Medvedev is an avid amateur photographer. In January 2010, one of his photographs was sold at a charity auction for 51 million rubles (US$1,750,000), making it one of the most expensive ever sold.[169] The photo was purchased by Mikhail Zingarevich, a co-founder and member of the board of directors of the Ilim Group at which Medvedev worked as a lawyer in the 90s.[170]
Medvedev's reported 2007 annual income was $80,000, and he reported approximately the same amount as bank savings. Medvedev's wife reported no savings or income. They live in an upscale apartment house "Zolotye Klyuchi" in Moscow.[171] Despite this supposedly modest income, a video by anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny[172] purports to show "the vast trove of mansions, villas and vineyards accumulated" by Medvedev.[173]
On the Russian-language Internet, Medvedev is sometimes associated with the Medved meme, linked to padonki slang, which resulted in many ironic and satirical writings and cartoons that blend Medvedev with a bear. (The word medved means "bear" in Russian and the surname "Medvedev" is a patronymic which means "of the bears".) Medvedev is familiar with this phenomenon and takes no offence, stating that the web meme has the right to exist.[174][175][176][177]
Medvedev speaks English, in addition to his native Russian,[178] but during interviews he speaks only Russian