Overview
- Tinkov says Kremlin-linked officials issued an ultimatum within a day of his April 2022 post: sell his stake and remove his name from the brand or see Tinkoff Bank nationalized.
- He recounts selling roughly 35% of TCS Group shortly afterward for about 3% of its true value, telling the New York Times he was “like a hostage.”
- He says a company tied to metals billionaire Vladimir Potanin bought the shares, a detail reported as his account rather than independently verified.
- Following the sale, he left Russia, later renounced his citizenship, and alleges efforts to erase his role in founding the bank that once bore his name.
- He has reemerged in 2025 as a backer of Mexican fintech Plata, while analysts cite his story as an example of how wartime controls and fear keep Russia’s business elite compliant.