A group of young men achieved fabulous wealth almost overnight after the collapse of the Soviet Union: the oligarchs. Once favored by Boris Yeltsin, some have fallen out of favor under Putin, with the most prominent among them being Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In their own country, they often lead a precarious existence, but in the West, they are celebrated as martyrs. It is not only the dubious origins of their rise and the ostentatious display and fierce defense of their wealth that characterize the oligarchs, but above all, the desire for a yacht, which is seen as an essential symbol of their economic power. To operate globally, the oligarch must assert his influence on the international political stage and enhance his social prestige. Wolfgang Kemp reports on the means he employs to achieve this.