11 intriguing things owned by wealthy Russians

Chelsea FC —

Chelsea Football Club's owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, celebrates the 2012 Champions League trophy with players John Terry, Raul Meireles and Jose Bosingwa. He bought the club in 2003 for reported $234 million.

CARL COURT/AFP/GettyImages

Facebook —

Russian Internet holding company DST, backed by Russian Yuri Milner, owns around 5% of Facebook shares.

Ed Jones/AFP/GettyImages/File

Brooklyn Nets —

Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia's metal tycoon, bought NBA team New Jersey Nets in 2009, built a new arena in New York City and rebranded the team as the Brooklyn Nets.

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Marussia Formula One Team —

The Marussia Formula One Team is owned by Russian Marussia Motors supercar marque.

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Faberge eggs —

Of the 42 surviving Imperial Faberge eggs, 20 belong to Russians. Queen Elizabeth II owns three. The lavish jeweled Easter eggs were commissioned from Faberge by Tsar Alexander III in 1885 as Easter gifts for his wife, the Tsarina Maria Feodorovna.

YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty Images

Skorpios island —

Skorpios island in Greece is reportedly owned by Ekaterina Rybolovleva, the daughter of oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev. In 1968, the island was the site of Jackie Kennedy's wedding with the former owner of the island, Aristotle Onassis. (Skorpios is just off the coast of Greek island of Lefkada, pictured.)

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Waterstones —

UK's leading bookseller, Waterstones, is owned by Russian millionaire Alexander Mamut. There are around 300 stores through the UK and Europe.

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Kaspersky Lab —

Kaspersky Lab, a Russian computer security company, was co-founded by Eugene Kaspersky and Natalia Kaspersky in 1997. Considered one of the most innovative companies worldwide, Kaspersky Lab operates in almost 200 countries.

Alexey SAZONOV/AFP/Getty Images

The Independent —

Both The Independent, one of UK's daily national newspapers, and London's widely read freebie the Evening Standard are owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev.

Oli Scarff/Getty Images

International Space Station —

A big chunk of the International Space Station belongs to Russia, and is called the Russian Orbital Segment. Since the retirement of the American space shuttle program, NASA astronauts cannot get to and from the ISS without their Russian counterparts, who now operate the only space shuttles.

ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images

NYC most expensive apartment —

The top floor penthouse at 15 Central Park West became the most expensive apartment ever sold in Manhattan when the daughter of Russian investor Dmitry Rybolovlev bought it last year, at a cost of $88 million. The building is believed to be the world's most expensive property in terms of price per square foot and its residents include Sting, Denzel Washington and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Intriguing things owned by Russians around the world

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Russian oligarchs own some of the most lavish assets around the world

These include professional sports teams, exclusive jewelery and artworks

Some of the most expensive properties belong to Russian millionaires

CNN —

Russia risks economic isolation from the West with its intervention into the Crimean peninsular, but trade relationships complicate matters. And, as CNN reveals, it’s not just trade in which Russian interests are strongly represented – it’s in some of the most lavish and expensive assets around the world. Below are a selection.

Sports

Professional sports team ownership is perhaps the ultimate status symbol for Russia’s wealthiest.

Mikhail Prokhorov, who made his billions in the precious metals sector, owns the NBA Brooklyn Nets while the Marussia Formula One team is now owned by Moscow-based company.

Oligarchs can also be found backing some of the world’s biggest football clubs. Uzbeki-born Russian business magnate Alisher Usmanov is one of the major shareholders in England’s Arsenal FC, oligarch Roman Abramovich controls Chelsea and Dmitry Rybolovlev is behind the Monaco FC.

Property

The wealthiest Russians have long been investing into luxurious properties around the world. Rybolovlev’s daughter made headlines as the buyer of Manhattan’s most expensive apartment, while Roustam Tariko, billionaire owner of Russian Standard Bank and Russian Standard Vodka, owns one of the most expensive homes in Miami Beach – a $25.5 million estate on Star Island.

Space

A big chunk of the International Space Station belongs to Russia, and is called the Russian Orbital Segment. Since the American space shuttle program was retired, NASA astronauts cannot get to and from the ISS without their Russian counterparts, who now operate the only space shuttles.

Tech

Russian millionaires own stakes in some of the most successful tech companies, inculding DST’s stakes in Facebook and Twitter. Anti-virus company Kaspersky Lab, co-founded by Eugene Kaspersky and Natalia Kaspersky, is considered to be one of the world’s most innovative companies and operates in almost 200 countries.

Art

When billionaire art collector Alexander Ivanov opened his Faberge Museum in German Baden-Baden, it was the first Russian privately owned museum outside Russia. An Arab sheikh reportedly offered Ivanov $2 billion for his jewelery collection, but it was declined. The collection includes impressionist paintings, old masters, vintage cars and even dinosaur fossils.

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Intriguing things owned by Russians around the world

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