Did the USSR Have Millionaires? (Short Animated Documentary)

The USSR doesn't exactly scream 'rich people live here' but given the human ability to make themselves rich no matter the odds, surely it could have happened there too, right? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

A special thanks to all of these Patrons below, without whom the show wouldn't be possible:

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[Sulmor]

I fall for the "Just kidding" line every time

[Malvikins]

The disappearing of the minister during the credits is such a chilling touch.

[joermnyc]

Tarasov: “I’m a millionaire... in Rubles... time to flex on state TV... what could possibly go wrong?”

[hinababy]

You don’t have to be a millionaire to experience the life of the rich, you just need to have the right connections and everything will be handed down.

[grim_]

Tarasov wrote a book about his life.
It's a pretty fun read. There he talks about his early businesses, inner workings of Soviet system, etc. There's a chapter about that first million too. Basically, his enterprise made too much profit & they couldn't really use it. So Artyom assigned himself a million rouble salary, and then paid taxes from it accordingly. Technically, that legalized his million. They were audited like crazy after that TV stunt (the host didn't plan to reveal his name, but Artyom voluntarily turned to the camera & said "my name is Artyom Tarasov"). Funnily enough, their records were perfect & precise to the dime (or kopeck, in this case).
Reason for that was simple: his accountant was getting super nervous at the large amounts of money they had & became super paranoid not to be off, cause she was thinking _Is that even legal?_ and was afraid that she's gonna get arrested any day. IIRC they were doing mostly import-export at the time. However, Tarasov was involved in many endeavors. For example, prior to that, one of their first startups, that didn't get to live long, was something of a matchmaking service that would help people to find potential spouses/partners.
They got an overwhelming amount of clientele, but were soon shut down by the government with multiple accusations that were just a bit short of propagating prostitution (or something like that).

I don't know, if his book is available in English, but I definitely recommend it, especially if you want to better understand the later period of USSR (before the collapse). It's called _Millionaire: confessions of Russia's First Millionaire_

[Esure]

"And then fled to the UK"

You said that like that'd be an issue for the KGB

[pridelander]

Stalin: "Sorry, babushka, I'm pretty strapped for cash!"
Old woman: 😐

[DanielGalimidi]

Everybody's saying how James Bisonette has so much money, but nobody's talking about the real oligarch here: Kelly Moneymaker.
It's literally in the name, wake up sheeple!

[Nexxarian]

"Ok Sal, go on live Soviet television and announce you're the first person in the country's history to be worth a million rubles."

[salavat]

Well, this video only covered the “legitimate” business millionaires. It completely overlooked the “black marketeers”. The example of Armenian shoe manufacturers springs to mind. During the “stagnation of the 1970’s” shoes were a deficit item, particularly fashionable women’s shoes. Several, enterprising Armenian shoe-factory directors created a secret additional shift that specialized in the manufacturing of the deficit shoes. Selling the shoes at exorbitantly obscene profits (by Soviet standards) on the black market. These factory-directors had villas, vacation properties, vineyards, and several automobiles. However, if they got caught it would, surely, be a automatic firing squad for them. But, then again, he, who, does not risk, does not drink Champagne.

[elshan]

It certainly did. My gradfather was in charge of most of silk factories in USSR, their job was to produce the demanded amount of silk annually, and if you managed to outproduce the demand you would be left with bunch of materials that you can sell to government (indirectly and sometimes unofficially). And when other owners of silk factories weren't able to meet the demand( which in USSR meant that if you can't produce the demand you are corrupted and will be sentenced to jail) they would simply buy from my Grandfather. To hide the wealth he bought a lot of homes and cars but almost none of them were "officially" bought by him. And to not arouse suspicious the documents said that 1 mansion was owned by 3 or more people since at that time you were not allowed to own such a big home. He used to tell me stories about how KGB agents were bothering them every 2 weeks about why there is a such a big mansion in a small village and everytime they showed the documents of multiple people owning the mansion, they would eventually stop having suspicions. There were actually lots of tricks he told me but unfortunately I can't mention all of them

[FerKzrs]

I'm here for the "just kidding" transitions.

[looinrims]

I cried when there wasn’t a glass shatter sound at the USSR

[NuggetInc]

Stalin: " *helps old lady cross the road and wants to give her money but can't* "
Also Stalin to his kid: "who?"

[Ynhockey]

There were stories of some Soviet citizens who were able to get their hands on a lot of cash through shady deals, and become millionaires. They couldn't display their wealth though. In fact, one of the most famous Russian novels in the early Soviet Union is precisely about a situation like this: The Little Golden Calf, by Ilf and Petrov.

[R-H-B]

Yes. And the most prosperous Soviet millionaire was James Bisonette

[aleidius]

Commissar: "We are taking all of your money for...uhh...the people..."

[timfortune]

"Everything the Soviets ever told us about communism was a lie. Unfortunately, everything they told us about capitalism was true." - Russian joke

[wildfood]

"Lengthy unemployment was against the law." People who didn't work were considered "social parasites" and jailed. Not only did property belong to the state, but labor too belonged to the state and you could not withhold it.

[samgamgee]

One time Leonid Brezhnev's mother came to visit him in Moscow. He welcomed her into his fine apartments. He served her champagne and caviar. They rode about town in one of his Rolls Royces. He showed her his 100-car garage, all his cars, and all his masterpiece paintings. They took a Lamborghini to one of his many dachas outside the city. He invited her into the heated swimming pool, and then his chef served them a sumptuous gourmet dinner. As he tucked his beloved mother into a four-poster bed in a bedroom he had prepared just for her, she said, "But Leo, what if the communists come back?"