World's most expensive property sold

A villa on the French Riviera, originally built for King Leopold II of Belgium, has reportedly been sold to a Russian billionaire for Dh2.7 billion.

The luxury mansion, built in 1902, was once home to Edmond Safra.

A Russian billionaire has reportedly smashed the world record for the most expensive property purchase, splurging ?500 million (Dh2.7 billion) for an estate on the French Riviera - a price that would buy the Dh110m penthouse of the Trump Tower in Dubai, the UAE's most expensive property, 25 times over. If the reports are correct, the purchase is the latest in a string of high-profile acquisitions by emerging market billionaires who have risen from relative obscurity a decade ago to become the world's biggest spenders. Unconfirmed reports in the French media have named the buyer as Mikhail Prokhorov, the former head of the mining company Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest nickel producer. A statement from Mr Prokhorov's current company denied he was the buyer. It said he would do no business in France until given an official apology for an incident last year that saw him questioned by French authorities for an alleged link to a prostitution ring.

The property, a sprawling villa surrounded by citrus groves and with a staff of more than 50, was originally built for King Leopold II of Belgium in 1902. It has since changed hands between a series of billionaires, including the Lebanese-born banking tycoon, Edmond Safra. Mr Safra's widow has been the occupant of Villa Leopolda, as it is known by locals, since 1999, when he died in a fire at his Monaco residence. His nurse was later convicted of arson and sentenced to a 10-year prison term.

The purchase of Villa Leopolda easily breaks the current record for the world's most expensive home, held by Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian steel magnate, for his £117m (Dh800m) mansion in London's Kensington Palace Gardens. Mr Mittal has purchased three homes on London's most exclusive street, but even his combined spend of £234m does not come close to the price of the villa on France's Côte d'Azur. But all of these homes will be upstaged once Mukhesh Ambani, the richest man in India and the fifth-richest in the world, moves into his new home in Mumbai. The 27-storey tower, complete with a four-storey-high open garden, is believed to be worth upwards of US$2bn (Dh7.3bn).

Local property watchers expect a premium-priced apartment in the Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, to set the UAE record when it eventually hits the market. No such high-profile sale has yet been announced; representatives of Emaar, the company managing the sale of Burj Dubai apartments, were unavailable for comment. Donald Trump, the name behind the most expensive address in the UAE, was also behind the priciest property in his native country. His colossal 18-bedroom, 22-bathroom mansion on Palm Beach in Florida was recently sold for $95m to another Russian billionaire, Dmitry Rybolovlev. Mr Rybolovlev got the property at a discount. Mr Trump was originally asking for US$125m, but as hundreds of thousands of US home owners have done in recent months, he settled for less.

* With Agencies
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