Viktor Bout (Viktor Anatolyevich Bout) is a convicted illegal arms dealer who was born on 13 January 1967 in Dushanbe, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union.
He has a natural talent for languages, and he began translating in African countries while still in school. Bout joined the army as a lieutenant after graduation.
In 1996, Bout began supplying Russian fighter aircraft to Malaysia. Simultaneously, it was suspected that he was supplying weapons to hostile nations. According to sources, Bout was living in Belgium at the time but was already hooked by the surveillance services that were monitoring his illegal business.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, he used his various companies to smuggle arms from Eastern Europe to Africa and the Middle East.
According to reports, Bout’s companies legally provided air freight services to the French government, the UN, and the US. This included transporting flowers, frozen chicken, UN peacekeepers, French soldiers, and African heads of state. Around this time, Bout earned the moniker “Sanctions Buster” for his role in facilitating the violation of United Nations arms embargoes in DRC, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Angola.
Bout earned the nicknames “Merchant of Death,” and “Sanctions Buster” after British minister Peter Hain read a report to the UN in 2003 detailing Bout’s extensive operations, large clientele, and willingness to circumvent embargoes.
He was apprehended in 2008 in Thailand on terrorism charges in a sting operation conducted by the Royal Thai Police in collaboration with American authorities and Interpol. The US Ambassador to Thailand, Eric G. John, requested his extradition to the US, which the Thai High Court eventually ordered in 2010.
He was imprisoned at the United States Penitentiary, Marion, from 2012 to 2022. He was released in 2022 as part of a prisoner swap for American basketball player Brittney Griner. Griner had been imprisoned by Russian authorities for illegally bringing cannabis oil into the country. Bout had been imprisoned for over 14 years before his release in December 2022.
He flew four Antonov An-8 planes in Angola, which was the only country at the time that allowed the An-8 to be used for civilian freight.
Bout worked for the Northern Alliance, Afghanistan’s pre-Taliban government, and knew one of its commanders, Ahmad Shah Massoud. The CIA described Bout-owned planes as transporters of small arms and ammunition into Afghanistan. During the 1995 Airstan incident, Bout was involved in negotiations to free Russian hostages.
The Notorious Mr. Bout, a documentary about Bout produced by Market Road Films and directed by Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Table of Contents
Viktor Bout’s net worth
Viktor Bout has a fortune of $50 million.
Viktor Bout’s source of income
His main source of income is his arms dealer career, which has earned him a large sum of money.
In 1995, Viktor Bout established Air Cess, an air freight company in Liberia.
Viktor Bout’s assets, cars, and house
Currently, there is no information given about Viktor Bout’s assets, cars, and houses.
Viktor Bout’s net worth growth year-wise
| Viktor Bout’s Net Worth in 2023 | $50 million |
| Viktor Bout’s Net Worth in 2022 | $50 million |
| Viktor Bout’s Net Worth in 2021 | Unknown |
| Viktor Bout’s Net Worth in 2020 | Unknown |
| Viktor Bout’s Net Worth in 2019 | Unknown |
Viktor Bout’s Expenses
Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Viktor Bout allegedly used his numerous air transport companies to smuggle potentially billions of dollars in weapons from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Africa.
Viktor Bout’s biography family’s parents, spouse girlfriend
His mother’s name is Raisa Bout, and his father’s name is unknown. He has a brother named Sergei Bout.
Viktor Bout is a married man, having married his lovely wife Alla Bout in 1992. Elizaveta Bout, the couple’s daughter, was also born. Viktor and Alla’s relationship is flourishing.
Viktor Bout Career
After being discharged from the Soviet Army in 1991 and starting an air freight business, Bout became a major in the GRU, the Soviet military intelligence agency. He was allegedly a member of the Soviet Air Forces before being discharged.
According to Bout, he was a Russian military operative in Angola in the late 1980s, assisting the MPLA in the Angolan Civil War, but he was only there for a short time. Since 2005, Bout’s businesses have been frozen in a number of countries, and he has denied all charges.
Viktor Bout Awards and Recognition
No information about Viktor Bout Awards and Recognition.
Viktor Bout Education
Viktor Bout grew up in Dushanbe in 1967, and after finishing school, he was drafted into the army for military service.
Although the army had a significant advantage when entering the institute, Victor intended to pursue higher education and enroll in the Military Institute of Foreign Languages after conscript service.
Viktor Bout and controversies
Bout was charged with attempting to sell arms to a DEA intelligence agent posing as a member of Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) for use against American forces in Colombia. However, he denied the charges and predicted an acquittal.
Bout was suspected of supplying arms to Charles Taylor during the First Liberian Civil War in Liberia, with eyewitnesses claiming that the two met personally.
In 2002, Bout’s network was said to have delivered surface-to-air missiles to Kenya, which they were used to attack an Israeli airliner during takeoff.
Bout was charged with forgery in the Central African Republic in 2000 and convicted in absentia, but the charges were later dropped.
Bout was arrested and charged by a jury in a federal court in Manhattan in 2011 of conspiring to kill American citizens and officials, delivering anti-aircraft missiles, and providing aid to a terrorist organization. He was sent to prison for a minimum of 25 years in prison because the crime was committed as a result of the sting operation.
Conclusion
Viktor Bout is an entrepreneur and a former arms dealer whose net worth has been estimated to be around $50 million. He was a major player in the international weapons trade for many years until he was arrested on charges of terrorism and conspiracy to kill US citizens in 2012.
Despite his past criminal activities, Viktor Bout remains one of the most influential businessmen worldwide, with an impressive portfolio that includes investments in real estate, media companies, and energy businesses. His bold risk-taking nature has made him one of the wealthiest people alive today.