[imagesource: Lynsey Addario for The New York Times]

There’s a full-blown war going on in Ukraine.

I don’t think we need to go into greater detail on that front. The evidence is all there.

The other war is the war against disinformation which rages 24 hours a day, seven days a week online.

Not misinformation (“false information that is spread, regardless of intent to mislead”) but rather “deliberately misleading or biased information; manipulated narrative or facts; propaganda.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is obviously a target and has already been the victim of a number of deepfake videos.

In recent weeks, social media has been awash with people questioning how he came to be a billionaire.

A few exhibits:

Why is Zelenskyy a billionaire?

— Lee Stranahan 🇷🇺 (@stranahan) April 16, 2022

Why is Zelenskyy a billionaire? 🤔🤔
And why Fraudulent Biden is sending him so much money from our hardworking taxpayers Americans?🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/2wGAJJ5qMc

— America4True (@America4True777) April 17, 2022

Zelensky has 1.4 Billion dollars. More than Will Smith, Chris Rock, and Dave Chapelle combined. We are to believe that he made that as a comedian in the poorest nation in Europe?

— Garland Nixon (@GarlandNixon) March 29, 2022

A Russian state-affiliated media account, somebody with ‘All Lives Matter’ as their profile picture, and a guy who works for Russian-owned Radio Sputnik – that says more than enough, but there are thousands of similar examples out there.

As with most things net worth related, we turn to Forbes to see their take on how he became a billionaire:

Forbes’ answer: he’s not… He’s currently worth roughly $20 million at most, based on reporting by Forbes Ukraine…

His main asset: an estimated 25% stake in Kvartal 95, a group of companies that produce humorous shows, which he transferred to his partners after being elected president, though he’ll likely regain his shares after leaving office…

With estimated revenues of $30 million annually, Forbes Ukraine values Zelensky’s stake at $11 million…

While he does own a flat in one of Ukraine’s most expensive apartment buildings in the center of Kyiv, it’s relatively modest by Western standards. Forbes estimates Zelensky’s entire real estate portfolio is worth $4 million, including two more wholly owned apartments, two that he co-owns, a single commercial property and five parking spaces.

There are also the bank accounts he shares with his wife, Olena Zelenska, estimated to contain around $2 million.

Add another $1 million or so for their car and jewellery collection and you’re still falling way, way short of $1 billion, let alone $1,4 billion.

We know that Russian oligarchs and their wealth is notoriously hard to track. This via Reuters:

The Pandora Papers, a collection of documents showing hidden assets of the world’s powerful, uncovered in October 2021, revealed that, around the time Zelenskiy won the 2019 Ukraine presidential election by a landslide, he transferred his stake in a secret offshore company to a friend.

However, the documents do not contain details on the size of dividend payments or how many have been made.

That’s still not enough to throw around billionaire claims like they’re true when really, we all know it’s disinformation with a clear insinuation that there must be corruption involved.

Zelenskyy is also absent from Bloomberg’s billionaire index.

Oh, and Zelenskyy and George Soros aren’t cousins, either. The mind boggles.

[sources:forbes&reuters]