Though chances are extremely slim that Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov (above, left) will defeat Russian President Vladmir Putin next month, if the former pulls off an upset greater than retaining Deron Williams his team making the playoffs, he promises he’ll sell the franchise. From Bloomberg News’ Jane Rudintsky and Ilya Arkhipov ;
“I’ll sell everything, all my assets when I become president and donate almost all of the money to charity,” Prokhorov said during a talk show with fellow candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky that was broadcast on state-run television.
Prokhorov, who owns the New Jersey Nets basketball team in the U.S. and stakes in Russian metals companies United Co. Rusal (486) and Polyus Gold International Ltd., said he’d need the remaining $1 billion for personal expenses after life in the Kremlin.
“I’ll need something to live on,” Prokhorov, 46, said.