RussianBillionaire

Poor Mikhail Prokhorov. Last month we reported that the metals magnate had been replaced as Russia's richest man by Vladimir Lisin, and now languishes in second place. Now a court in Nice has just ruled that the oligarch must forfeit the $55 million deposit he put down for the magnificent $750 million Villa Leopolda (above) on the French Riviera in 2008 before backing out of the deal, the London Daily Mail reports. Prokhorov signed a sales agreement for the Villa, and French law stipulates that purchasers lose their deposits if they pull out after such an agreement has been executed. The magistrate also ordered Prokhorov to pay the Villa's owner Lily Safra an additional $1.5 million penalty. Safra says she will donate all the money to ten charities, including almost $1.5 million for neuroscience research at King's College London and Imperial College London. "By transforming the deposit into an act of giving I would like to encourage all who can do so to support medical research and other humanitarian causes," she declared. On the plus side for Prokhorov, he's still worth a cool $17.85 billion.

In the last few months we've been noticing Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich doing a lot of spending. There was that pricey New York dinner, the lavish New Year's Eve party, the new house in Los Angeles. He seems to be doing quite well and he's not alone, Russia is making billionaires once again. The Moscow-based magazine Finans says that Abramovich remains one of Russia's top three richest men. The magazine's data reveals that all those in the top ten had a fortune of at least $9.95 billion. Two of the richest, Mikhail Prokhorov and Roman Abramovich were worth more last year, with $14.1 billion and $13.9 billion, respectively.

Businessweek reports that Russia gained 28 new billionaires bringing the total to 77 from 49 a year ago. That's a good number but not quite up to the 101 billionaires that were filling Russia's coffers in 2008. Finans states that the combined wealth of the 10 richest Russians now sits at $139.3 billion, up 84 percent over last year but still down from the $221 billion the 10 richest were worth two years ago.

Russia's richest man Mikhail Prokhorov is going to court to try and get back the $55 million deposit he forfeited after backing out of a deal to buy the magnificent Villa Leopolda on the French Riviera for $750 million including the furnishings last year. The metals magnate signed a sales agreement for the Villa, and French law stipulates that purchasers lose their deposits if they pull out after such an agreement has been signed. The Villa's owner Lily Safra has said she is donating the deposit to charity. However, Prokhorov's lawyers are now arguing that that the agreement was rendered null and void due to two technical "anomalies", the London Telegraph reports.

Firstly, they say he should have been given the usual seven-day period in which to change his mind, which was denied as Prokhorov signed the agreement under a company name. Secondly, they argue that Safra's notary had "illicitly lumped the furniture price tag with the house price in a declaration to the French state", which they say was grounds for canceling the contract. Safra's lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois disputes Prokhorov's claims and said in a statement to the newspaper, "We have written proof that Mr Prokhorov, via his lawyers, continued to confirm his intention to buy the property well after the sale agreement." A verdict is due in March.

In London today, $90 million in Russian art is going under the gavel, and the auction houses are hoping that a still robust community of Russian billionaires will come out in force to repatriate their heritage. Both Christie's and Sotheby's are holding auctions on December 1, 2 and 3, with MacDougall's, which specializes in Russian art, also selling on December 2 and 3. Bonhams is conducting one today.

There are some signs that the sales could go well. Sotheby's moved $13.8 million in Russian art at an auction a month ago, topping the $9 million presale estimate. The Russian government is saying the economy should grow next year, after falling 10 percent this year. If recovery is en route, big spending Russians may show up at this week's art auctions.

There's no shortage of Russian art coming on the market this week. In addition to the 540 lots being offered by Sotheby's, at a presale range of 14.8 million pounds to 21.2 million pounds, MacDougall's is selling 460 lots (12.5 million pounds to 17.6 million pounds), including a painting of a topless woman by Zinaida Serebriakova for between 1 million pounds and 1.5 million pounds. Christie's has 578 lots, with a presale estimate of 6.5 million pounds to 9.3 million pounds.

Naomi Campbell just surprised her Russian billionaire boyfriend Vladislav Doronin with a lavish jet-set birthday surprise in Morocco, the London Mirror reports.

The supermodel chartered a private jet to fly them there as a surprise for Doronin, who's been called the Donald Trump of Russia. There she presented him with a lifesize sports-themed cake with a boxing ring, race cars and rackets on it.

The pair partied all night before boarding a jet to Abu Dhabi and then Tanzania for her charity work for the White Ribbon Alliance. Of course, as we've reported previously Doronin has been very generous as well.

Campbell has been earning praise of late for looking better then ever despite her 39 years. Her longtime hairstylist Amoy Pitters, who tended to the precious tresses for recent A-list events like Black Girls Rock and the Clinton Global Initiative gala, deserves her share of the credit.

Pitters, whose other celeb clients include Sheryl Crow, Ashanti, Ciara, Iman, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige and The Pussycat Dolls, is famed for her unique, signature method of hair extensions, indistinguishable from - some would say better than - the real thing.

Ukraine is about to get a new contemporary art center. Victor Pinchuk is shooting to make Kiev a major art destination, so the wealthy art collector is creating a new center that will be larger than the existing PinchukArtCentre, which was the first private contemporary art center in the former Soviet Union and has had more than 830,000 visitors since its doors swung open in 2006.

Pinchuk, a steel billionaire, is an avid collector, with pieces by Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst and Andreas Gursky. His new endeavor, he tells Bloomberg News, "will make Kiev and Ukraine a fantastic place for contemporary art." Pinchuk made the proclamation at a show for 20 Ukrainian artists who were nominated for the first Pinchuk Art Center Prize, which comes with a cash component of $12,200 and a one-month internship with an artist from the international scene. Hirst himself will announce the winner on December 4, 2009.

Pinchuk has a strong relationship with the artist celebrity and owns "probably half" of the skull paintings (by the collector's own estimation) in the current Hirst show at the Wallace Collection in London. He also participated in Hirst's solo auction in September 2008 but wouldn't tell what he bought.

Ah, to be a billionaire -- or at least to have reached that status at one time! Russian real estate tycoon Sergei Polonsky of Mirax Group fame was quoted saying that if you weren't a billionaire you were obviously a loser but the once uber-successful Polonsky is now one of the 'L-club'. Once worth $1.2 billion and landing a spot in Forbes Magazine, Sergei's company called Mirax is now suspected to have accrued debts between $600 and $700 million! All projects have come to a screeching halt including such high-profile developments as the Federation Tower in Moscow. In January my colleague, Deidre, highlighted his sale of the five-star Sungate Port Royal hotel to help fund some of Mirax's projects. Looks like he will need to sell off a few more assets to make himself 'cool' once again since apparently sub-billionaire status makes Polonsky one of 'those' people.

Despite the large flushing sound that's accompanied the art market this year, there are still 10 collectors worth noting. In fact, ARTnews was even able to cobble together a top 200 list this year (if they went to 300, I figure I'd wind up on the list, too, given the state of the art market right now). The names in the top 10 still represent the art collecting elite, they just happen to be in much worse shape than they were at this time last year.

Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaire and art addict, takes the #1 spot. It would be easy to zero in on any one of several purchases last year and call it "defining," but the man spent a few hundred million on art. The most expensive pickup was a Francis Bacon triptych which set him back almost $90 million.

Top 10 Art Collectors (according to ARTnews):

1. Roman Abramovich
2. Debra and Leon Black
3. Edythe L. and Eli Broad
4. Steven Cohen
5. Marie-Josee and Henry Kravis
6. Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder
7. Francois Pinault
8. Mitchell Rales
9. Carlos Slim Helu
10. Sheikh Saud bin Mohammed bin Ali al-Thani

Okay, so you take a quick look at this list and realize that Abramovich, who requested a bailout from the Russian government, isn't the only flawed personality it contains. Steven A. Cohen, the Connecticut-based hedge fund manager, owns a dead rotting shark. While Damien Hirst's ego is built to last, his creations are more like personal computers ... planned obsolescence. Kravis, who sits atop esteemed and powerful private equity firm KKR, was not left unscathed by the current financial crisis. The precipitous drop in oil prices over the past year must have left the sheikh in a rough spot, and Slim thought he could make money by investing in a newspaper (that's just fucking stupid ... almost as stupid as paying $90 million for a 1970s Bacon, frankly).

Maybe we'll see some changes over the next year. I wouldn't mind writing about an unknown visionary busting into the winners circle at this time next summer. Now, all we have to do is find one.

Shaquille O'Neal has finally unloaded his Miami mansion for $16 million - $2 million less than he paid for the place - after nearly five years. The basketball superstar bought the Star Island spread in 2004 for $18.2 million, and first listed it for sale in 2005 for $32 million. The home was listed at $29 million when it was our estate of the day last summer, then the price dropped to $22 million before climbing back up to $25 million, then going back down to $22.5 million. Quite the real estate roller coaster. The Miami Herald reports that the new owner who reportedly coughed up $16 million in cash is said to be a European businessman who plans to renovate the estate. According to the South Beach Real Estate Blog, the buyer is none other than Vladislav Doronin, the handsome Russian billionaire who's dating supermodel Naomi Campbell. The Mediterranean-style main house has eight bedrooms, an indoor basketball court, gym, steam room and sauna. The 2.5 acre grounds include a tennis court, six-car garage, dock, two-bedroom guest house and Shaq's pool complete with Superman logo.