Bidzina Ivanishvili & family

About Me

Georgia's richest man Bidzina Ivanishvili made his money in metals and banking in Russia, then cashed out and moved back home in 2003. Ivanishvili was elected prime minister of Georgia in October 2012. Thirteen months later he stepped down after his party won the presidential elections, saying he'd fulfilled his task. He entrusted about $1 billion to Credit Suisse but lost most of it; more than $100 million of that sum was apparently stolen by the bank's manager Patrice Lescaudron. Lescaudron was found guilty in February 2018 and sentenced to five years in prison. In December 2022 Credit Suisse paid $210 million to Ivanishvili following a court decision. He returned to politics as honorary head of the Party Georgian Dream, a party he founded and won in the 2024 elections. In December 2024, the U.S. sanctioned him for "undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia for the benefit of the Russian Federation."