Moscow's Gloomy Millionaire Fair

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Dec 2nd 2008 at 6:02PM

Last month I wrote about the Millionaire Fair in Istanbul but it appears it didn't go over quite so well in Moscow this time. The Wall Street Journal's Wealth Report led me to the Guardian's report of the Moscow Millionaire Fair where yachts were going two for one and no one was buying. Socialite Ksenia Sobchak, the fair's master of ceremonies, applauded guests for showing ups saying that: "Everyone is a superhero for finding it in themselves to come here tonight, to try to bask in the luxury." The fair was the usual dazzling spectacle of exotic cars, jewels and free-flowing Champagne. Moscow still has more billionaires than any other city but many have seen their fortunes dramatically pruned over the last year. The end result seemed to be a rather grim spectacle of luxury where people weren't quite sure if they were celebrating what remains or mourning what once was.

Tags: millionaire fair, MillionaireFair, moscow