Jamison Reed Firestone Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Firestone Duncan Country: USA

Biography of Jamison Reed Firestone

Jamison Reed Firestone was born in Los Angeles in 1966. After his family moved to New York, he attended a private school. In 10th grade, his father told him that the Soviet Union would collapse soon and there would be opportunities to make money. He gave Jamison an ultimatum to either learn Russian or pay for his own education. Jamison agreed to learn Russian and first visited the USSR in 1982.

After finishing school, Jamison moved to New Orleans and graduated from Tulane University in 1988. In 1991, he completed his law degree from Tulane University Law School. Immediately after passing the bar exam in New York, he traveled to the USSR to start his business.

Initially, Jamison sold used cars from the US in Russia, but it was not very profitable. In April 1993, he attempted to introduce the concept of fundraising in Russia by organizing a paid lunch event in support of President Boris Yeltsin. However, the event was canceled when none of the high-ranking officials confirmed their attendance.

After this unsuccessful attempt, Jamison founded the law firm Firestone, Duncan & Associates with Terry Duncan. After Duncan's death in 1993, Jamison became the sole managing partner of the company. In 1995, Firestone Duncan was established, with Jamison as the managing partner. The company specialized in auditing, consulting, tax advising, and real estate investments.

Jamison was also involved in various other business ventures, including being a member of the board of directors for the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia and managing the trading company LLC "Ansnab." In 1996, Firestone Duncan began working with Hermitage Capital Management, one of Russia's largest investment funds.

In 2007, both Hermitage and Firestone Duncan were subject to searches by Russian authorities due to suspicions of tax evasion. Following the searches, Hermitage sold all its Russian assets. The case became highly controversial when lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was investigating the tax fraud scheme, was arrested and later died in prison in 2009.

Due to fears of becoming the next target of the Russian authorities, Jamison left Russia in February 2010. He submitted documents to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs stating that fake documents were used by criminals to claim excessive tax refunds. In June 2010, Jamison provided information to the Department of Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding the suspicious wealth of a police officer involved in the Magnitsky case.

Jamison faced backlash in the media, with a compromising article published in "Moskovsky Komsomolets" in July 2010. Despite the challenges, Jamison continued to expose corruption and share information on his website and YouTube.

Overall, Jamison Reed Firestone had a long career in Russia, starting his own business and later becoming involved in various business ventures. He faced challenges and controversy but continued to fight against corruption and expose wrongdoing.