La Leopolda

Mystery Buyer of World's Most Expensive House Revealed

Filed under: Estates

The mysterious billionaire who just bought the world's most expensive house - the $750 million Villa Leopolda (above) on the French Riviera - is none other than controversial Russian precious metals mogul Mikhail Prokhorov, the AFP reports. Luxist readers may remember Prokhorov as the over-the-top tycoon who announced plans in April to spend $150 million launching a magazine for snobs in Russia, called simply Snob. Prokhorov is ranked as the 24th richest man in the world with a $22 billion fortune. Some earlier reports had erroneously identified the villa's buyer as Roman Abramovich. Last year Prokhorov was briefly detained during an investigation into a suspected prostitution ring at the ritzy ski resort he frequents in the French Alps.

Tags: French Riviera, FrenchRiviera, La Leopolda, LaLeopolda, Magazines, Mikhail Prokhorov, MikhailProkhorov, prostitution ring, ProstitutionRing, roman abramovich, RomanAbramovich, Russian billionaires, RussianBillionaires, Snobs, Villa Leopolda, VillaLeopolda

The World's Most Expensive House Sold To Russian Billionaire

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

A month ago we heard rumors that Russian billionaire Roman Abarmovich had bought the world's most expensive house on the French Riviera. Turns out that the rumor was true but the buyer was false. The Times reports that a mystery Russian billionaire who is not Abramovich paid 500 million euros (over $750 million) for Villa Leopolda, a Belle Époque mansion in Villefrance on the Côte d'Azur. The home is owned by Lily Safra, the widow of Edmond Safra, a Lebanese banker who was killed by an arsonist's fire in ~~Switzerland~~ Monaco in 2003. A few years ago it was rumored that the house had been bought by Bill Gates and this house is one of the most prized pieces of real estate in the world.

According to rumor, Mrs Safra held out for months as the eager mystery buyer kept raising the price for the historic villa which King Leopold II of Belgium acquired in 1902 and which was also once owned by Fiat tycoon, Gianni Agnelli. The mystery billionaire is now the owner of a turreted mansion and two guest houses on 20 acres of grounds with hundreds of olive, cypress and lemon trees tended by 50 gardeners.

[Thanks, Wayne!]

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Tags: la leopolda, LaLeopolda, lily safra, roman abramovich, RomanAbramovich, russian billionaires, RussianBillionaires

Roman's Latest Real Estate Rumor

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

The rumors involving Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich come and go so fast, sometimes it's hard to keep up. The big one this week was that Abramovich, one of the world's biggest spenders, had picked up a home in France for $500 million. The home in question La Leopolda, is an elaborate villa on 10 acres located on the French Riviera.

Various sources said that Abramovich and his girlfriend Daria Zhukova had a private viewing of the estate and fell in love with it and decided to buy it, even though he already owns a chateau nearby. The story quickly made the rounds of major websites and newspapers and yesterday and then, just as quickly, disappeared. The Independent reported that Abramovich's spokesperson shot down the claims saying that Abramovich doesn't need another house in France. Still, with Abarmovich, you just never know, he could still be moving in and just be playing a guessing game with the press.

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Tags: france, la leopolda, LaLeopolda, real estate, RealEstate, roman abramovich, RomanAbramovich