Bidzina Ivanishvili Quote
I was writing my Ph.D. in the late 1980s and was keeping an eye on what was happening in the world. It became obvious to me that Russia couldn't live without computers. I think I worked this out a year before anyone else. I started looking for people who could help import them.
Bidzina Ivanishvili
I was writing my Ph.D. in the late 1980s and was keeping an eye on what was happening in the world. It became obvious to me that Russia couldn't live without computers. I think I worked this out a year before anyone else. I started looking for people who could help import them.
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About Bidzina Ivanishvili
Ivanishvili is the richest man in Georgia, with his wealth estimated at $7.6 billion in 2024, a figure equivalent to 24.8% of Georgia's 2023 GDP. Ivanishvili made his wealth in Russia in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. He initially sold computers in Russia before acquiring banking and metals assets for cheap when the Russian government privatized its Soviet-era state assets under Mikhail Gorbachev, and subsequently Boris Yeltsin. Ivanishvili left Russia in 2002 and moved to France, becoming a French citizen.
Ivanishvili entered Georgian politics in 2012, when he founded the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party and secured victory in the 2012 Georgian parliamentary election against the United National Movement party of incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili. After serving as Prime Minister of Georgia from October 2012 to November 2013, he claimed that he was leaving political life; however, he continued to be widely viewed as the éminence grise controlling the Georgian political process from behind the scenes. After formally returning to politics in 2018 as chairman of the ruling party, Ivanishvili again claimed to be leaving politics behind in 2021, only to stage yet another comeback in late 2023 as the honorary chairman of Georgian Dream.