Bidder for Forbes has ties to Russia, Putin

One of the investors in talks to acquire Forbes is SUN Group, a corporation with 58 years of experience working closely with Russia and that frequently flaunts its close ties to the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin, reports James Marks of RealClearPolicy.com.

Marks reports, “A review of public records and news reports reveals that India-based SUN Group’s principals, namely its Vice-Chairman Shiv Khemka, who lived in Russia for 22 years, have a personal relationship with Putin and a long history of facilitating Moscow’s agenda around the world. SUN Group’s connections to Putin and the Russian state are sprawling and include ties to sanctioned companies in Russia’s defense industry and banking sector.

“While today’s business media landscape is increasingly global, Forbes – and its 55 million monthly visitors – certainly present an attractive takeover target for a foreign adversary, specifically because of the dominant market share it commands with critical U.S. audiences.”

He later writes, “A CFIUS review of SUN Group’s bid for Forbes is also warranted given the platform it could potentially provide Putin to shape U.S. opinion. A review could start with SUN Group’s ties to sanctioned Russian businesses, most notably Rostec, a state-owned defense firm.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.