Founded in 1996 by Bill Browder and Edmond Safra, Hermitage Capital Management was initially an investment advisory firm focused on the Russian market. It quickly grew to become one of the largest foreign investors in the country. The firm's mission evolved dramatically after it became a victim of massive corruption by Russian officials, leading to the 2009 death of their lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, in a Moscow prison. Since then, Hermitage and its CEO Bill Browder have been at the forefront of a global campaign to expose Russian corruption and to establish sanctions against human rights violators, known as "Magnitsky Acts," in numerous countries.