Armani Beats Gates and Abramovich to Buy $190 Million Greek Island

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
Sep 13th 2010 at 8:01AM

Legendary Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has reportedly become the proud owner of one of the world's most beautiful and expensive private islands – Skorpios (above). In closing the deal, said to be worth about $190 million according to reports in the European press, the designer faced stiff competition from rival bidders including Bill Gates, Roman Abramovich and Madonna. Located in the Ionian Sea off the western coast of Greece, the island formerly belonged to famed Greek shipping billionaire Aristotle Onassis and was the site of his wedding to Jackie Kennedy in 1968. It was sold to Armani by his granddaughter and heiress, Athina Onassis Roussel. There is a lavish villa on the island known as the Pink House which Onassis built for Jackie, along with tennis courts and plush gardens, though most of the island remains undeveloped and pristinely beautiful.

Tags: Aristotle Onassis, Athina Onassis Roussel, Bill Gates, billionaires, designer, fashion designer, Giorgio Armani, Greece, heiress, island, Jackie Kennedy, Jackie O, jaqueline kennedy, Madonna, private island, Roman Abramovich, wealth

Filed under: Estates, Wealth

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Spectacular Bid Sep 13th 2010 8:23AM

In the context of recent Greek history with shipping titans and the Camelot connection you cannot get more historic and notable islands than this one. Armani has denied he purchased the island in the Italian press but considering the rumoured price tag of 150 million euros I suspect anyone would be cautious in boasting of such a buy.

What is bizarre (to me) is that the Onassis family would part with the island where Onassis, his son Alexander and his daughter Christina are all buried! Their fortune is still considerable and the cost of continued ownership of the island is minor.

I cannot think the Greeks will be too happy about this transaction as Athina Onassis continues to distance herself from her family's ties to the country and culture.

moulinosp Sep 13th 2010 9:38PM

Athina was originally asking for $ 355 Million Dollars for both Skorpios & Sparti islands.
A drop in the bucket for someone who has a fortune of over $ 500 Billion Dollars !!!

insider Sep 14th 2010 6:01PM

So much nonsense has been written about this island being sold every summer to Madonna, Bill Gates etc. Please give us a break! Madonna cannot afford it, Bill Gates would not enjoy the lifestyle and Athina will sell, probably, when she finds a qualified buyer. She has sold all her Greek property, or most of it, so it will not come as a surprise if she sells the island, since she never visits it, from what is publicly known, and prefers Belgium and Brazil. Her fortune also is not 500 Billion USD (mercy!!) but about 350m.