oligarch

Abramovich Installs Anti-Photo Shield on World's Largest Yacht

In addition to the military-grade missile defense system, armor plating and bullet-proof windows featured on Roman Abramovich's new 557-ft. Eclipse (above), the world's largest and most expensive privately owned yacht, the Russian oligarch has installed a high-tech anti-photo shield designed to keep the paparazzi at bay. The system relies on lasers to block any digital camera lenses nearby, the London Times reports. Infrared lasers will detect the cameras' electronic light sensors, known as charge-coupled devices (CCDs), and then fire a focused beam of light at the camera, disrupting its ability to record a digital image. The Times, which also claims the total cost of the Eclipse has now ballooned over the $1 billion mark, reports the yacht set off on a sea trial last week with 150 engineers and maritime experts aboard who will put it through its paces over 10 days. Abramovich, who just paid $89 million for a villa in St. Bart's, is due to take delivery of the yacht on December 22.

Tags: Eclipse, megayacht, oligarch, Roman Abramovich, RomanAbramovich, Russia, russian billionaires, RussianBillionaires, security, yacht

Abramovich Launches the World's Biggest Yacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Water, Wealth

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.

Gallery: Abramovich's Megayachts

Tags: Eclipse, megayacht, oligarch, Pelorus, Roman Abramovich, RomanAbramovich, Russian billionaires, RussianBillionaires, yacht

Villa Leopolda Now Worth Only $40 Million?

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Wealth

Villa Leopolda in Cap Ferrat (above), once the world's most expensive estate with a $750 million pricetag, may now only be worth $40 - $50 million thanks to plunging prices in the wake of the global recession, according to Sotheby's International Realty CEO Alexander V. G. Kraft. "For trophy properties it used to be a question of how much someone was willing to pay," Kraft tells the London Telegraph. "They would come quietly onto the market – they would be marketed under the table. This system really has totally collapsed. Buyers willing to pay anything like those sums just don't exist anymore." The paper says "panic sales" are on the rise in the ritzy area.

As we wrote about back in February, Russia's richest man Mikhail Prokhorov had reportedly agreed to purchase the Villa for $750 million but later backed out of the deal, forfeiting a $55 million deposit. The estate has not been re-listed. "Prices are coming more in line with the rest of the market," Kraft declares. "Trophy properties will be more in line with 'normal luxury properties' – about 20 to 30 million [euros]." Peter Ilovsky, director of Sotheby's International Realty in Cap Ferrat, says they're still good investments however. "Owning a property in Cap Ferrat is like having a Picasso," he tells the paper. "It's certainly better than placing the money in a Swiss bank."

Tags: Cap Ferrat, CapFerrat, French Riviera, FrenchRiviera, Mikhail Prokhorov, MikhailProkhorov, oligarch, Sothebys, Villa Leopolda, VillaLeopolda

Diamond Book For Russia's Big Spenders

by Sandy Maple (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Preferred

A regular edition of Roger Shashoua's book Dancing with the Bear: A Serial Entrepreneur Goes East can be had for around $30. But somehow it seems fitting that a book about getting seriously rich should also come in a seriously rich edition. How does £3m strike you? That is what British entrepreneur Shashoua is hoping to fetch for the made-to-order "oligarch" edition of his book, which features over 600 flawless diamonds on the cover.

The book, said to be the most expensive in the world, is touted as a how-to guide for entrepreneurs looking to follow in Shashoua's footsteps and make big money in post-Soviet Russia. Shashoua knows of what he speaks - he is the co-founder of ITE, which trades on the London Stock Exchange with a market value of more than £500m.

It seems to me that those who could actually afford this special edition book probably don't need the advice. But Shashoua hopes the wealthy Russian ex-pats who might buy it won't just stash it in the safe. "I can only hope that oligarchs will read the book, rather than just keeping it locked away," he says.

[via bornrich]

Source

Tags: book, dancing with the bear, DancingWithTheBear, diamond, diamond book, DiamondBook, entrepreneur, oligarch, Roger Shashoua, RogerShashoua, russia, shashoua, soviet russia, SovietRussia

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