Jean Christophe Magnenet/AFP via Getty Images
Villa "Les Cèdres" overlooks the Mediterranean in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France.
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, a painfully beautiful seaside village in the French Riviera, has earned the nickname the "Peninsula of Billionaires" for its staggering number of well-to-do residents.
"There are almost too many billionaires living here to count," Edward de Mallet Morgan, a partner at Knight Frank real estate group, told CNBC in 2018.
The latest billionaire to buy into Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat is Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest man.
Akhmetov - who owns System Capital Management Group and has a net worth of $5.83 billion, according to Bloomberg - purchased the historic Villa Les Cèdres for $221 million in 2019 from Italian beverage company Campari. He emerged as the buyer this week.
Akhmetov also owns a $179 million apartment in London's One Hyde Park.
Campari acquired the villa in 2016 through its purchase of Société des Produits Marnier Lapostolle, the parent company of Grand Marnier liqueur, and listed the property shortly after. Campari's initial asking price was $413 million, which made Villa Les Cèdres the most expensive home listing in the world at the time.
Built in 1830, the 18,000-square-foot property consists of 14 bedrooms surrounded by 35 acres of manicured gardens, according to Thomas Buckley, who toured the property in 2017 for Bloomberg Businessweek. It was once the home of Belgium's King Leopold II, and from the 1920s up until the finalization of the sale last year was occupied by the Marnier Lapostolle family, Beckie Strum reported for Mansion Global.
The space is palatial, featuring an Olympic-sized swimming pool, ballroom, stables, and sweeping views of the Mediterranean.
"If a billionaire arrives on the Cote d'Azur, they tend to want Cap Ferrat for the address," de Mallet Morgan told the Telegraph in August. "Proximity to Nice and Monaco is key, plus the ability to offer homes with direct sea access. The rarity value of being on a beautifully unspoilt peninsula with a glamorous history adds to the cachet."
Saint-Jean-Cap-Serrat has been a popular vacation destination of the global elite since the early 20th century. Notable visitors have included Edith Piaf, Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, and Winston Churchill.
Past Saint-Jean-Cap-Serrat billionaire residents include the late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen and late French fashion icon Hubert de Givenchy.
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