Russian Tycoons Weigh Their Succession Plans

For Alexander Lebedev, hardly a week goes by without a call from a government security agent or cop angling for a chunk of his $3.4 billion fortune. It's not a lifestyle he wishes for his elder son, Evgeny, 30. (His other son is 1 year old.) "Business in our country is like wrestling with bears," says Alexander in his office in an elegant Moscow mansion. "I'm not sure you'd want to pass that on to your son—would you?"

Although just 50, Lebedev is already pondering a dilemma that will confront the entrepreneurs and industrialists who became superwealthy in the chaotic early years of post-communist Russia: What will become of their billions—sometimes acquired through unsavory deals—and how should they plan their successions? By 2020 the average age of Russia's richest 50 businessmen will exceed 60. That's young in most developed countries, but in Russia the average lifespan for men is 62. (For women, it's 74, though Yelena Baturina, a construction magnate and wife of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, is the only woman among Russia's top businesspeople.)