Adam Brown
In 2011, a Russian oligarch tried to rescue the starving Monaco-based soccer club AS Monaco. He acquired two-thirds of the club and invested on the top players. He invited justice officials, government and police to the matches. Dmitry Rybolovlev was declared as one of the top billionaires in the world – 242nd across the world by Forbes Magazine. In November 2018, he was accused of corruption allegations on the request of a Monaco judge. His house also was raided by police then.
Born in Perm near Ural Mountains, Russia, this 51-year-old Rybolovlev is famous as an art collector and dealer. Basically, he is a businessman and an investor. From natural resources, he grew his wealth. As the owner of the potash fertilizer producing company – “Uralkali”, Rybolovlev has gained most of his billions. Just like many other billionaires, he also moved to the West and using his wealth gained access to elite society.
Rybolovlev is a complete story of money, power, fame and above all controversies. A number of legal cases are still going on the courts of several countries including The United States, the UK, Switzerland, Monaco, Singapore etc.
Dmitry Rybolovlev is the owner of several luxurious houses including a penthouse and a beach mansion in Palm Beach, Florida bought from the present US President Donald Trump named “Mansion de L’Amitie”. He paid $95 million for this mansion.
In Monaco, Rybolovlev owns a $300 million worth Penthouse at the popular “La Belle Epoque” building. This is considered as one of his most expensive assets.
Rybolovlev is the owner of a 9.7% share in the “Bank of Cyprus”. For this, he had to pay $295 million.
He also owns a private jet – Airbus A-319 worth $90 million. He named the jet after his daughter Kate just like he named his luxurious yacht after his other daughter Anna.
Rybolovlev is an ardent art collector and is a famous name in the world of art. He has bought several masterpieces including the legend Leonardo da Vinci himself. Most of his artworks got auctioned through the famous Christie’s and the Sotheby’s Auction House. In 2018, he created a milestone. The famous creation of Leonardo da Vinci – “Salvator Mundi” was also auctioned through the Christie’s from New York at $450.3 million and is known as the most expensive auctioned painting ever in the world. Although the actual identity of the buyer is not revealed, sources have confirmed that may be Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince has bought the masterpiece.
Afterward, it was truly confirmed that the Saudi Arabia Minister of Presidential Affairs has placed bid against the Crown Prince.
The power of the bidding has significantly increased the purchase price. Later on the UAE minister Sheikh Mansour has gifted a yacht named “Topaz” to the Crown prince in order to offset the increased bidding price.
Despite all these, Dmitry Rybolovlev has filed a case against the Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier. The charge against Bouvier was overpricing some of the artworks that Rybolovlev has bought from him. This Russian oligarch has claimed that Bouvier has overcharged him for more than 38 artworks including “Salvator Mundi”. The Sotheby’s Auction House was also accused along with Yves Bouvier. They were accused of helping intentionally and knowingly Bouvier in overpricing artworks. Rybolovlev has filed the cased against both of them in the Swiss court and in New York as well. Although both Bouvier and Sotheby’s have declined all the accusations, the legal battle is still on.
In 2018, Dmitry Rybolovlev was accused by the Monaco prosecutors to an investigation of influence peddling and corruption. He tried to influence some of the important legal officials in Monaco for the Bouvier fraud case including the judge and immediately the judge got replaced. The full legal team of Rybolovlev was involved in this peddling.
