publisher of Forbes Russia announced the purchase of the entire Forbes media group – Kommersant

The owner of AS Rus Media (publisher of Forbes Russia) Magomed Musaev told friends that he bought out the entire Forbes media group, reports The Washington Post (WP). The publication refers to audio recordings and video recordings made a few days before the celebration of the businessman’s 60th birthday in New York. In May it was reported that a controlling stake in Forbes was bought by American billionaire Austin Russell, the transaction amount was assessed almost $800 million.

According to WP, Mr. Musaev called the American businessman the “face” of the deal and insisted that his own participation be kept secret. “I just bought global Forbes. You understand, when you have the key to the world’s most authoritative brand in your hands, this key will give me access to anyone,” Magomed Musaev told one of his colleagues, the newspaper claims, noting that he “repeated this statement again and again.”

Officially, Magomed Musaev and Austin Russell deny this information. Mr Musaev told WP that any suggestion that he controlled the deal was “absolute nonsense” and a “monstrous myth”, and that “according to the documents, he was not involved in it.” “Musaev has nothing to do with the transaction (about the purchase.— “Ъ”) Forbes… (Into the deal.— “Ъ”) not a single dollar was invested from any Chinese or Russian citizen or organization, including Musaev,” assured Mr. Russell’s representative.

The publication draws attention to the fact that the two businessmen have known each other for several years. According to court documents cited by WP, in 2016, Magomed Musaev helped obtain $20 million in seed investment in Austin Russell’s “then young company” Luminar.

Russell’s Forbes bid has “attracted the attention” of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), two people said. In August, two Republican senators, Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio, called on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who heads CFIUS, to reconsider the sale of Forbes. The senators say the American businessman is “posing as a lead buyer,” but the bulk of the money comes “from investors with foreign connections,” including Shiv Khemka, vice chairman of SUN Group, whom the newspaper calls “a close associate of Musayev.”

Forbes was founded in 1917. The Forbes family sold a majority stake to Hong Kong-based Integrated Whale Media Investments in 2014. At that time, Forbes Media’s assets were estimated at $475 million. Forbes had 45 licensed local versions in 76 countries.

The magazine has been published in Russia since 2004. In 2022, the Russian edition of Forbes appeared problems associated with a sharp drop in advertising revenues. In the spring of 2022, Forbes suspended the publication of the printed version of the magazine. November edition filed a lawsuit to one of its advertisers – the Roust holding – due to the debt it had incurred.

Laura Keffer