In 2009 Alexander Lebedev, a Russian businessman and former KGB agent, bought a controlling stake in London’s Evening Standard newspaper. Within a year he had also bought the Independent and the Independent on Sunday, two national print titles. Both sets of assets were soon managed by his son, Evgeny, who was 29 when he became a director at both companies. Alexander had enjoyed reading the Standard while posted to London by the KGB as a younger man. Buying the papers, he told the Guardian in 2009, was “a good way to waste money”. Alexander then had money to waste. Forbes listed his worth in 2008 at $3bn, largely thanks to shares in various Russian state businesses. “No one really knows where the money comes from or how much there is of it,” says Simon Kelner, a former editor of the Independent.
What did Alexander’s son, Evgeny Lebedev, want from these papers? “The main thing he wanted was ways for him to be in the paper,” suggests someone who has worked with him over the past decade. They believe that “this is where he was different from his old man”. Alexander worked his way up through the KGB and “knew an honest day’s toil”. Evgeny had comparatively little work experience. His former colleague believes that Lebedev wanted to use the papers to maximise his influence.
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