Oligarch loses deposit on most expensive house in the world

A Russian billionaire has lost a 40 million (£36 million) deposit on a sprawling villa on the French Riviera after a court in Nice refused to return the lump sum.

Mr Prokhorov reportedly backed out of the sale after the recession hit the industries on which his fortune is based Photo: REUTERS

 

Mikhail Prokhorov, who is worth nearly £6 billion, backed out of the sale of the clifftop Villa Leopolda after promising to buy it for 390 million euros in 2008.

A French court has since ruled that the minerals and metals magnate could not reclaim the funds that he put down to secure the property, the Times reports.

 

Mr Prokhorov reportedly backed out of the sale after the recession hit the industries on which his fortune is based.

The contract for the sale of the property, which was built for King Leopold II, was the highest price agreed for a house anywhere in the world.

As a result of the court's decision, the deposit will remain in the hands of the owner, Lily Safra, who is the widow of Edmond Safra, the banker billionaire who was murdered by his male nurse in Monaco in 1999.
Mrs Safra said that she would donate the money to ten charities, including 1 million euros each for neuroscience research at King's College London and Imperial College London. "By transforming the deposit into an act of giving I would like to encourage all who can do so to support medical research, patient care, education and other humanitarian causes," she said.