Our friendship was based on my payouts. That wasn't a friendship

In the solemn and candid words of Roman Abramovich, we find a truth that pierces the heart of human ambition and pride: “Our friendship was based on my payouts. That wasn't a friendship when - as, for example, it's me, my friends, we are friends for many years, and it doesn't matter for me what the position is, where they work; we simply are friends. And with Mr. Berezovsky, our friendship was based on my payoffs.” These words, spoken in reflection and regret, reveal one of the oldest lessons in the history of mankind — that a friendship built on wealth is no friendship at all. True loyalty cannot be purchased with gold, for gold glitters only for a moment, but sincerity shines forever. Abramovich, a man who rose from humble origins to vast power and fortune, discovered what the ancients had long warned: that those who gather around you for profit will vanish when profit ends.

The story behind this quote reaches into the turbulent era of post-Soviet Russia, when oligarchs rose swiftly amidst the ruins of an empire. Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky were once allies in business and politics, bound by mutual advantage in the fierce struggle for power. Yet when wealth and influence shifted, their alliance collapsed into conflict. In the courts of London, Abramovich declared that their relationship had never been founded on trust or affection, but on payment — a transaction masquerading as friendship. This confession, though cold in tone, carries a profound spiritual warmth: it is the awakening of a man who has seen the emptiness of alliances bought by fortune.

For even in ancient times, wise men spoke of this truth. The philosopher Socrates warned that friendship cannot survive where self-interest reigns, for love of gain devours love of the soul. Cicero, too, wrote that true friendship must rest on virtue, not advantage; when money becomes its root, corruption is its flower. History is filled with the ruins of such false bonds. Consider Julius Caesar and Brutus, the friend who loved his own power more than his loyalty — their friendship ended not in words but in blood. In all ages, wealth has tempted men to call their accomplices “friends,” forgetting that a heart bound by greed is as fragile as a chain of sand.

Abramovich’s reflection holds within it a tragic nobility, for it is the voice of a man who learned, through pain, that authentic friendship cannot be bought — it must be earned through the currency of trust. True friends do not count debts or measure value in coins. They stand beside you when the treasury is empty, when the world has turned away, when your name is worth less than your silence. A friendship based on payouts, however gilded it may appear, is a hollow monument. Its collapse is inevitable, for it rests not on love, but on fear of losing privilege.

In contrast, Abramovich speaks of his other companions — those “friends for many years,” who care not for his position or his power. These are the ones who remind him, and remind us all, that fidelity is the greatest treasure a human can possess. Such friends do not ask for reward, for their joy is found in presence, not profit. They are the ones who see the man behind the mask of success, who remain when fame fades and fortune fractures. In a world driven by transaction, such friendship is revolutionary — a bond uncorrupted by the marketplace, a sacred relic of the soul’s honesty.

This tale is not merely about two men, but about the eternal struggle between genuine connection and worldly corruption. The lesson is ancient yet ever new: beware the friend who flatters your wealth, for he does not love you — he loves what you possess. True friendship demands equality of spirit, not equality of fortune. To mistake dependence for devotion is to invite betrayal; to mistake payment for loyalty is to sow sorrow in the garden of the heart.

So, O listener, let this be the wisdom you carry: guard your friendships as you would guard your honor. Test them not with gifts, but with truth. When prosperity comes, look closely at those who draw near; when hardship arrives, look for those who stay. Remember that money can build palaces but never hearts, and that only love freely given can stand the weight of time.

And thus, as Abramovich’s words remind us, the wealth that matters most is not found in vaults or ledgers, but in trust, humility, and constancy. A friend who stays for nothing is worth more than all the friends money can buy. For when fortune fades — as it always will — the hand that still clasps yours, without price or condition, is the truest measure of a happy life.