MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Russian tycoon pays 300 million Euros for French Riviera villa

Villa Leopolda

Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov paid 300 million Euros for a villa in the French Riviera built in 1902, so grand that it takes a reputed 50 gardeners to tend its gardens, according to the Paris daily Le Monde.

Villa Leopolda in Villefranche-sur-Mer was built by King Leopold II of Belgium and has been graced by world leaders and superstars. The previous owner, the late banking billionaire Edmond Safra, is said to have entertained Ronald Reagan and Frank Sinatra there. According to Le Monde, the deal was closed last August 8. Mr. Prokhorov, 42, has made his fortune with his nickel company Norilsk Nickel and is a close friend of Chelsea owner and oil magnate Roman Abramovich who was first tipped as the buyer. Prokhorov has an estimated fortune of 13.5 billion US dollars which makes him the sixth Russian and world's 24th richest man, according to the Forbes ranking. The Villa Leopolda price-tag smashed the previous record of £117m (217m USD), which Britain's richest man Lakshmi Mittal reportedly paid this year for a home on London's so-called Billionaires Boulevard close to Kensington Palace. But even the latest record may not last long. Asia's richest man, industrialist Mukesh Ambani is expected to move into the 27-storey property he has built to house his family and offices in Mumbai next year. With a value reported to be up to 2 billion USD, the design was said to have be inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The French Riviera villa eight hectare grounds on the Villefranche-sur-mer and Beaulieu-sur-Mer hills and a few miles away from Nice, originally cost one frank, the price paid by Leopold II. Once built by 1915 the mansion was turned into a hospital and by 1950 became the property of Italian family Giovanni Agnelli owners of Fiat and Ferrari. They later sold Villa Leopolda to Edmond Safra the Brazilian-Swiss-Lebanese banker, but following his death in 1999 the widow held the property until now. Villa Leopolda is a complex of terraces looking to the Mediterranean with a spectacular oval pool surrounded by trees at the bottom plus eight hectare gardens which demand the daily attention of fifty gardeners. According to Le Monde the French Mediterranean has always attracted the rich and famous Russians and in the last two centuries even czars' family had a mansion. Following the collapse of the czar in the late 1910s an estimated 600 of Russia's riches families moved to the French Riviera. Central London and the French Riviera are the current hotpots for Russian buyers, according to Mr Hewlett.