With palaces, planes, yachts He is universally regarded as one of the richest men on earth. Putin's surge to power - and incomprehensible wealth - began in the early 1990s in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse. He started his career in politics as an advisor to the mayor of St. Petersburg, before moving to Moscow and taking a job in the Kremlin where he rose through the ranks under the wing of President Boris Yeltsin, whom he replaced as President in 2000. Russia was mired in economic turmoil after the Soviet Union fell and the government was in...