Ben Mezrich

Ben Mezrich has created his own highly addictive genre of nonfiction, chronicling the amazing stories of young geniuses making tons of money on the edge of impossibility, ethics, and morality.

New York Times bestselling author of Bringing Down the House and The Accidental Billionaires tells his most incredible story yet: A true drama of obscene wealth, crime, rivalry, and betrayal from deep inside the world of billionaire Russian Oligarchs.

Meet two larger-than-life Russians: Boris Berezovsky, a former mathematician who got his start in a car-reselling business, moved into other more lucrative ventures as well as politics, and became known as the Godfather of the Kremlin. And Roman Abramovich, a dashing young entrepreneur who went from trading in plastic children's toys to building a multibillion- dollar empire of oil and aluminum.

After a chance meeting on a yacht in the Caribbean, these two men became locked in a complex partnership that would irrevocably change their lives. They surfed the waves of privatization after the fall of the Soviet regime, amassing megafortunes while also taking the reins of power in Russia. With Berezovsky serving as the younger entrepreneur's krysha-literally, his roof, his protector-they battled their way through the ''Wild East''of Russia.

A true-life thriller, this story reveals how Abramovich built one of Russia's largest oil companies from the ground up as Berezovsky's protégé-until their relationship soured after Berezovsky attacked President Vladimir Putin in the media. Dead bodies trailed Berezovsky's footsteps before and after his escape to London, where an associate of his died painfully of Polonium poisoning, creating an international furor. And as Abramovich continued to prosper, Berezovsky was found dead in a luxurious London town house, declared a suicide.

With unprecedented, exclusive first-person sourcing, Mezrich takes us inside a world of unimaginable wealth, power, and corruption to uncover the true story of Berezovsky and Abramovich, in one of the great epics of our time. Once Upon A Time in Russia will be brought to the silver screen by Warners Studio.

Mezrich has authored sixteen books, with a combined printing of over four million copies, including the wildly successful Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, which spent sixty-three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and sold over 2 million copies in fifteen languages. His book, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal - debuted at #4 on the New York Times list and spent 18 weeks in hardcover and paperback, as well as hit bestseller lists in over a dozen countries. The book was adapted into the movie The Social Network -written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher - and was #1 at the box office for two weeks, won Golden Globes for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, best score, and was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 3 including best Adapted Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin. Mezrich and Aaron Sorkin shared a prestigious Scripter Award for best adapted screenplay as well.

In addition to these prestigious awards, Mezrich currently has multiple movies and TV shows in production based on his books. Newline Studios is producing The 37th Parallel, Fox Studios is close to green lighting Seven Wonders, and FX and WBTV are producing the Ugly Americans TV Show.