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Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone made headlines last year when her daddy bought her Candy Spelling’s insane estate, the most expensive home in LA County, for $85 million. Well now a Russian heiress can lay claim to the most expensive apartment in the most expensive city in the US, an $88 million dollar penthouse on Central Park West. Note that there’s a photo of an indoor pool on this story on AOL real estate, which makes you assume that this outrageously expensive apartment must come with its own indoor pool. The article states that it’s a photo of the “common areas” in the complex, which includes a pool and a fitness center which must be shared with other, more peasant residents. This location has its own Wikipedia page which reveals that celebrities such as Sting and Denzel Washington have owned condos there. Here’s more, from Radar Online:
Meet 22-year-old Ekaterina Rybolovleva, the proud owner of New York’s most expensive apartment, courtesy of her über rich daddy, former fertilizer magnate, Dmitry Rybolovlev.
If you’ve ever wanted to know what an $88 million pad looks like you now have the chance to find out, courtesy of realestate.aol.com.
The 6,744 sq ft apartment boasts 10 rooms, a wrap-around terrace, it’s own library, seven walk-in closets and a wrap around terrace which boasts stunning views of the city.
The seller was Sanford I. Weill, the former head of Citigroup Inc and the Wall Street Journal reports that the sale generated a cool $2.5 million in city and state taxes, and the lucky real estate broker pocketed around $3.5 million in commission.
Getting one up on Petra, who threw down a mere $85 million for her real estate purchase — Candy Spelling’s former Holmby Hills mansion — Ekaterina’s sale broke records for an individual property transaction, quite an achievement in a city that is known for it’s hefty home prices.
And get this, the Central Park abode will be only a part time residence for the Russian, who is a permanent resident of tax haven to the mega rich, Monaco. The avid equestrian plans to stay in her ‘starter home’ while she is studying in the city.
Ekaterina’s father made his mega billions during the post-Soviet privatization of the economy, he is the former owner of fertilizer business Uralkali. And, aside from providing a nice study crash pad for his daughter, there could be an ulterior motive for the costly purchase.
The billionaire businessman is currently embroiled in a bitter divorce battle with his wife of 23 years, Elana, mother to Ekaterina and another daughter.
Elana has accused her soon-to-be-ex-husband of serial infidelity and could be in line for a whopping $3.5 billion divorce settlement. However, the new apartment will be out of her grasp as it is in her lucky daughter’s name only.
[From Radar]
It sounds like this purchase is for tax reasons and that it’s not necessarily just for a college student to live in. At least this girl is in college, and at least she has hobbies, as evidenced by the only photo I could find of her, riding a horse in a competition in 2010. The Daily Mail has a sort-of profile of Ekaterina as compared to Petra Ecclestone, and they say that Ekaterina is pretty low-key and remains relatively unknown, focusing on equestrian activities and not ostentatiously flashing her wealth.
I found some photos of the apartment from Architectural Digest in 2010. They’ve made some changes prior to staging it for sale, as you can see in the comparison photos of the living room. (Or maybe those are two different rooms.) With that kind of money you can bet they’ll renovate too.
Update: Radar is reporting that Ekaterina is studying at Harvard. That’s not in NY, but I’m sure her dad owns a helicopter or five.
Photo credits: WENN.com and Architectural Digest
Written by Celebitchy
Posted in Money
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Must. Be. F’in. Nice. haha.
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Wow
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It’s very beautiful. She’s really lucky to live in that place and to live that life.
It also shows you how amazingly out-of- whack the world is. It makes me sad.
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great property but I hope she hires a decorator who isnt stuck in the 80s. hideous decor! ack! looks like Bud Fox’s condo in Wallstreet. sounds like he is trying to spend money in a hurry before his divorce settlement is worked out.
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Gawd, that terrace is gorgeous…that’s all.
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The view looks faked
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Mmmm, nice to look at but not sure I would actually sit there very often, very exposed!
I’d be thinking of all the peasant apartments across the way and how they would be spying with binoculars…
…or a sniper rifle..
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I love being reminded that my chosen hobby/life love is for uber rich people. Horses are so addicting!
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Right? I have no use for such a palatial living space (and you don’t even get a square inch of LAND for all that money!!), but it sure must be nice when daddy can buy you a barn full of $50,000+ horses.
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Cute apartment. Waste of money.
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I wish I had a dad that would do that for me – I wish I had a dad period actually haha
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Can someone explain to me like I’m a five year old exactly what a “tax haven” is? Is it where you don’t get to pay any tax? Is that how the rich stay rich?
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I think it’s a place to sink money into that will either cost less in taxes or will lower the amount of taxes you have to pay overall. A single guy with a kid that’s no longer a dependent is in the highest tax bracket, paying something like 35% of his income right off the bat. If I was him I’d be looking for tax havens all over the place. It’s one reason why rich people donate money to non-profits.
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ETA maybe taxes are different in Russia. SO I could be totally wrong here
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Tax havens are the Bahamas, Switzerland, Monaco and the Cayman Islands, amongst others.
The tax rates on income and ineterest are low or non.existant, hence you save a whole lot of money, compared to, say, Germany, where the highest income tax bracket is 43.5%.
That’s why the IKEA founder lives in Switzerland, as does Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, why Armie Hammer grew up in the Bahamas, and why Philip Greens Topshop chain is owned by a LLC which is registered in his wife’s name, who is a citizen of Monaco.
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The isle of Mann is another!
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It means the rich are not heavily taxed there. Here (USA) the richer you are, the more you pay. There, sounds like it plateaus once you hit a certain income bracket and you don’t have to pay an extreme amount of taxes.
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o
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If only the uber-rich really did pay more in taxes. The % of their income are often times much less than people in lower tax brackets.
There are many loop holes to allow people in high tax brackets to avoid taxes. Including tax havens, tax free contributions, placing money into investments, as well as stock dividends and interest payments. Those have a lower or non-existent tax rate.
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Yes. There is no income tax in Monaco – so if you earn $10m in a year you get to put all $10m in your bank account. They do charge VAT/Sales Tax & Corporation Tax at a fairly hefty rate, I believe. The tax rate in Russia itself is only 13%, so you’d have be pretty determined to screw over the Siberian peasants to move your money away, though!
Outside Monaco the rich can also pretend to be limited companies, religious groups (like the Duggars!) or stash their money in offshore funds in countries to hide them from the tax man, whilst the poor can barely afford the accountants to calculate their (honest) taxes.
Life isn’t fair!
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It’s why Johnny Depp lives in France.
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You’re tripping jen!He lives in the US.France is not a tax haven country.He would simply pay more if he was living in France(i think it’s more close to Germany’s income tax bracket).Just ask Drew Barrymore…
The billionaires live in England too if you’re a mega rich foreigner you don’t really pay taxes there(Lakshmi-Mittal,Abramovitch,etc…)
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Tax havens are where some of the rich hide their money to avoid paying taxes like the working class has to pay.
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Good Lord. I can’t even imagine.
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I read about this a couple of months ago. They called it the “most expensive dorm room in the world”.
I can’t ever imagine walking around in such an apartment, much less living there. I would love to own a place of my own, and be able to paint/decorate/buy appliances, but this is outrageous. That amount of money is…out of this world. You know how happy I would be if I even had…$100,000? Thats like chump change to these people – they would seriously throw it in the toilet and not notice.
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It’s mind-boggling, isn’t it, how these super rich people could take six figures and drop it in five seconds and not even notice.
I love the views this place has, but I’m such a simple girl I think I’d be uncomfortable there. My dream house is a nice sprawling bungalow in the country with lots of property, a big veranda, and a huge garage/shop for my husband. Even if I COULD afford something like that, I’d be way out of my element.
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Nice view!!
Is she gonna actually live there ?
Even with some maid it must be lonely to live in a 10-bed apartment alone
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If she’d like about 4 roomies, where do myself, hubby, and kids sign up?? Hell, I’ll be the maid and cook (not much different from my every day life anyways, haha)
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Horses and a beautiful place in the middle of NYC. God, I hate her.
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The ceiling in that bedroom is incredible. That is one amazing apartment.
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This is old news. It happened 2 months ago or something like that,no? Idk know how to write that number dude
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I hate when people try to hide their assets to screw over the other partner. It’s just a petty nasty thing to do.
I guess he just can’t make it on the 4 billion or so he’d have left. That would mean giving up sooooo much and that amount of sacrifice is just cruel.
My day is getting off to great start, Beat her Down Brown, JustJen, Waity, The Crack Star, Beowulf, Bos and Rick Insanetorium all before lunch. I’m sure there is Kat Trash story out there begging to get told.
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You crack me up. PLUS, you got your wish. You’re on a roll today!
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it’s so freaking sad, how people are hungry all over the world (including NYC), and someone buys an apartment for 88 mil. ugh.
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this!88 mil is just too much..
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Aah! Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!
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I want her horse! Gorgeous!
Dad is an a-hole. Fertilizer magnate in Russia. Envision the toxins his plants have been pouring into the environment over the years. Also, moving assets around-this isn’t exactly hiding them.
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Looks like something out of a movie, very beautiful. Too bad that after this, every home will probably pale in comparison. And she is only 22! Crazy.
I read on the Wiki page that A-Rod once lived in the building. That made me snicker a little. Money can’t always buy class!
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Ugh…it’s too ugly and too big for someone that young. It doesn’t look like a home at all…reminds me of the apartment in A Perfect Murder.
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usually I find interiors of those expensive houses bland and hideous. Like all the houses we saw on MTV Cribs.
But I kinda like how this house looks.
Still, 88 mil seems way overpriced. You can buy an island for that money.
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Hate oligarchs ((
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Imagine how many orphans could be fed for $88million or lives that could be saved for even $1M? It’s beautiful but that money could have been put to better use.
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tell that to Petra Ecclestone who doesn’t think $85M [cost of her house] can make a difference to the poor!!! i still can’t believe she said that, and i am still hoping that it was tongue in cheek.
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Imagine how many orphans could be fed for $88million or lives that could be saved for even $1M?
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Is it wrong of me to think this is kind of gross.? I don’t usually care about rich people spending money – it’s their money to spend. But this (like the Petra mansion) is obscene. It’s not the age of the daughter that bothers me, but the sheer wealth of one individual. Crazy, mind boggling, and kind of gross.
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If its her dads money, he should do what he wants with it. I don’t like when people just assume wealthy people shouldn’t enjoy their wealth. I’m sure they donate here and there just like everyone else. I know I always donate a dollar or two when I see a charity donation set up outside a store but I also enjoy spending my paycheck on my spring cruise in a few weeks.
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It’s got nice views during the warm weather months but I would never saddle my child with the carrying costs of this type of property. The Plaza Hotel really should have stayed a hotel so people could splurge once in a lifetime for that view. But at the end of the day, there are plenty of better views for free in the rest of America. If you don’t NEED to be in Manhattan, there’s no reason to live in Manhattan. It’s not London or Paris and the food is better in Hong Kong.
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I like Russians and they were the Eastern Cavalry in both World Wars against the Germans so they deserve to live it up.
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Right, they were so nice to Poland.
Oh wait.
Do some research.
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Wow, between the drastically changed geopolitical circumstances, the difference between the Russian people/government, and the fact that there are over 141 million Russians, some of whom are notoriously corrupt and dare I say evil people, I don’t even know where to start with that statement.
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This is just another example of how overpriced New York is, I left a few years ago and never looked back. Where I live now 88million dollars would be about 4 million with more amenities and every thing. You pay for the name New York. Even people who make low to minimum wages are paying and “arm and a leg” just to live in a box.
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Right? My best friend from college lives in a glorified shoe box in Chelsea and she pays $2K a month! Our freshman dorm was bigger!
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“dad, i’m so embarressed to drive my porsche to university, all the other students arrive by train.”
“dear daughter, i can feel your embaressment. i send you 200,000,000$ so you can also buy a train.”
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And the Haubs in Connecticut and Germany (and Boston COLLEGE) just vomited blood. hahhaha
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Enough about the apartment, I want to hear about that beautiful horse!
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Yes please!
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Why people need places like that is beyond me. Well I suppose if you have the money. But alot of charities would of been set for a long time with the interest alone from that kind of money.
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Am I the only one that thinks the apartment is ugly? I mean, the views are gorgeous, but everything else is just gross.
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Meh, it’s their money. Bc I went to college on a full athletic scholarship and received a few other academic ones my parents didn’t have to pay anything so when I graduated they gave me the $200K they would’ve spent which I used to buy the home where I live. I don’t think there’s anything wrong in gettingyour children nice things if you can afford them.
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Absolutely Beautiful. I’m sooooo jealous!
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I go to school in that area, and I’d hate to live in it. Way too touristy and commercial for my taste.
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Money can buy you a talented horse, but it can’t buy you good equitation. Her lower leg position over those jumps is pretty bad. She should go train with Mclain Ward, she can certainly afford it!!
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I’m hoping they are just a couple of bad moments but that lower leg looks INCREDIBLY loose. George Morris would not be amused
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Well I’m glad someone agrees! Though you are absolutely right, it could just be some unfortunate instances caught at the right time, and it happens to everyone. It just bugs me that because you aren’t being judged on your equitation in that type of class, that some of these top show jumpers really let it go in favor of getting the best time. It seems that they are trusting the horse to get over the jumps without faults and are not as concerned with correct form as some others are, like the two we mentioned.
Plus, it can be a safety issue if it’s bad enough! I know a girl who has ripped her stirrups right off the safety bar because they slip so far back! At least she realizes it’s a problem and is working on it… I’m not perfect for sure, but goodness knows the horse world can be so brutal!
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With 88 million, you could rebuild Haiti or even feed everybody in Darfur for a few years or help rebuild an american public school system. Just think if these billionaires actually gave money where it was needed and not to their spoiled kids.
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There would not have been so many suicides in his country in early 90es if such people hadn’t tried to become gazillioners in a couple of years.
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Agree. What a waste when so many are in need! All this for an apartment
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F my life. Too bad I have a conscience and all. Oh well.
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What a beautiful waste.
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Well said! Cosign that.
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That pony should be mein!
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It’s his paper money and if he wants to buy an entire country with it, then it’s up to that country to decide where its interests lie. The rich man doesn’t have real power here, or anywhere, for that matter. Only the buyers and sellers and those others jealous of or begging for his charity have the ability to give, and to REMOVE, any financial power this man has.
The same goes for status.
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I feel like I should “hate” her more… but I’m actually happy an heiress is getting a higher education at a top tier school.’Cause you know she doesn’t have to work, but she’s choosing to focus on learning. Can you imagine Paris going to Harvard??
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Ugh…
WHY?
Bitch, i hope it feels good walking around in that thing while that hobo down the street is freezing and starving to death. I’m utterly disgusted.
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Does anyone else here jump?
Her leg position in these pictures are asking for a fall.
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I don’t jump but I ride… I hadn’t actually noticed her leg position specifically but did think she looks a bit ungainly in the saddle. I also noticed the horse’s right front leg is tucked at an odd angle in last pic – does that look right to you?
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The 88 million is not only for the apartment, views are also very expensive. Where I live, one pays for the view and real estate taxes include the views.
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I think the concept of a “tax haven” for a Russian oligarch is some serious crap.
Has anyone besides me ever been to Russia? The people are extremely poor. The job prospects are low, the economy is crawling.
Its a real crime what these oligarchs did. Buying formerly public goods at cut rate prices and calling it capitalism is nothing short of robbery. The people of Russia have been robbed of their countries wealth, robbed of their countries resources, and all so that some 22 year old girl can ride horses and own $88 million dollar homes? Its wrong.
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Thanks, you said it!
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THANK YOU! A lot of people seem to conveniently forget that, whilst Russia may not be the USSR anymore, the population as a whole is far, far from happy or prosperous. There are a cornucopia of uses for the taxes this guy should be paying.
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It’s an amazing apartment and I know NYC is crazy expensive, but $88 million for a 6,744 square foot apartment? Seems a tad overpriced to me, espcially since the poor girl has to share the pool and gym with the peasants.
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Great apartment, not my taste in decor.
Not what I would choose to do with $88 million, but it’s his money, I guess. Hopefully he’s also charitable, but who knows. The taxes on it will be a nice little boost to the budget, if nothing else.
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Here’s the thing, even if your not rich, you too can find ways to evade/hide your money from taxes. The rich just do it more often because they have more money to tax.
I have seen the poor lie about their income as well on taxes or in order to receive public assistance. Granted they can/do get caught but so do many of the rich.
It doesn’t bother me how people spend their money. Most people who complain about others having/ buying luxeries would do the same if given the opportunity. It is often just bitter grapes.
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Yes, poor and middle class people also cheat on their income taxes here and there, but please: Do you know any middle class people who can actually buy a place in Monaco and thereby evade income taxes altogether?? Also: It’s a little bit more understandable to cheat on your income tax when you’re struggling to make ends meet than when you’re net worth is a couple of billions.
And yes, rich people can spend their money however they like…but possessing the kind of money to spend the obscene amount of 88 million on an apartment for one college girl and then evading income taxes which could be used for social welfare…now that’s just despicable.
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PFFFT!!! Fertilizer magnate is right.
It would make your hair stand on end to know how these so called magnates really made their money. Disgusting.
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The living room isn’t even that big! hahaha…oh, Manhattan.
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I don’t know how it all works, but for whatever reason he found it necessary to put the apartment in his daughters name. Doubt she’s actually going to use it. Anyway, the price is obscene.
And I’m sorry but all these Russian oligarchs are mighty shady. Many of them have made Monaco their ‘base’… who knows what deals there are in place between Prince Albert and the Russians. Not for nothing Somerset Maugham described Monaco as a “sunny place for shady people”.
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@Ladybug – well said and so true. The webs there would curl anyone’s hair. I keep wondering if a Russian assignment is what keeps Char on the job with Albie!
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I’d much prefer a beautiful home with land and an incredible outdoor area to this apartment in the middle of NYC. I love nature and although the apartment is stunning, I’d take a gorgeous home with a natural setting over this any day…you could have a smaller top notch apartment in NYC as a second home.
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money certainly doesn’t nuy you taste does it! Hopefully she redecorates it so it doesn’t look like it’s stuck in the past!
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crazy…waste of money
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If you got it, flaunt it. No crime in that. And I love the apartment furnished like that. I just wouldn’t want all those rooms. It’s just another ordinary day for them lol.
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I wonder what the price tag was for admission to Harvard
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My father didn’t even buy me a car when I was 22.
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He can adopt me!!!
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I want her horse and her terrace!
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Your site appears to be incredibly clean not to mention top notch, good luck and all the best. May i integrate a link on my site to redirect individuals over to here?
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