It's official, Ruth Madoff has been evicted from the Manhattan penthouse she shared with her husband, Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff. Bernard Madoff spent most of this year in the home under house arrest but now that he's been shipped off for 150 years of hard time, Mrs. Madoff needs to find a new home. Federal marshals formally evicted Mrs. Madoff on Wednesday amid a flurry of press. The NY Daily News reports that Ruth Madoff was home when about the marshals showed up at at 133 E. 64th Street to change the looks. She was not allowed to take anything from the co-op she had purchased in 1979. Even the sheets were left behind. The marshals are inventorying the Madoff possessions right down to the last bibelot in preparation for a future auction to raise funds to benefit those who lost their money in Bernie Madoff's scheme. Mrs. Madoff plans to live with relatives in the New York City area.

Looks like Gap founder Donald Fisher will be taking his art elsewhere. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Fisher and his family have scrapped plans to build a contemporary art museum at the Main Post of San Francisco's Presidio. Earlier Fisher had scaled back the plans for his museum in San Francisco's Presidio to appease those who found the museum's first planned design a bit overwhelming. Fisher originally unveiled his plans for a contemporary art museum at the end of 2007. The Fishers had hoped to convince critics, San Franciscans, and regulatory bodies such as the National Park Service that the museum would be beneficial for the park.

Donald Fisher released a statement that said he and his wife would be taking some time to consider the future of their collection and other possible locations for the museum including some inside the Presidio, just not on the site of the former bowling alley that they had originally planned on. The statement also said that the decision was made "with disappointment and sadness." The Chronicle reports that an outside survey of possible impacts of various Main Post Presidio projects found that the scale of the museum, even with the newer more modest revision, was "inconsistent with the overall historical character of its setting."

In addition to the museum the Fishers had promised a $10 million gift to go toward turning the Main Post's parking lot into landscaped grounds but it's not known if that offer is separate from the museum gift. The comments on the Chronicle article are spirited, some are expressing relief that Fisher's plans won't come to fruition while others are disappointed that a museum which would have displayed a large contemporary art collection to the public may end up elsewhere. Given the hard times facing museums everywhere lately, it seems like it might be a better idea to endow a wing of an existing museum rather than create a new one out of whole cloth.

Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff has been sentenced but many of his investors are still looking to recoup some of their money. There may be a potential bit of money coming their way from J. Ezra Merkin, a New York financier who put his clients' money in Madoff's hands. Merkin, a noted art collector, is selling a collection of Mark Rothko paintings and Alberto Giacometti sculptures for $310 million. The painting shown at right is not one of Merkin's Rothkos but shows the style of painting that Merkin will be parting with. He was one of the leading collectors of Rothko works and even bought works directly from the Rothko family in 2004 for $91 million.

THe deal was announced by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who had put a freeze on Merkin's assets. The Wall Street Journal says that around $192 million of the proceeds might make it into the hands of defrauded investors. The rest of the money will go toward paying liens on the art, sales commissions, fees and taxes. According to documents sourced by the WSJ, PaceWildenstein LLC, the gallery that acted as a sales representative for the family, has a $42 million lien on behalf of the Rothko family regarding those paintings bought in 2004 and it is possible that now they will buy those paintings back.

The WSJ article seems to indicate that the price for the collection is high given the recent art market slump. The painting shown at right "White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)" which was sold by David Rockefeller in 2007 brought in $72.8 million at a Sotheby's auction but other Rothkos have sold for less and in recent months several Rothkos have failed to sell at all.

This year not too many people are looking for pay raises but the Queen of England may need to ask for a bit of a financial boost. The Queen of England could need an additional £4 million a year to make repairs on Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and St James's Palace. Reports revealed that the royal family spent £6.5 million on travel much of that on private jets to various locales. One of the surprising costs is the £300,000 the Queen spent to relaunch her website.

This year's annual publication of the cost of the monarchy found a less receptive audience than usual as many people have been experiencing a diminishing of their own fortunes in the past year. Some have called for the monarchy to open the palaces up and sell tickets for tours in order to make more money for their expenses. In an article in The Guardian, Richard Bacon MP, who sits on the Commons public accounts committee, said that if the White House could be open for most of the year then Buckingham Palace could be too. This year, Buckingham Palace will be open from the end of July until the end of September.

Sir Alan Reid, keeper of the privy purse, defended the family, pointing out the fact that the Queen attended 400 engagements last year. He pointed out that the money each taxpayer pays to subsidize the Queen in her role as head of state works out to around 69 pence (around $1.15) per person. The spokesman for the anti-monarchy group Republic called this technique of justifying the expense a way of spinning the truth. While the Queen did not decided to go through with plans for a new private jet, the Royal Family will be taking possession of a new Sikorsky helicopter this summer.

There's no doubt that homes need regular upkeep and homes of great size and age requires a great deal of money for upkeep. This is why older families in England have been selling off estates for years to those with deeper pockets. The queen gets £7.9 million pounds of public money each year for basic expenses including staff costs and she also has a reserve fund built up by saving her budget but the cost of living and the cost of upkeep is mounting higher than her savings. The queen is expected to negotiate her budget next year and ask for a funding increase. If she continues to draw from her reserve fund she could deplete it by 2012.

Well, the answer to that question will be hard to come by for quite some time. It seems almost everything in Jackson's roller-coaster life remains unsettled and unquantifiable at this juncture. From the remodeling and hopeful future sale of Neverland Ranch to the would-be profits of his anticipated summer concert tours, everything within Michael's complicated estate will be even more murky as his three children and immediate family wade into the big picture.

It is estimated that MJ's current debt settles around $500 million which was accumulated over years of frivolous spending, two large molestation lawsuits, the yearly upkeep of the Ranch for nearly $10 million annually, property rentals since leaving the Ranch costing $100,000 per month, and other various expenses. Neverland Ranch is expected to sell for roughly $70 to $90 million, of which Michael would receive a sizable chunk, and his summer tours could have netted the comeback star $50 to $400 million depending if he added more concert dates across the globe.
One bright spot in his finances includes music copyrights to 251 Beatles' tunes as well as his own compositions which are most likely worth $500 million to $1 billion.

There isn't any cut-and-dry method that can solve this conundrum but surely when the estate is finally settled, or more likely as pieces of the puzzle come together, it will be a spectacular sum covered by eager entertainment news sources no matter if that number is in the red or the black.

Russia's richest man, Mikhail Prokhorov, is a hometown boy at heart. For him, Siberia is home and Wealth Bulletin reports that he wants his taxes spent there. The 44-year-old Prokhorov lives in the western Siberian village of Eruda and this is where registered to pay hundreds of millions in taxes from his estimated fortune of $9.5 billion. He has said that he believes it is fair to pay his taxes in the region where he made his money. Prokhorov and his sister Irina, have set up the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation to promote philanthropic efforts in the area. The Prokhorovs are also supporting the arts, spending more than $1 million to shoulder the cost of the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Sports Illustrated says that Prokhorov is part of one of four groups interested in buying the New Jersey Nets basketball team. Prokhorov, who at six foot nine inches himself is a tall drink of water, is said to be a big basketball fan.

A couple years ago, the world marveled at the rate at which the ranks of millionaires swelled. Now we are watching them shrink. A new survey by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch & Co. shows that the amount of millionaires shrank at the fastest rate on record in 2008. The number of millionaires sank by 15 percent to 8.6 million basically undoing the gains of the last two years. Millionaires saw their assets diminish by 20 percent down to $32.8 trillion.

The survey also shows that we won't have to wait to long to see the financial wealth of Asia-Pacific millionaires eclipse that of North American millionaires. By 2013, as the value of millionaires' assets globally are rising again, China and other nations will be ruling the roost. Currently the U.S. is home to the most millionaires and last year China moved into the fourth slot behind the U.S., Japan and Germany. The U.S. also lost more millionaires last year, the number fell by 19 percent. Dan Sontag, president of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management says that 55 millionaires are being created in China every day.

What's particularly interesting is that almost 30 percent of wealthy clients surveyed either took assets out or left their wealth management firms entirely in 2008 and 46 percent report that they confidence in their advisers. These types of numbers seem to indicate that a profound shift in the wealth management business might be required. In a press release Bertrand Lavayssiere, Managing Director Global Financial Services, Capgemini says that the research shows that "while client satisfaction remains a top priority, many wealth management firms and advisors may not fully understand what drives clients to leave or stay." He calls for firms to look at their capabilities to "ensure simplicity and transparency" in their business.

Earlier this year we reported on two ultra-exclusive $3 million Bugatti Veyron Pur Sangs, the world's most expensive production vehicle of which only five were built, being put up for sale. The first of the special edition cars with exposed carbon fiber and aluminum bodywork, which sold out within 24 hours of their original announcement, was offered up in Abu Dhabi. The next one surfaced a couple of weeks later in Frankfurt, Germany where the car was originally unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Now a third Pur Sang has been listed for sale via global online luxury marketplace JamesList in Munich.

With the other two Pur Sangs already on the block as previously noted, only two of the cars seemingly remain in private hands. Also back in April we noted that 18 Veyrons were on offer via JamesList; that number has now swelled to 23, or nearly one-fifth of all Veyrons built to date. The cheapest is a 2005 model with 29,000 miles on it offered at €789,000 or about $1.09 million. Obviously the pitiful economy means many people are having to try and unload these agonizingly expensive automotive status symbols.

Pandemic spells profit for pharmaceutical giants like Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Merck who represent the top three producers of vaccines to treat H1N1 or swine flu. A couple weeks ago the World Health Organization prepared to declare the first worldwide pandemic in four decades and with that news the aforementioned pharmaceutical stocks began to rise 1%-2.2% on the board. At that time 27,737 H1N1 infections had been reported across seventy-four countries including 141 deaths. Countries across the globe will be inclined to increase flu-vaccine stockpiles in the hopes of controlling the potential pandemic within their borders.

When the bird flu, H5N1, was a pandemic threat a few years ago the mere production of an effective bird-flu vaccine paired with a successful clinical trial by GlaxoSmithKline impacted their second quarter positively with a 14% rise in net profits and an 11% rise in sales. At the time it was estimated that the H5N1 vaccine could potentially garner $2 million in annual sales for Glaxo. Impressive!

This just goes to show that not all stocks are in peril -- the human population may be, but that's another story.

Tired of your life? Why not raffle it off? That's what English banker Andrew Paul is doing. He decided to jettison his millionaire lifestyle after his recent divorce and he's getting creative about it. His Win A New Life website is giving away his home, car and boat in a competition that anyone can enter for £20. Up for grabs are his £1.1m five-bedroom house, a £160,000 Aston Martin DBS and his £200,000 Sealine 35 Sport motor boat. The first prize is either the property or the car plus the speedboat and £85,000 in cash to help with insurance and fees. The first prize winner can also choose opt for £1 million in cash. There are also ten runner up prizes of his and hers sets of Omega Seamaster watches.

Like our Florida couple from yesterday, Paul has a set number of tickets in mind. He's hoping for sales of 200,000 which would work out to £4 million, a pretty tidy haul even after the prizes are doled out. There will be a lower cash prize if fewer than 150,000 tickets are sold.

In order to win you need more than luck, you also need a little skill. Once you pay the fee you need to estimate where a golf ball would end up in a photograph. Winners will be determined based on who ever is closest to the actual placement. The competition is scheduled to end August 19th but could end sooner if the tickets are all sold.

[via Daily Mail]

Back in April we reported that despite the economic crisis Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich planned to complete work on the 557-ft. Eclipse, the world's largest and most expensive privately owned yacht. Now the ocean-going behemoth has been launched on its maiden voyage to test operational systems before the finishing touches are applied, at a reported final cost of close to $500 million according to the London Daily Mail. As the all-white megayacht glided out of the Blohm & Voss shipyard (above) in Hamburg, Germany the other day, it dwarfed a navy destroyer it passed along the way.

The Eclipse, which features a military-grade missile defense system, armor plating and bullet-proof windows, will literally eclipse the recently-debuted $350 million, 531-ft. Dubai owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai. The ship also has a submarine that can be launched underwater and dive to a depth of 160 ft. that doubles as an escape pod, as well as two helicopter pads. Abramovich already owns several other superyachts, including the 377-ft. Pelorus, the 282 ft. Ecstasea and the 160 ft. Sussurro, which cost him $25 million a year to maintain, and apparently plans to keep them all.

Princess Maha al-Sudairi, the wife of Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister, is holed up in a Paris luxury hotel claiming diplomatic immunity after refusing to pay a $24 million tab she ran up at the city's ritziest boutiques. Al-Sudairi, whose husband Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz is a member of Saudi Arabia's royal family and is second-in-line to the throne, racked up the impressive debt on a year-long spree at the French capital's high-end clothing, jewelry and lingerie boutiques, the London Telegraph reports. In all some 30 businesses have been stiffed including Dior, jewelry shops Chaumet and Victoria Casal, lingerie emporium O Caprices De Lili, and the famed Hotel de Crillon.

The Princess is currently holed up in a $4,000-per-night suite at the ultra-luxe Four Seasons George V hotel (above), which is partly owned by her nephew, Prince Al Waleed bin Talal. After some of those owed money initiated legal proceedings, the plaintiffs' lawyer Jacky Benazerah obtained a court order for bailiffs to go to the George V and seize the Princess' belongings. However, the Princess has invoked diplomatic immunity and will likely refuse them entry, in which case the French interior ministry and senior police officials would have to be consulted to authorize a police escort, the BBC reports.

Jamila Boushaba, owner of Paris' O Caprices De Lili lingerie shop, located directly across from the George V, was left holding a $100,000 bill for lacy underthings. "She was a very good customer for eight years, but then simply stopped paying," Boushaba tells the Telegraph. "I made a delivery of lingerie to the George V, but payment never arrived. Every time we called, we were told the bill would be settled the next day. It never was. When we contacted the Saudi ambassador in Paris he said there was nothing he could do for us." An aide to the Saudi royal family was similarly unhelpful, sniffing, "I'm afraid we can't go around settling bills for the Princess's knickers."

Jacky Giami, proprietor of luxury clothing boutique Key Largo, said the Princess stripped his shelves of some $215,000 worth of casual wear. "We know the family well – they're in Paris a lot," Giami tells the Telegraph. "She's not the kind of customer where you ask for a deposit, or to ask to see a piece of identity." Every time the Princess and her entourage visited Giami's and others' shops a representative would offer staff an embossed card stating "Payment to Follow". And of course having all those exquisite clothes cleaned cost quite a bit as well; the Princess is also said to have run up a drycleaning bill of $50,000 - per week.

We first heard in December that Tim Blixseth has placed Emerald Cay, his private island, up for sale for $75 million. Now that it has been on the market for six months for the same price it may be time for a price cut. It's more expensive than other Caribbean private islands but the five-acre private island, located off the coast of Providenciales is a complete compound. It has a guest house, a 'floating' tennis court, swimming pool, a gym, movie theater, three-story library and a wine cellar that holds 8,000 bottles. The island also has a several docks and a manmade beach. It connects to the mainland via a retractable bridge. Blixseth had planned to rent the property out as part of the Yellowstone Club World property portfolio. Even though it is a beautiful property which cost millions to bring to its current state of glory if Blixseth wants to sell he's probably going to have to adjust his expectations. After all, he's got bills to pay.

Meanwhile, it's liquidation time for Tim Blixseth's ex-wife Edra. A judge has converted her Chapter 11 bankruptcy case into a Chapter 7 liquidation proceeding. An independent bankruptcy trustee will see that proceeds from the sale of assets named in the Yellowstone Club bankruptcy action are turned over to creditors. Blixseth's Yellowstone Club was sold in a court-approved deal to Boston-based CrossHarbor Capital Partners for a bargain basement rate of $115 million. Tim Blixseth had turned the club over to his wife as part of their divorce settlement. Edra Blixseth also owns Porcupine Creek, a 240-acre estate in Rancho Mirage, California. For a while she's had Chateau de Farcheville, a medieval castle in France that comes with a moat, hunting grounds and its own helicopter pad on the market for $57 million. The St. Andrews golf estate in Scotland is also for sale. Edra Blixseth also owns significant collections of furniture, fine art, diamonds and other jewelry valued at $2.6 million, a 2004 Rolls Royce Phantom, a 2006 Aston Martin, and a 2007 BMW.

One of the world's richest men, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia has been divesting himself of his hotel assets lately but one thing he doesn't seem to be set to give up is his Airbus A380 which will be the first private jet for this model. He hasn't officially said that he is the owner of the plane but just about everyone is certain that the Saudi prince will be making this his new flying palace. We've been covering this one for a while, including the rumor that the exterior will be painted gold. Now some interior plans have been revealed including a special cylindrical elevator will carry his Rolls-Royce into his own on-board garage. The plane will also include a Turkish bath, concert hall, ample private quarters and a boardroom. One amazing detail is the airplane equivalent of a glass-bottom board, a floor made from a giant screen that will show where the plane is flying over. The lavish plane is said to cost around $488 million. More images are up over at Gadling.

Paris' famed Hôtel de Crillon, one of the world's most luxurious hotels with a clientele of celebs and royalty, has been put up for sale by its American owner Starwood Capital for about $420 million. Constructed in 1758 as a government building commissioned by Louis XV, the palatial edifice (above) near the Champs Elysées on Place de la Concorde was converted into a hotel 100 years ago. Its Leonard Bernstein suite, on the top floor with a wrap-around terrace, features one of the late maestro's pianos.

Other luminaries past and present who have patronized the Crillon include Marie Antoinette, King George V, the Shah of Iran, Winston Churchill, FDR, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie O, Mariah Carey, Madonna and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The hotel is more likely to be sold to a high net-worth individual or a property investor rather than one of the large hotel chains, the Times of London reports. Starwood took over the Crillon in 2005 as part of its €2 billion acquisition of Taittinger's hotel and champagne empire.