One Man Helped Credit Suisse Make Billions From Russia Tycoons
A charismatic fixer made the Swiss bank the leading destination for Russia’s wealthiest individuals. Then war and sanctions got in the way.
Babak Dastmaltschi
Illustrator: Kagan McLeod
The Dilbar is a maritime exercise in excess. Commissioned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, the largest super-yacht in the world boasts four cascading balconies, two helipads and the biggest interior pool of its kind. German shipyard Lürssen calls it one of the most challenging yachts it ever completed.
Paying for the floating palace, estimated to have cost more than $600 million, required similar scale. The 512-foot behemoth was financed with the help of a $300 million loan by Credit Suisse, engineered by a man who spent the last two decades turning himself into the go-to banker for the wealthiest Russians: Babak Dastmaltschi.