London mansions to superyachts: what are Roman Abramovich’s assets?
Of all the trophy assets owned by Russia-linked billionaires in the UK, one has always stood out: Chelsea football club. On Thursday, ownership of the London club was officially frozen after the designation of Roman Abramovich for UK sanctions.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, lawyers for Abramovich had strenuously insisted that he did not fit the criteria for sanctions, but the UK has now become the first of the Nato allies to impose sanctions on him.
Of all the people alleged by the UK government to have links to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, Abramovich had perhaps the closest affiliation with the UK. However, an MP last week claimed in the Commons that he was starting a fire sale of UK properties, as well as seeking to offload Chelsea for as much as £4bn.
As well as Chelsea, Abramovich owns a stake in the steel company Evraz and Norilsk Nickel, also known as Nornickel, both of which had shares listed on the London Stock Exchange that are now suspended. The UK government cited Forbes’ estimate of his net worth at £9.4bn, and said he was “one of the few oligarchs from the 1990s to maintain prominence under Putin”.
His UK property reportedly includes a 15-bedroom mansion on Kensington Palace Gardens in central London that was bought for £90m in 2009, and a Chelsea penthouse overlooking the River Thames bought in 2018 for a reported £22m.
Yet he also has assets that are beyond the reach of British officials. Château de la Croë, a sprawling villa on France’s Mediterranean coast once owned by British royals, is thought to be worth €100m.
Abramovich owns one of the world’s biggest superyachts, the 140m Solaris, which can reportedly host 36 guests. Its value has been estimated at $600m by the website SuperYachtFan.
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