Fact Check: Did Volodymyr Zelensky secretly purchase Wyoming’s Pathfinder Ranches for $79M?

CHEYENNE, WYOMING: Social media recently blew up with claims that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had quietly bought a jaw-dropping 916,076-acre property in Wyoming. The alleged price tag was a cool $79 million.

Origin of the claim

It all started when a viral post made the rounds online, claiming that an offshore company tied to Volodymyr Zelensky, Davegra Limited, had purchased Pathfinder Ranches in central Wyoming. The post declared, “Zelensky’s offshore company Davegra has just purchased Pathfinder Ranches for $79M, making him one of the Top 10 U.S. landowners.”

Pathfinder Ranches is massive. The property hit the market in August this year with a price tag of $79.5 million. The ranch is split into four properties across four Wyoming counties, totaling more than 1% of the state’s entire land area. To put it into perspective, the ranch is bigger than Rhode Island and more than four times the size of New York City.

The listing is being handled by Swan Land Company. The company’s official site describes it as “a singular opportunity to own and operate a property of generational scale in the heart of the American West.”

Fact Check: False, Volodymyr Zelensky didn't purchase Wyoming property

Despite the viral claims of Volodymyr Zelensky purchasing Pathfinder Ranches, the Swan Land Company advertises the property as available.

The viral post provided a link to what looked like Swan Land Company’s website, but it was a fake. The spoof page ended in “.us” instead of the real company’s “.com” domain and falsely claimed that Davegra Limited, a Cyprus-based company, had closed the deal.

After some digging, it turns out the claim does not hold water. Searches across Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo turned up absolutely no credible reports. There are no filings, no official confirmation, no legitimate real estate listings tying Zelensky (or Davegra) to Pathfinder Ranches.

The claim is false and misleading. In reality, no sale has been finalized. As mentioned, Swan Land Company’s legitimate website still lists Pathfinder Ranches as up for grabs. 

Zelensky and Davegra Limited

It's worth noting that Zelensky’s name has indeed surfaced in connection with Davegra Limited, thanks to the Pandora Papers leak in 2021 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Before stepping into politics, Zelensky declared a laundry list of assets, including cars, property, and several offshore companies. One of these companies, Film Heritage, was jointly owned by him and his wife, Olena Zelenska, and it held a 25% stake in Davegra Limited.

Davegra, in turn, owns Maltex Multicapital Corp, an entity registered in the British Virgin Islands. According to the documents, Zelensky, the Shefir brothers, and Yakovlev each owned 25% stakes in that company.

Whether Zelensky still owns stakes in Davegra is unclear. But there’s zero evidence linking the company, or the Ukrainian president, to the Wyoming ranch.

Zelensky’s actual wealth

Having said that, Zelensky isn’t exactly broke. According to Forbes Ukraine, the president was worth about $20 million in 2022.

His biggest moneymaker appears to be a 25% stake in Kvartal 95, a production group behind some of Ukraine’s most popular comedy shows, including 'Servant of the People', the hit series where Zelensky ironically played a schoolteacher who becomes president.

After his election, he transferred his Kvartal 95 shares to his partners, but he’s expected to reclaim them after leaving office. With estimated revenues of $30 million annually, Forbes pegged his stake at $11 million. 

Zelensky’s real estate portfolio is also impressive. He owns an apartment in one of Kyiv’s priciest buildings, and Forbes valued his total property holdings at around $4 million. That includes two fully owned apartments, two co-owned ones, one commercial space, and five parking spots.

On the financial side, Zelensky and his wife reportedly share a bank account with about $2 million in cash and government bonds. Their other possessions, including two cars and some jewelry, are reportedly worth another $1 million.

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