forbes

NY Billionaire's Yacht Seized Over Endangered Animals

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth, Crimes and Misdemeanors

A $26 million yacht with Versace interiors owned by cab driver-turned-fertilizer king Tamir Sapir - who lives in Manhattan's famed Duke-Semans mansion (above) - was seized by customs officials in Miami this week over trophies made from the skins of endangered animals. The yacht, named the Mystère, was found to contain zebra skins, a jaguar skin rug, Bengal tiger and African lion heads, cigar boxes covered in elephant hide, a reticulated python cigarette holder, and large carved ivory tusks, the Miami Herald reports.

Sapir, an emigré from Russia whose $1.4 billion fortune is now mainly invested in real estate, will get the yacht back minus the gruesome décor after paying a $150,000 fine. Sapir bought the historic seven-story Duke-Semans mansion across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art from Doris Duke's relatives for $40 million after a single walk-through, and is now said to be spending $10 million on renovations including - get this - a gallery for his world-class collection of ivory. He is ranked at No. 522 on Forbes' Richest Americans list.

Tags: animal skins, AnimalSkins, billionaires, Doris Duke, DorisDuke, Duke-Semans mansion, Duke-semansMansion, endangered species, EndangeredSpecies, Forbes, Miami, Tamir Sapir, TamirSapir, yacht

The World's Hottest Billion-Heiresses

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

Forbes has just taken a look at the world's most promising billion-heiresses, introducing us to our new favorite filthy rich twins, Kathrine and Cecilie Fredriksen (above). The 25-year-old blonde daughters of Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen, who's worth $4 billion, each have a seat on the board of directors of their father's companies. Kathrine became a board member of oil trading company Arcadia Petroleum earlier this year.

Cecilie has been on the board of Aktiv Kapital since 2006. The twins, based in London, have worked on various parts of their father's oil and shipping empire for several years. Others featured in Forbes' survey of 25 well-heeled hotties include Marta Ortega Perez, daughter of Spain's richest man - featured in our billion-heiresses post from last year (pictures here), Sir Richard Branson's daughter Holly and of course Ivanka Trump. Click here for a slideshow.

Tags: billionaires, Forbes, heiress, Ivanka Trump, IvankaTrump, John Fredriksen, JohnFredriksen, Richard Branson, RichardBranson

Aspen Comeback? Now Most Expensive Zip Code in U.S.

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Wealth

The real estate market in Aspen, CO has recovered somewhat and its priciest zip code is now the most expensive neighborhood in the U.S., according to a new ranking by Forbes. Back in February we reported on the dire straits of Aspen real estate, when Sotheby's International Realty shuttered its Aspen office in the wake of plummeting sales. Now Aspen's south end 81611 zip code, home to ultra-luxe ski lodges, is top of the field with an impressive $6.5 million median home sale price, the magazine reports. However the seasonal nature of the Aspen market gives it a yearly boost which might well mean its triumph is temporary; and indeed the big picture is still pretty glum. "In 2007, the market in our valley was $2 billion in sales," top Aspen broker Steve Walker tells Forbes, "this year it'll be between $500 million and $1 billion. In volume and dollars, it's been a 50% drop."

We predict that Beverly Hills, which is currently in 3rd place, will quickly eclipse Aspen especially since a mansion was just sold there for $31.5 million, the most expensive property sold in California so far this year, while a second recently changed hands for $22 million. The former, a 27,000-sq.-ft. Norman-style estate on 2 acres with 10 bedrooms, 14 baths and seven fireplaces, had originally been listed at $45 million and was on the market for almost nine months. Aspen's neighboring Snowmass Village has also experienced a resurgence. Other neighborhoods that have clocked recent gains include the Hollywood Hills and Chappaqua, NY, while the second most expensive zip belongs to Alpine, NJ, a luxurious New York suburb home to Wall Street execs and rap moguls like Sean Combs and Damon Dash.

Want to live in the country's priciest zip? There are several choice Aspen properties available including this $60 million estate, this $58 million spread and this cozy $43.8 million ski lodge. Here's the new list of the top five most expensive zip codes in the U.S. as determined by median prices (which are quite high overall right now at the top end):

1. Aspen, CO, 81611: $6.5 million
2. Alpine, NJ, 07620: $4.7 million
3. Beverly Hills, CA, 90210: $4.04 million
4. Snowmass Village, CO, 81654: $3.99 million
5. Newport, CA, 92661: $3.9 million

Tags: Alpine, Aspen, Beverly Hills, BeverlyHills, Colorado, Forbes, Hollywood Hills, HollywoodHills, New Jersey, NewJersey, real estate, RealEstate, Sean Combs, SeanCombs, Snowmass, Sothebys, zip code, ZipCode

The Classicist: The New World's Most Expensive Estates

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, The Classicist, Wealth

Five months ago when Forbes ranked the world's most expensive houses (in terms of current listings) only three of them clocked in at over $100 million. And in fact, one of those, Leona Helmsley's Dunnellen Hall in Greenwich, CT which started out at $125 million had already been reduced to $95 million by the time the list was published (it's currently being offered at $75 million). The other, Fleur de Lys in Beverly Hills listed at $125 million, was therefore the world's most expensive and one of only two $100 million-plus properties officially on the market.

Re-surveying the field now we've decided it's time for a new World's Most Expensive list, mainly because despite the recession - or, perhaps, because of it - there are now seven properties in what we've dubbed the Hundred Million Club (N.B. - those listed at only $100 million don't make the cut), three of which are in the U.S. These are the modern-day equivalents of the magnates' great estates we wrote about back in February.

Some recent market activity which regular Luxist readers will be aware of makes a new ranking imperative. For starters, last month Candy Spelling listed her Holmby Hills mega-mansion at $150 million, making it the world's most expensive estate. Then just last week a mansion at No. 10 Belgrave Square in London hit the market for around the same price - £100 million, or about $149 million (depending on exchange rates), while a second Belgrave Square property finally completed renovations and has been listed at £80 million, or about $120 million.

We also received confirmation this week that an incredible 40-room private mansion in Paris' Place des États Unis (above), built in 1890, has been listed at €105 million, or about $138 million. Fleur de Lys, whose "world's most expensive" status (though not its "legendary estate" status) was also usurped by the $135 million Manaplan Residence in Palm Beach now languishes in 5th place (sorry, Mariah).

Here is our new ranking of the world's most expensive estates (in terms of current verifiable listings), all members of the Hundred Million Club:

1. The Manor - Holmby Hills, CA: $150 million
2. No. 10 Belgrave Square, London, UK: $149 million
3. Place des États Unis, Paris, France: $138 million
4. The Manalapan Residence, Palm Beach, FL: $135 million
5. Fleur de Lys, Beverly Hills, CA: $125 million
6. No. 31 Belgrave Square, London, UK: $120 million
7. Updown Court, Surrey, UK: $110 million

Gallery: $100 Million is Not Enough

1. The Manor - Holmby Hills, CA: $150 million

2. No. 10 Belgrave Square, London, UK: $149 million

3. Place des États Unis, Paris, France: $138 million

4. The Manaplan Residence, Palm Beach, FL: $135 million

5. Fleur de Lys, Beverly Hills, CA: $125 million

Tags: Beverly Hills, BeverlyHills, Candy Spelling, CandySpelling, Connecticut, Dunnellen Hall, DunnellenHall, Fleur de Lys, FleurDeLys, Florida, Forbes, Greenwich, Leona Helmsley, LeonaHelmsley, London, Manaplan Residence, ManaplanResidence, mansion, Palm Beach, PalmBeach, Paris, The Manor, TheManor, Updown Court, UpdownCourt, Villa Leopolda, VillaLeopolda, worlds most expensive, WorldsMostExpensive

Continue reading “The Classicist: The New World's Most Expensive Estates”

Russia's Richest Man Offers A Bail Out

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

Russia's richest man, billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is offering a bail out to Russian financial news provider RBC. The offer comes through investment bank Renaissance Capital which is half-owned by Prokhorov. Renaissance Capital announced that Prokhorov's Onexim investment group would buy 65 percent of the new share capital for $35 million. On this news RBC's stock rose more than 30 percent. The money will be used to help repay debt and finance operations so that the company can continue to function. The company's total debt has been estimated at $200 million and $230 million.

This isn't the first time Prokhorov's name has been linked to a financial news provider, he was rumored to be buying Forbes last year although that rumor turned out to be false.

Source

Tags: forbes, mikhail prokhorov, MikhailProkhorov, rbc, renaissance capital, RenaissanceCapital

Number of World's Billionaires in Sharp Decline

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

My colleague Deidre Woollard just reported that the number of millionaire households in the U.S. has shrunk to its lowest level since 2003. To that we can now add that the number of billionaires in the world has also seen a steep decline.

According to Forbes' newly-released annual list of the world's billionaires, there are now only 793 billionaires around the globe, down from 1,125 a year ago. That means 332 people lost their billionaire status.

This year the exclusive group has an average net worth of $3 billion, down 23% in 12 months, making for a loss of some $1.4 trillion. Americans now account for 44% of the money and 45% of the list's slots, up 7 and 3 percentage points from last year, respectively. Some billionaires have fared better than others, though most have lost masses of money.

Bill Gates lost $18 billion but regained his title as the world's richest man with a $40 billion fortune. Warren Buffett, last year's No. 1, saw his fortune decline $25 billion as shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell nearly 50% in 12 months, and is in the No. 2 slot with $37 billion. Mexican telecom titan Carlos Slim Helú maintains his spot in the top three but lost $25 billion, and is now worth $35 billion.

Gallery: 10 Common Myths About Wealth and Luxury

Source

Tags: Bill Gates, BillGates, Billionaire, billionaires, Carlos Slim, CarlosSlim, Forbes, millionaires, money, Warren Buffett, WarrenBuffett, wealth

Best of Forbes This Week, 02/21/09

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

--A rug made entirely of jewels is the star of Sotheby's first-ever auctions in Doha, Qatar. Bidding will start at $5 million.

--Some stores are still pulling in customers and they range from Urban Outfitters and American Apparel to Hermes. The ten stores we can't stop shopping in.

--Brooke Astor's co-op isn't the only deal to be found in the world of Manhattan luxury real estate. Some prices are down 20%.

Tags: doha, forbes, jewels, qatar

Best of Forbes This Week, 02/14/09

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Take a trip into the diamond vault with the video above which showcases the jaw-dropping jewelry at William Goldberg Corp.

Bad news for shopaholics, some of your favorite stores will be buying less this year hoping to avoid the type of inventory glut they experienced last year. Could this mean the era of the deep discount is already ending?

If you can get away, why not get very far away, Forbes lists the top remote island getaways.

The annual list of most expensive cities is out and once again Monte Carlo tops the list.

A battle of the billionaires pits Oracle's Larry Ellison against Ernesto Bertarelli with the prize being the America's Cup.

Tags: forbes

The Richest 400 Make Big Bucks but Give Less in Taxes

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

My colleague, Jared, highlighted Forbes' Richest 400 this past September including billionaires Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Michael Bloomberg. Now, Forbes has released interesting information about this elite group's tax responsibilities. It seems even though the top 400 make the most money they are not paying the highest percentage of taxes. The following numbers are based on the IRS' 2006 figures and the IRS' ranking of the top 400 (although there is a lot of overlap between the Forbes' 400 and the IRS' 400):

The Top 400 only paid an average of 17% of federal income tax
17% is the lowest tax bite in the fifteen-year period of this group's IRS statistics
In contrast, the top 5% pay an average of 21% of federal income tax and the top 1% pay an average of 23%!

You can read more of the financial details here but that synopsis just goes to show...its good to be at the top.

Source

Tags: forbes, richest 400, richest 400 list, Richest400, Richest400List, taxes, wealth

Fleur de Lys Named World's Most Expensive Estate

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Forbes has named Fleur de Lys (above), the lavish Beverly Hills estate featured in this week's Classicist column, as the world's most expensive house currently on the market with its $125 million pricetag. The palatial mansion beat out Leona Helmsley's Dunnellen Hall in Greenwich, Conn., which had been listed at $125 million as well, but saw its price cut by $30 million back in October (Forbes has not yet registered the change). Fleur de Lys has been on the market since 2007, but unlike some other major property owners, billionaire's ex Suzanne Saperstein has yet to slash the price. In compiling its list of the world's 10 most expensive estates, Forbes culled from property listings, high-end brokerages and conversations with real estate agents. "We include only publicly listed properties," they note. "In Europe, especially, estates and luxury residences that might qualify are shopped privately for undisclosed prices." You can see a slideshow of the list here.

Gallery: Fleur de Lys

Tags: Beverly Hills, BeverlyHills, Dunnellen Hall, DunnellenHall, Fleur de Lys, FleurDeLys, Forbes, suzanne saperstein, SuzanneSaperstein

Forbes Ranks World's Most Expensive Fictional Houses

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

The fellows at Forbes must be feeling a little light-headed. The magazine just came out with its first ever ranking of the most expensive houses in the world - that don't actually exist. Well, it's fun anyway. First they laid out a few ground rules: 1. "All the properties had to be primarily residences (no schools, evil lairs or Death Stars) and we excluded castles (sorry Cinderella, Dracula). 2. "In the interest of variety, we limited our selections to no more than one or two of a 'type.'" 3. "We eliminated any selections that were deemed too obscure." Other than that, the properties in question could come from everything from comic books to TV shows to movies and videogames.

The most expensive fictional house, according to Forbes, is Xanadu, the home of newspaper baron Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane, at $160 million. The house is modeled on Hearst Castle (above), the real life San Simeon, Calif., estate of media mogul William Randolph Hearst. In the #2 spot is Richie Rich's cartoon mansion, complete with diamond-walled swimming pool, at $135 million. Elsewhere on the list: Tony Stark's bachelor pad in Iron Man, at $50.8 million; Gone With the Wind's antebellum plantation Tara, at $17.2 million; Croft Manor from Tomb Raider, at $46.1 million; and Jay Gatsby's Long Island mansion from The Great Gatsby, $42.5 million. Click here for a slideshow.

Tags: Citizen Kane, CitizenKane, Forbes, Gone With the Wind, GoneWithTheWind, Hearst Castle, HearstCastle, The Great Gatsby, TheGreatGatsby

The New Most Expensive Zip Codes in America

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events, Wealth

Forbes has just released its annual ranking of the 100 most expensive zip codes in America, and what with fluctuating real estate markets some of the results may surprise you. Beverly Hills for example, the famous 90210, barely makes it into the top 10 nowadays with a median home price of $2.41 million, while Bel Air (90077) lags way back at No. 29 with a median price of $1.72 million. New York City doesn't rate an appearance at all until Tribeca zip 10013 clocks in at No. 14 with a median price of $2.2 million.

That famous province of the rich, Greenwich, Conn. (zip 06870 in Old Greenwich) is way down at No. 26 with a median price of $1.75 million. The most expensive zip code in the country? 33109, the tiny private enclave of Miami Beach known as Fisher Island (above), where sales prices rose by $525,000 over the last year and which has an unbeatable median price of $3.85 million. Listed below are the Top 10 zips. You can see a slideshow of the full list here.

1. Fisher Island, Fla., 33109, Miami-Dade County
Median sales price: $3.85 million

2. Alpine, N.J., 07620, Bergen County
Median sales price: $3.59 million

3. Mill Neck, N.Y., 11765, Nassau County
Median sales price: $3 million

4. Newport Coast, Calif., 92657, Orange County
Median sales price: $2.8 million

5. Water Mill, N.Y. 11976, Suffolk County
Median sales price: $2.72 million

6. Atherton, Calif., 94027, San Mateo County
Median home price: $2.7 million

7. Santa Barbara, Calif., 93108, Santa Barbara County
Median home price: $2.7 million

8. Wainscott, N.Y., 11975, Suffolk County
Median home price: $2.56 million

9. Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., 92067, San Diego County
Median home price: $2.47 million

10. Beverly Hills, Calif., 90210, Los Angeles County
Median home price: $2.41 million

Tags: Beverly Hills, BeverlyHills, California, Fisher Island, FisherIsland, Florida, Forbes, Greenwich, Most expensive zip codes, MostExpensiveZipCodes, New York, NewYork

The Homes of America's Billionaires

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Wealth

As an adjunct to their just-released annual list of the 400 richest Americans, Forbes has included a special report on the homes of some of the billionaires who made the cut. Capping the account is of course Bill Gates, who tops the 400 with his $57 billion fortune. It's hard to say exactly how much his high-tech 66,000-sq.-ft. house on Lake Washington near Seattle is worth. The property includes a 60-foot swimming pool with an underwater music system, a domed library with two "secret" bookcase doors and a 1,000-square-foot dining room, the mag notes.

Also featured: the historic seven-story Duke-Semans mansion (above) in Manhattan owned by cab driver-turned-mogul Tamir Sapir (net worth $1.9 billion), who bought it from Doris Duke's relatives for $40 million after a single walk-through. He's now said to be spending $10 million on renovations. And then there's Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison's (net worth $27 billion) 23-acre estate in Woodside, Calif., "reminiscent of a 16th-century imperial Japanese palace" which reportedly cost over $100 million to build. You can see a slideshow of these megamansions and more here.

Tags: Bill Gates, BillGates, Doris Duke, DorisDuke, Forbes, Larry Ellison, LarryEllison, New York, NewYork, Seattle, Tamir Sapir, TamirSapir

Who's Up, Down & Out on New Forbes 400 Richest List

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

Forbes just released its annual Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, and billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates (above) is back on top after briefly ceding first place to Warren Buffett this spring. Gates has a net worth of $57 billion as opposed to Buffett's $50 billion - $12 billion less than he had several months ago before Berkshire Hathaway's stock plummeted 15%. Buffett isn't the only one to suffer a major reversal. The year's biggest loser was Sands casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, No. 15, whose fortune fell $13 billion in the past 12 months - about $1.5 million per hour, Forbes notes - to $15 billion.

Adelson's fellow casino kingpin Kirk Kerkorian, No. 27, was another underachiever, losing $6.8 billion this year. Still, they were both better off than the 33 moguls who fell off the list altogether due to declining fortunes. On the plus side, 31 new plutocrats moved up to take their places, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 24, who makes his debut on the list with an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion.

Other Forbes 400 first-timers include fertilizer tycoon Alexander Rovt, car dealer and art collector Norman Braman, and Patrón tequila founder John Paul DeJoria. Meanwhile, New York City's billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg was the year's biggest gainer, as his net worth jumped $8 billion to a total of $20 billion, snagging him the No. 8 position. Also worth noting among this year's stats:

The average net worth of Forbes 400 members is $3.9 billion.
There are 42 women on the list with an average net worth of $4.2 billion.
For the 2nd year in a row, the minimum net worth needed to make the list is $1.3 billion.
The assembled net worth of the richest Americans rose by only 2%, or $30 billion, to $1.57 trillion this year.

See the complete list here.

Tags: Bill Gates, BillGates, Billionaires, Forbes, Forbes 400, Forbes400, mark zuckerberg, MarkZuckerberg, Michael Bloomberg, MichaelBloomberg, Patron tequila, PatronTequila, sheldon adelson, SheldonAdelson, warren buffett, WarrenBuffett

The World's Biggest Billion-Heiresses To Be

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

Forbes has come up with a new list of the 10 young women most likely to inherit their mega-rich fathers' fortunes - in short, the billion-heiresses of tomorrow. The final list does not merely represent the daughters of the world's richest men, however; for a true accounting, the magazine started with the daughters of the world's 150 richest people, all worth $6.4 billion or more, but then focused only on those with few or no siblings to divide the loot.

They further narrowed the field by disqualifying those with fathers like Bill Gates who have declared their intention to leave their fortunes to charity instead of their children. Also, they did not include those who have already inherited their money, like the world's richest woman, L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.

No. 1 on the Forbes list is India's Vanisha Mittal Bhatia, daughter of Lakshmi Mittal, the fourth-richest person in the world with a fortune of $45 billion. The No. 2 and 3 heiresses are also the daughters of Indian tycoons, while No. 4 is Delphine Arnault-Gancia, daughter of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, the world's 13th-richest man with a fortune of $25.5 billion. And clocking in at No. 7 is championship equestrienne Georgina Bloomberg (above), daughter of New York's billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg. See the gallery for more.

Gallery: World's Biggest Heiresses