Rinat Akhmetov bought an apartment in Monaco for a record $550 million
21 April 12:52
Billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man, has purchased a massive five-story luxury apartment in Monaco’s most prestigious new residential complex for a staggering 471 million euros ($554 million), making it one of the largest single-home purchases in history, according to Bloomberg, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to the publication, the 21-room seaside residence, purchased by the businessman’s holding company, is located in the Mare Terra district of the Principality of Monaco. The new district, built on reclaimed land, was inaugurated by Prince Albert II in 2024 and attracts ultra-wealthy investors from around the world.
“Located in the flagship building ‘Le Renzo,’ the apartment covers an area of approximately 2,500 square meters, not including balconies and terraces overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It also features a private pool, a jacuzzi, and at least eight parking spaces,” the report states.
Details of the sale, which was completed in 2024, were taken from the principality’s property registry, as well as from a collection of emails and preliminary documents reviewed by Bloomberg Businessweek from Distributed Denial of Secrets, a nonprofit organization that preserves materials deemed to be in the public interest.
Akhmetov’s holding company, System Capital Management, confirmed the purchase of the property, though it declined to provide details regarding the property or the price.
“SCM’s international investment portfolio has included a separate portfolio of premium real estate for over a decade, as has been publicly stated on multiple occasions,” the company said in a statement. “Among its assets is the ‘Le Renzo’ project, in which we invested in the primary market in 2021.”
The reported price would make it the largest known residential sale in history, surpassing the recent sale of developer Nick Candy’s mansion in Chelsea for over $350 million or the sale of a New York penthouse to hedge fund manager Ken Griffin for approximately $240 million.
According to Bloomberg, the property is located on a rocky promontory between France and Italy; Monaco has long been the world’s most expensive real estate market due to its small size and status as a tax haven. The Mareterra residential complex took over a decade to build on land reclaimed from the sea and includes 114 luxury villas, townhouses, and apartments situated around gardens, a marina, and a public promenade.
“Akhmetov’s deal to purchase the principality was finalized just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The war subsequently sent shockwaves through his business empire, including attacks on energy assets in his home country.”
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the tycoon’s fortune exceeds $7 billion. His wealth is tied to SCM, Ukraine’s largest industrial conglomerate with investments in metallurgy, mining, and energy, in addition to real estate.
The publication reports that Akhmetov has also been linked to a number of other acquisitions of ultra-luxury real estate in the past, including the 2019 purchase of the historic Les Cèdres villa on the French Riviera for 200 million euros. The sprawling estate in the exclusive Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat once belonged to King Leopold II of Belgium.
Official statistics show that the Larvotto district, where Mareterra is located, has become the most expensive in the principality in terms of estimated sales prices per square meter. The data does not include detailed information on property prices in this development, and such details are not typically posted on brokers’ websites.
Bloomberg notes, “Monaco remains one of the most exclusive and resilient residential markets in the world,” according to a Savills report published in March, noting that it is “driven by a structural shortage and sustained high international demand.”
