Michael Calvey was a Founder and Co-Senior Partner of Baring Vostok, a private equity firm recognized for its early investments in numerous highly successful companies. Living in Moscow for almost three decades, he learned the language, married a Russian woman and forged an unmatched network of contacts. Today, he is Chairman of Baring Ventures, which sold all its Russian assets after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and now focuses on other international markets. He is a US citizen living in Switzerland and the UK.
‘I have known Michael for over twenty-five years, and I never met any other foreigner who appreciates the Russian spirit, perhaps even more than I do! Baring was the smartest, most reputable, and successful investor in Russia. That’s why his arrest and punishment were shocking to me and the entire business elite – it was so unfair and insane. We tried to help Mike as much as we could, but there’s not much you can do in Russia against the KGB. But he held up very well! Mike is a true hero.’ -- Oleg Tinkov, Russian businessman and Putin critic ‘From pioneering investor to financial titan to jail-time in Moscow’s most notorious prison – Mike Calvey has ventured deep inside the Russian enigma. He knows more about post-Communist Russia, good and bad, than any other Westerner on earth. … One of the world’s most astute and successful asset managers, he’s a superb writer too, with an astonishing tale to tell.’ -- Liam Halligan, The Telegraph ‘A riveting tale of betrayal and lawlessness by the Russian Government, told by the most successful US investor in Russia. Calvey narrates an incredible story of creating a thriving business in Russia and with Russians over decades that is laid waste by the Kremlin. His harrowing experience in recent years – an innocent man caught and punished in the Russian criminal justice system – is told with clinical and chilling detail.’ -- Ambassador John Sullivan, US Ambassador to Russia 2020–22