The Super-Rich's Offshore Tax Avoidance Strategies

Dmitry Rybolovlev and his wife, Elena Rybolovleva, have been brawling for almost five years in at least seven countries over his $9.5 billion fortune. In a divorce complaint filed in Geneva in 2008, Rybolovleva accused her husband of using a “multitude of third parties” to create a network of offshore holding companies and trusts to place assets—including about $500 million in art, $36 million in jewelry, and an $80 million yacht—beyond her reach. She is seeking $6 billion and has brought legal action against Rybolovlev in the British Virgin Islands, England, Wales, the U.S., Cyprus, Singapore, and Switzerland.

Beyond the staggering details, the suits provide a rare window into the offshore business entities and locations the world’s richest people use to manage, preserve, and obscure their assets. According to Tax Justice Network, a U.K.-based organization that campaigns for transparency in the financial system, wealthy individuals were parking as much as $32 trillion offshore at the end of 2010. Fewer than 100,000 people own $9.8 trillion of offshore assets, according to research compiled by former McKinsey economist James Henry.