Loose lips sink ships. This IMHO describes Prigozhin. Prigozhin was a grand-stander and an artful swindler. His fame came from his mouth and not because of his military exploits. He had more prison time for being a thief and running a swindling operation than he had with a military background. So how did he build up Wagner to be a force to be reckoned with? His prison connections allowed him to get convicts a choice to fight in the Donbass or serve the rest of their time in prison.