It's always been clear that Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich has been an exceedingly wealthy man ever since he bought formerly state-owned Russian oil company Sibneft for peanuts in 1995, then sold it 10 years later for $12 billion. A ruling by the Royal Courts of Justice in London, however, has outlined in detail the trappings of his luxury lifestyle.
Justice Christopher Clarke was ruling that, as Abramovich only spent 57 days in the U.K. last year, a case brought against him by energy company Yugraneft that it was cheated out of its 50 percent stake in a Siberian oilfield cannot be heard in the country. The 134-page court document revealed the Chelsea owner's labyrinthine business holdings, his intercontinental property portfolio, and his numerous modes of transport.
His assets now include two ski chalets in Colorado, a villa in St Barts, a French chateau, former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's former home in Moscow, several flats in London's exclusive Knightsbridge area, and Chelsea FC, which Clarke tellingly described as not a business interest, but a "hobby and a leisure interest. The sums that Mr Abramovich has given to the club far exceed any return that could possibly be expected." Although in fact those sums are loans that Abramaovich could recall at any time.
To facilitate his globetrotting, Abramovich uses private jets, helicopters and supercars. He is also having built a 550 ft-long, 12,000-ton boat that, according to The Guardian, is expected to be the world's largest privately owned vessel. Abramovich is 15th in the Forbes rich list, with an estimated wealth of $23.3 billion.