Billionaire bachelor Mikhail Prokohrov has pledged to stop partying hard and to start a family if he is elected Russian president in March polls.
“When one becomes a president it’s perhaps time to stop partying…If the country says that it [a marriage] is necessary – well, I will marry,” the 46-year-old said in an interview with Rossia 24 television.
The 6-foot-9 (2-meter-tall) tycoon announced he would run for president in early December. This decision pits Prokhorov against Russia’s powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, generally considered a shoo-in for another presidential term. Prokhorov must now collect 2 million signatures to get on the ballot.
Until September, Prokhorov was head of A Just Cause, a Kremlin-sanctioned liberal party. However, he was ousted from the party and accused the Kremlin of orchestrating “a raider’s attack.”
Forbes puts Prokhorov’s wealth at $18 billion, ranking him third in Russia. His wealth comes largely from banking and the sale of his stake in metals giant Norilsk Nickel.
Prokhorov was forced to sell the stake in January 2007 after he was briefly detained at French ski resort Courchevel on suspicion of having flown in a planeful of young women - allegedly prostitutes - for his party’s guests.
The businessman was held for four days but no charges were filed.
Back in Russia, Prokhorov was known for descending on Moscow’s wildest nightclubs with packs of party girls in tow.
