Mikhail Prokhorov during a press conference on June 4. AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball club as well as a good chunk of the Russian economy, has created a new political party, but refused to join it.

It is a characteristically inscrutable move by Prokhorov, whose political career is nothing if not an exercise in creativity. Last fall he established a political party which then summarily expelled him, following which he ran for President, declaring that with his $18bn fortune, he “represented the Russian middle class”. He came a surprising third in March. Read more