Boris Berezovsky (Борис Абрaмович Березовский) was born on Jan. 23, 1946, in Moscow into a family of Jewish intellectuals.

Education: Forestry and mathematics, Moscow Forestry Engineering Institute, 1967. Applied mathematics, Moscow State University, 1973. Ph.D., applied mathematics, Soviet Academy of Sciences' Institute of Management Problems, 1983. His doctoral dissertation was on decision theory.

1968-1989: Engineer. Researched optimization and control theory, publishing 16 books and articles between 1975 and 1989. He rose to become chairman of a laboratory within the Soviet Academy of Sciences.

1989: Founded LogoVAZ with Badri Patarkatsishvili and senior managers from AvtoVAZ. Served as general director from May 1989 to 1994. LogoVAZ developed software for AvtoVAZ, sold Soviet-made cars and serviced foreign cars.

1991: Co-founded MNVK broadcast company

1993: General director of the All-Russian Auto Alliance, Russia's first private industry project

1993-1994: After meeting President Boris Yeltsin's daughter, Tatyana Dyachenko, Berezovsky entered Yeltsin's inner circle

1994: Survives assassination attempt, in which his driver is killed and he is injured

December 1994: First deputy director of ORTV

1995: Founded Sibneft with Roman Abramovich. Bought shares in television channel MNVK TV-6 Moscow. Played key role in management reshuffle at Aeroflot and participated in its corporatization.

1996: Joined forces with other businessmen to promote President Boris Yeltsin's re-election bid. Berezovsky later said the campaign was financed by seven bankers, who together controlled half the Russian economy.

1996-1997: Deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council

1997: Appointed to the Federal Commission on Chechnya

1997-1998: Adviser to presidential chief of staff Valentin Yumashev

1999: Acquired the Kommersant Publishing House and 75 percent of shares in MNVK TV-6 Moscow

1999: Fired from his job as acting director of the CIS

April 1999: The Prosecutor General opens an investigation into embezzlement at Aeroflot that allegedly took place while Berezovsky was head of the state airline. (In late 2001, Berezovsky refused to cooperate with the investigation, calling it "politically motivated.")

1999: Berezovsky's financial support is thought to have been essential to the victory of the Unity bloc over Yury Luzhkov and Yevgeny Primakov's Fatherland-All Russia bloc in State Duma elections. (Berezovsky’s media outlets smeared Fatherland-All Russia in a bitter war of rhetoric, provoking Luzhkov to call Berezovsky "Satan.") Berezovsky is also thought to have helped convince President Boris Yeltsin to appoint Prime Minister Vladimir Putin acting president.

1999-2000: State Duma deputy. Served on the Foreign Relations Committee. Resigned in July 2000.

2000: Sold his stake in Sibneft to Roman Abramovich for $1.3 billion

2000: Fled to London (granted political asylum in 2003)

2002: The Prosecutor General charged Berezovsky with defrauding AvtoVAZ out of more than 2,000 cars worth $13 million in 1994-95. The charge is one of many that have been opened against Berezovsky since he fled to Britain.

2004: Widely suspected in the murder of Forbes Russia editor Paul Klebnikov

2005: Linked to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, which he denies

2006: Sold his last Russian assets

2007: Claimed to be funding coup-plotters in the Kremlin's inner circles. In response, Russian prosecutors opened yet another criminal case against him, this time for attempting to "seize power by force."

2007: Arrest warrant for Berezovsky issued in Brazil in connection with a money laundering investigation against the Media Sports Investments Group.

Berezovsky has been married several times and has six children. In 2006, the Sunday Times estimated his wealth at £800 million, making him the 68th richest person in Britain.