Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich has told a High Court judge that he "never aspired to be a 'public figure'".
Mr Abramovich accepted that he had a "high media profile" but said he had "always been interested primarily in real business".
The 45-year-old Russian billionaire businessman is being sued for billions of pounds by exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, 65, in a trial before Mrs Justice Gloster at the Commercial Court in London.
Mr Berezovsky says Mr Abramovich "betrayed" him and "intimidated" him into selling shares in Russian oil company Sibneft for a "mere 1.3 billion" US dollars (£800 million) - "a fraction of their true worth".
He alleges breach of trust and breach of contract and is claiming more than £3 billion in damages.
Mr Abramovich denies the allegations and denies that Mr Berezovsky is entitled to damages. He says Mr Berezovsky was paid millions of pounds for his services as a "political godfather" but was not a business partner.
The court has heard that Mr Berezovsky "fled Russia, never to return" in late 2000, following a fall-out with then president Vladimir Putin - travelling initially to France then settling in England.
Mr Abramovich was giving evidence for a second day - and is expected to be in the witness box for the rest of the week. The trial began early in October.
"Although I now have a high media profile, I never aspired to be a public figure," said Mr Abramovich in a written witness statement given to the judge.
"I have always been interested primarily in real business and the development of business strategies."