What good is a fortune in real estate and an impressive collection of superyachts, private jets and supercars, if you can’t spend a dime of it? In Roman Abramovich’s case, it’s even worse, because he still has to cover maintenance and running costs for all these, while his assets are frozen.
Roman Abramovich is among the wealthiest Russian oligarchs targeted by ongoing international sanctions for their supposed ties with the Kremlin, as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prior to the war, his estate was estimated at well over $12 billion, comprising more than 70 pieces of real estate across the world, five yachts including two of the world’s largest, most expensive and technically advanced superyachts, three private jets and two helicopters, and a stellar collection of supercars. And that’s just the stuff we know about.
As per reports, the total of this “collection” is in the neighborhood of $3 billion but, because of the sanctions, Abramovich can’t sell any of it. Meanwhile, he still has to foot the monthly bill for running costs and maintenance, and even with a skeleton personnel on all, he’s still looking at at least $750,000 a week. Take that figure with a grain of salt, since there’s no exact way of determining it when it comes to private property – all the more since we’re talking about a Russian billionaire –, but it should be enough to make you reach for the world’s smallest violin, as British tabloid the Daily Mail puts it.
Recent reports claim that Abramovich, who is now either in Russia or Turkey, is feeling the pinch. With most of his assets frozen, including liquidities, he has no way to pay for monthly running costs of all his prized possessions. Abramovich is now poor, but a billionaire’s version of the word, where he still gets to live it up and still has outrageous stuff, but he’s stressed about how he’s going to pay for all.
So Abramovich is asking friends to help him out. He’s reportedly turned to movie director Brett Ratner and members of the Rothschild family, hoping he could secure $1 million loans from each. This is a lot of money for us regular mortals, but it would be just a band-aid for Abramovich – one he hopes would be large enough to cover staff bills and running costs for a while.
Think of it this way: Abramovich’s fleet of aircraft may be grounded, and the megayacht Solaris docked in Turkey, but Eclipse is still sailing in neutral international waters. Eclipse is believed to have cost anything between $600 million and $1.5 billion to build, which means its annual running cost is between $60 million and $150 million, even if its manned by a skeleton crew.
Mo’ money mo’ problems, indeed.
As per reports, the total of this “collection” is in the neighborhood of $3 billion but, because of the sanctions, Abramovich can’t sell any of it. Meanwhile, he still has to foot the monthly bill for running costs and maintenance, and even with a skeleton personnel on all, he’s still looking at at least $750,000 a week. Take that figure with a grain of salt, since there’s no exact way of determining it when it comes to private property – all the more since we’re talking about a Russian billionaire –, but it should be enough to make you reach for the world’s smallest violin, as British tabloid the Daily Mail puts it.
Recent reports claim that Abramovich, who is now either in Russia or Turkey, is feeling the pinch. With most of his assets frozen, including liquidities, he has no way to pay for monthly running costs of all his prized possessions. Abramovich is now poor, but a billionaire’s version of the word, where he still gets to live it up and still has outrageous stuff, but he’s stressed about how he’s going to pay for all.
So Abramovich is asking friends to help him out. He’s reportedly turned to movie director Brett Ratner and members of the Rothschild family, hoping he could secure $1 million loans from each. This is a lot of money for us regular mortals, but it would be just a band-aid for Abramovich – one he hopes would be large enough to cover staff bills and running costs for a while.
Think of it this way: Abramovich’s fleet of aircraft may be grounded, and the megayacht Solaris docked in Turkey, but Eclipse is still sailing in neutral international waters. Eclipse is believed to have cost anything between $600 million and $1.5 billion to build, which means its annual running cost is between $60 million and $150 million, even if its manned by a skeleton crew.
Mo’ money mo’ problems, indeed.