Edited by: TJVNews.com
Jewish Russian billionaire and former owner of NBA team the Brooklyn Nets, Mikhail Prokhorov, has made Aliyah and became an Israeli citizen, according to a report on Monday on the Ynet.com web site.
Having arrived in Israel several days ago on a private jet from Switzerland, the 56-year old businessman and former owner of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team, is seeking Israeli citizenship. Currently, Prokhorov owns the largest producer of gold in Russia. His estimated net worth is approximately $13.8 billion, according to the Ynet report. Prokhorov also tried his hand in politics, running unsuccessfully in the 2012 Russian presidential elections, when Putin regained the presidency after a stint as prime minister, according to a Times of Israel report.
The report indicated that Prokhorov maintains a close alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Unlike other Russian oligarchs, the Ynet report said that Western sanctions have not been imposed him as Russia’s war on Ukraine rages on unabated. The relationship between the two Russian oligarchs deteriorated subsequent to the launch of his presidential bid. Despite qualifying he did not oppose the Russian leader but only offered himself as an alternative, as was reported by Ynet.
The Ynet report also said that since he touched down in the Holy Land, Prokhorov has filed all the requisite paperwork to become an Israeli citizen. Under the country’s Law of Return, Jews, their immediate family and grandchildren have the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship, the report added.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Prokhorov received citizenship after passing eligibility tests conducted by Nativ, an independent administrative unit at the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for checking aliyah eligibility for Jews born in former Soviet countries.
Prokhorov has played a key role in the proliferation of electric vehicles in Russia and is a co-founder of Russian hybrid electric car venture Yo-Mobile, according to the Ynet report. An article that recently appeared in the New York Post indicated that Prokhorov relinquished his ownership of the Brooklyn Nets with is an NBA franchise due to large part to pressure applied on him by Putin. The Ynet report said that Putin’s pressure on him was “kind of a litmus test for loyalty in the face of Western sanctions following Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.”
Prokhorov owned the Brooklyn Nets for a decade; from 2009 to 2019.
In 2016, tensions grew between Prokhorov and Putin when the former’s media group known as Onexim published details pertaining to shady financial dealings involving Putin’s son-in-law. In response, the tax authorities and the federal police raided the company’s offices, according to the Ynet report.
Forbes Magazine listed Prokhorov as the 193rd richest person in the world.
(Sources: Ynet, JPost)
