Bill Browder
Financier, economist
Bill Browder, founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, was the largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005, when he was denied entry for exposing corruption in Russian state-owned companies. In 2009 his Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was killed in a Moscow prison after uncovering a $230 million fraud committed by Russian government officials. Ever since, Browder has conducted a global campaign to impose visa bans and asset freezes on individual human rights abusers, particularly those who played a role in Magnitsky’s false arrest, torture and death. The United States was the first to impose such sanctions, passing the 2012 “Magnitsky Act” and Global Magnitsky Bill in 2016. The United Kingdom passed a Magnitsky amendment in 2017, Estonia in 2016, and Canada and Lithuania in 2017. Similar legislation is being developed in Australia, France, Denmark, Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden and Ukraine.
In 2015 Browder published the New York Times bestseller Red Notice, recounting his experience in Russia and ongoing fight for justice for Sergei Magnitsky.
Browder spoke on the panel “Rule of Law, Corruption, and Abuse of Power” alongside Preet Bharara, moderated by John Avlon. and was presented with the American Spirit Award for Citizen Activism at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards, 2019.
Twitter: @Billbrowder
