World-renowned economist, scholar, and Lebanese-born author Nassim Nicholas Taleb has declined an invitation to deliver a lecture in Baku.
Taleb announced the decision in a post on X, saying he would not set foot in Azerbaijan while businessman and philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan remains imprisoned there.
“I was invited to Azerbaijan to give a lecture. I declined. They substantially increased the proposed fee, failing to understand my ethics. I will not set foot in Azerbaijan while Ruben Vardanyan is imprisoned there,” he wrote.
Referring to the fact that Azerbaijan’s First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva had previously quoted his work, Taleb said this did not create any obligation on his part.
“The fact that a government likes my work does not create any desire for reciprocity in me. I am not a real estate agent,” he wrote.
Taleb holds a doctorate in management science and is known for his research on the impact of random and unpredictable events on the global economy. He is the author of the widely acclaimed books The Black Swan, Antifragile and The Bed of Procrustes.
In November 2023, Taleb visited Armenia to participate in the Science and Business Days 2023 conference.
A court in Baku sentenced Ruben Vardanyan to 20 years in prison.
