Swiss billionaire branded Kremlin ‘puppet’ by Trump sells £5bn stake to staff

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A Swiss billionaire has sold his multibillion-pound stake in the trading house he co-founded after the US accused him of being a Russian “puppet”.

Torbjörn Törnqvist has agreed to sell his entire 86pc shareholding in Geneva-based Gunvor, estimated to be worth $6.6bn (£5bn) overall, to a group of employees led by the company’s management.

His decision, which also means he will leave the company, follows Gunvor’s unsuccessful attempt to mount a $22bn takeover of assets owned by sanctions-hit Lukoil, the Russian energy giant, which was blocked by the US government.

The proposed deal prompted fresh suspicions about Mr Törnqvist’s ties to the Kremlin, with the US treasury accusing him of being a “puppet” of Vladimir Putin.

On Monday, Gunvor said the buyout would allow a “definitive reset” after controversies surrounding its past became an “impossible distraction”.

Mr Törnqvist co-founded Gunvor with Gennady Timchenko, a Russian oligarch and close ally of Putin, in 2000.

He then bought out his business partner when Timchenko was hit with sanctions in 2014.

Failed takeover bid

This long association with Moscow-aligned figures has prompted accusations – denied by Gunvor – that the trading house is effectively under the control of Putin through “cutouts”.

The Trump administration slapped sanctions on Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil company, in October in an attempt to squeeze revenues that could be used by the Kremlin to fund its war with Ukraine.

When Gunvor emerged as the potential buyer of Lukoil’s international assets, a week after the sanctions were announced, the US treasury voiced opposition.

The US treasury wrote on X: “As long as Putin continues the senseless killings, the Kremlin’s puppet, Gunvor, will never get a license to operate and profit.”

The treasury’s opposition to the deal was decisive because it could have denied Gunvor critical licences and waivers related to the sanctions. Gunvor scrapped its takeover bid shortly afterward.

But the company has rejected the Trump administration’s claims about it as “fundamentally misinformed and false”.

Gunvor announced on Monday that Mr Törnqvist would “sell the entirety of his holdings in favour of a group of current employees, who will wholly own the company going forward.”

Gunvor claimed the management buyout had first been “conceived” in 2022 during a business retreat in Morocco and that it was designed to “ensure the long-term commercial success and global growth” of the 25-year-old company.

It added: “The buy-out has been advanced at this time to establish a definitive reset and path forward for a company for which misperceptions about its past have become an impossible distraction.”

Gary Pedersen, previously Gunvor’s boss in the Americas, has been appointed as the new group chief executive.

He said: “The time is right for this transition. A generational shift has well been underway, and we have the financial strength, liquidity, and depth of leadership to continue to advance our global growth strategy.”

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