How to Become a Russian Billionaire With No Help from the Kremlin

It’s a hot day in Krasnodar, deep in southern Russia.

The action is hot on the soccer field, too. Ari, the local club’s Brazilian striker, takes a pass from the left flank and scores a beautiful goal. Ari (full name Ariclenes da Silva Ferreira) then wheels away in celebration to the edge of the pitch, yanking up his jersey to reveal a message on his undershirt: “Happy birthday, Sergey Galitskiy!

”The player got a yellow card for unsporting behavior, but the club’s billionaire owner -- Russia’s eighth-richest person, celebrating his 47th birthday in the stadium’s executive box -- could hardly have been more pleased.

“I am overwhelmed with emotions,” he wrote on his Twitter feed later in the day. 

Read more: “Could it have been a better birthday?”