| Notes |
In early 2013, while Ehud Barak was entering the final months of his term as Israel’s Minister of Defense, he was being privately courted by international private banks in Davos, Switzerland, who sought to use his political connections to attract ultra-wealthy individuals as new clients. In March 2013, soon after he resigned from the defense ministry, Barak received a “rainmaker” agreement from Boris Collardi, then-CEO of Julius Baer Group, a Swiss private bank based in Zurich.
The agreement offered Barak CHF 600,000 (over $750,000 USD) for a one-year retainer, while naming him as a “strategic advisor” offering geopolitical advice to bank leadership. In his pitch to Julius Baer, he recommended the bank seek out new sources for capital in “uncharted waters”, “Russian, probably Chinese as well as Jewish (non US) capital as new major sources for capital.” Simultaneously, Barak signed a million-dollar contract with Renova Group, a Russian conglomerate. |