Abramovich Decision Time: The Sports Team, The Yacht or Latvia?
Filed under: Wealth
Oh what a week to be Roman Abramovich. As my colleague Jared Paul Stern reported, Abramovich had to cancel his Aspen New Year's Eve party. Now rumors are surfacing that Abramovich may be so crunched by the financial crisis he is looking at selling either his Chelsea soccer team or his megayacht Pelorus. It seems likely that he would be selling the yacht anyway if he is still going to be taking delivery of his planned $350 million megayacht but perhaps the economy has hastened that decision. No other Russian billionaire is as tempting a subject for speculation so it's hard to believe much of the news of his potential comings and goings without a listing or other proof. Should Abramovich find himself with a bit of spare change, the country of Latvia has an interesting offer, they want him to buy them. For around $10.7 billion he could have an entire country at his disposal. Over 400 Lativans have signed a letter addressed to Abramovich touting the country's benefits of hard-working people, a clean environment and"plenty of space to dock your yacht."
