Sir William Browder KCMG

Sir William Browder stands out for his truly exceptional contribution to global human rights and fighting corruption. Once the largest foreign investor in Russia as CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, in more recent years he has been branded by the Kremlin as “Putin’s public No. 1 enemy.” This is for his relentless human rights campaigning following the mistreatment and murder of his colleague Sergei Magnitsky in Russia in 2009. William campaigned for the US Congress to introduce the Magnitsky Act which allows US authorities to impose sanctions on Russians involved in human rights abuses. Thanks to his non-stop work, the EU, the UK, Canada and Australia all have similar legislation that allows them to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities involved in serious corruption or human rights violations or abuses. William was knighted in the 2024 Birthday Honours in recognition of his “significant and sustained contribution to human rights and anti-corruption”.