Mikhail Prokhorov instructs Stephen Colbert on how to live like an oligarch

It’s gonna be good. How can it not be? The host of Late Night with Stephen Colbert getting instructions on how to live like an oligarch from Mikhail Prokhorov?

The unlikely pairing can be seen Wednesday night, 11:30 p.m. on the CBS network in a segment labeled, “Lessons on how to live the oligarch lifestyle from Russian Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.” It’s part of the show’s “Russia Week.” Colbert spent the better part of a day last week at Prokhorov’s home outside Moscow.

Few details exist, but publicity photos show Colbert, dressed head-to-toe in Nets gear, getting instructions in Tibetan martial arts from the Nets owner and relaxing in the back of Prokhorov’s Maybach, the ultra-luxury Mercedes sedan. Colbert appears to be wearing a pair of diamond-encrusted sunglasses. But of course.

Not long before the show aired, Colbert tweeted out a short preview of his interview with Prokhorov...

For Prokhorov, it’s a return to the spotlight. After buying the Nets in 2010, he was everywhere, on the side of a building facing Madison Square Garden, on 60 Minutes dancing at a private Moscow nightclub as well as posing on the cover of the New York Times Sunday Magazine. He even ran for president of Russia in 2012, getting a bit less than nine percent of the vote. His trips to New York were accompanied by press conferences loaded with one-liners. He commented on James Dolan’s height ...and Jason Kidd’s rear end.

Over the last year or so, the 52-year-old has been more private. He abandoned politics (although that didn’t stop his offices from being raided). He seemed chastened by the team’s bad fortunes for which he did take responsibility. For the most part, his trips to Barclays Center have been low-key. He stayed mostly in his suite overlooking half-court. No more quips, no more facetime with reporters.

Too bad.

• Nets owner tells Colbert what it’s like to be a Russian billionaire - Brian Lewis - New York Post