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes. And there are jarring echoes in the emergence of an oligarchy in the US today, revolving around some of the Magnificent Seven tech companies. “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy,” Joe Biden warned this week in his farewell speech as president. It was up to politicians, lawyers and the American people to confront this “tech industrial complex”, he said.
Led by Elon Musk, who spent more than $250mn helping to re-elect Donald Trump, tech bosses have been filing into Mar-a-Lago to trade favours with the incoming president and donate to his inauguration fund. What might we learn from the playbook and experience of their Russian forerunners?