To briefly recap the Mikhail Khodorkovsky saga: Just a few years ago, Yukos was Russia's largest and most successful private company, with a market capitalization of more than $30 billion and annual revenues of around $15 billion. The beginning of the end for Yukos was the jailing of Khodorkovsky in July 2003 on charges of fraud relating to a 1994 privatization. Later that year, the Russian government seized a stake in Yukos. Multiple back-tax claims eventually forced the company into bankruptcy and its management into exile or jail. Conveniently, a state-controlled oil company emerged to acquire the assets of Yukos. Khodorkovsky, once worth upward of $8 billion, faces the next eight years behind bars.