Latest news with #ViktorVekselberg
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Fabergé Sold To U.S. Company For $50 Million: What To Know About Fabergé Eggs
Fabergé, the jeweler most known for its famously intricate Russian Easter eggs, has been sold for $50 million by a British mining company to an American tech investor who says he plans to expand its international presence. The star piece of Viktor Vekselberg's collection, a $24 millions Fabergé "Coronation Egg" from 1897, is displayed at an exhibition in Moscow in 2004. AFP via Getty Images Gemfields, a colored gemstone miner listed on the London stock exchange, sold the fabled brand to tech entrepreneur Sergei Mosunov's U.S. company SMG Capital. Gemfields will receive $45 million when the deal closes later this month, and the remaining $5 million through quarterly royalty payments. The company said it will use the money from the sale to help fund its mining operations for rubies in Mozambique and emeralds in Zambia. Sean Gilbertson, the chief executive of Gemfields, said the company would miss the "marketing leverage and star power" that came from owning Fabergé, despite the fact the brand has struggled in recent years amid a downturn in the luxury goods market. Fabergé has been one of the most renowned jewelers in the world for almost 200 years but has seen revenue fall in recent years—it reported revenues of $13.4 million in 2024, down from $15.7 million the previous year and $17.6 million in 2022. Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We're launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day's headlines. Text 'Alerts' to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here : The Apple Blossom Easter Egg, part of the Fabergé collection. Getty Images 'Fabergé's unique heritage, with ties to Russia, England, France and the USA, opens significant opportunities for further strengthening its position in the global luxury market and expanding its international presence,' Mosunov, a Russian national based in the U.K., said in a statement. 'We feel a deep sense of responsibility and incredible inspiration for the work ahead." Key Background The House of Fabergé jewelry company was founded in 1842 in St. Petersburg, Russia, by Gustav Fabergé. His son, Peter Carl Fabergé, was commissioned by Emperor Alexander III in 1885 to create an extravagant Easter gift for his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, and the famous Fabergé eggs were born. Known as "First Hen," the original product is made of gold and coated with white enamel, with a gold hen set with ruby eyes hidden inside. The emperor continued to have them made each year, reportedly giving Fabergé complete creative freedom, and 50 were ultimately made for the Russian Imperial Family, known as the "Imperial Eggs." Nineteen other eggs were made for the aristocracy and other elites. When the Romanov family fell during the Russian Revolution of 1917, the 50 Imperial Eggs were scattered all over the world, and some remain lost to this day. The eggs were crafted from gold or silver and encrusted with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones. They often included hidden items inside, like a miniature Trans-Siberian Railway train made of gold or a tiny, working replica of the Imperial coach used in Nicholas II's coronation. Today, Fabergé makes fine jewelry and egg objects inspired by the original eggs. They're priced starting at $60,000. Big Number 7. That's how many Imperial Easter Eggs are still missing. Eight were missing until 2014, when a buyer at a Midwestern flea market bought one for about $14,000. Kieran McCarthy, a London antiques dealer, told PBS News an anonymous buyer purchased the egg with hopes of making a small profit reselling it for its gold content. It was then authenticated as one of the real eggs. It features a Vacheron Constantin watch and sits atop a jeweled gold stand. A Faberge Egg on display in Moscow, Russia. Getty Images The most expensive egg is known as the Third Imperial Easter Egg, which was made in 1887. It has a solid gold case covered in sapphires and diamonds and houses a women's watch with diamond-set gold hands. It was once valued at $33 million and is owned by an anonymous private collector. Who Owns Fabergé Eggs? Billionaire Russian businessman Viktor Vekselberg owns 15 Fabergé Easter Eggs, making him the largest private collector in the world. Vekselberg bought nine Imperial Eggs from the Forbes media family, at the time the world's largest private collection, in 2004 for just over $100 million. He also owns two Kelch, eggs made for Russian nobleman Alexander Ferdinandovich Kelch, and four other eggs. At the time of his purchase from the Forbes family, he said the collection represented 'perhaps the most significant example of our cultural heritage outside Russia. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to give back to my country one of its most revered treasures." Vekselberg's eggs are on display at the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg. The British royal family also owns three Imperial Eggs, originally purchased by King George V and Queen Mary, King Charles's great-grandparents. Forbes Valuation Vekselberg is worth an estimated $9.4 million as of Monday, making him the 328th-richest person in the world. He is a Ukrainian-born aluminum baron who made his first million selling scrap copper from worn-out cables and later turned several medium-size aluminum smelters and bauxite mines into Sual Holding in 1996. He later made his fortune in oil. His $120 million superyacht, Tango, was seized by Spanish police and the FBI in Palma de Mallorca in April 2022. Further Reading Forbes Jewels, Eggs and Empires: The Story Of Forbes And Faberge By Abram Brown
Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Sir Leonard Blavatnik net worth — Sunday Times Rich List 2025
What is Sir Leonard Blavatnik's net worth? ▼ 25.725 billion£29.246 billion in 2024 Sir Leonard Blavatnik told The Sunday Times that he and the foundation that bears his name are 'determined to make a difference, whether in science, culture or the arts'. In recognition of his gift to the National Gallery, Room 34 was unveiled as the Blavatnik Family Foundation Room this month. Earlier this year, Blavatnik, 67, who has British and American citizenship, pumped a further £667 million into DAZN. Founded less than a decade ago, DAZN has already amassed a 20 million subscriber base. Yet the London-based media firm is yet to prove a financial hit, reporting a £1.1 billion loss. His streaming service has spent vast sums on buying up broadcasting rights to European football, boxing, top-tier basketball, motor racing and American football in the hope of building a 'Spotify of sport'. Blavatnik has plenty of resources to throw at DAZN. He built his fortune in Russia but sold the last of his assets there in 2013. Born in Odesa, when Ukraine was under Soviet control, he moved to a city north of Moscow as a child. At university in the Russian capital he met his former business partner and fellow Ukrainian Viktor Vekselberg, 68, who is now under western sanctions. During the 1980s they built up then offloaded large stakes in Russia's largest aluminium company and a leading oil company. Blavatnik settled in the US, where he studied at Harvard and Columbia universities. In 1986 he founded his investment operation Access Industries in New York. It has holdings worth $35 billion (£28.2 billion) in 30 countries, including a majority stake in Warner Music. Warner, which is partly listed on the New York stock market, is worth $14.4 billion. The shares have lost 20 per cent since of their value between February and the compilation of this year's Rich List — and largely explains Blavatnik's lower wealth this year. Access also owns 20.5 per cent of LyondellBasell, a publicly traded chemicals manufacturer and the world's largest producer of polypropylene, which is today worth almost $30 billion. Blavatnik's bet on Lyondell was described by Forbes as 'the greatest deal in Wall Street history'. His control of Warner Music and Access's funding of a succession of award-scooping films had made Blavatnik a fixture on the red carpet. He co-produced The Zone of Interest, which was named best international film at last year's Oscars. It focuses on the life of the Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife, Hedwig, who lived with their family in a home next to the concentration camp. An adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, currently showing on Broadway — and featuring Succession star Sarah Snook — was nominated for six Tony awards. Blavatnik is planning to invest hundreds of millions of pounds buying up media businesses and producing new TV shows, films and theatre in coming years. Danny Cohen, the former director of the BBC's TV output who is now president of Access Entertainment, says the group will consider large acquisitions in Hollywood. 'We'll spend a few hundred million if we can find the right things,' Cohen recently told the Financial Times. Access recently increased its investment in A24, the production house behind the hit film Everything Everywhere All at Onceand the recent Civil War. Access is also seeking to invest more in South Korea as the media and music scene there continues to grow fast. Blavatnik, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 for his services to philanthropy, has four children with his American wife, Emily Appelson. As well as their London home, they have properties in New York worth several hundred million dollars. He also owns hotels in Hollywood and Miami Beach, and the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat on the Côte d'Azur in France, plus the Ocean Club luxury resort in the Bahamas. Blavatnik spent £45 million on acquiring the Theatre Royal Haymarket in the West End of London and has given money to a range of cultural causes, including £50 million to Tate Modern and £10 million to the Courtauld Institute of Art. Explore the definitive guide to the wealth of the UK's richest people
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Russia abandons modernization of power plants due to lack of money, equipment, media reports
The Russian government has allowed several companies to abandon the modernization of over a dozen power plants across the country due to a lack of funding and equipment, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Feb. 14, citing an order published on the governmental website the day prior. Though Russian officials have largely dismissed the impact of Western sanctions imposed over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, warning signs about the state of Russia's economy continue to mount coming into 2025. Tatneft Thermal Power Plant in Nizhnekamensk was removed from the list of modernization projects, and its renovation was postponed until 2027. Avtozavodskaya and Quadra combined heat and power plants, located in Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh oblasts, respectively, were also excluded. Reasons for the decision included rising equipment prices, which would threaten the company's financial stability, and the recognition that the project was not profitable due to the cost of turbines, according to the document. Russia's Territorial Generation Company No. 2 , which supplies Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kostroma, Novgorod, and Yaroslavl oblasts, was allowed not to renovate its power plants in Kostroma and Yaroslavl due to financing difficulties. The company originally planned to obtain funds for the projects from Russia's Alfa Bank but was unable to agree on loans, the news agency reported. The Russian government approved the modernization project's abandonment of the Nevinnomysskaya Condensing Power Plant in Stavropol Krai, the cost of which had reportedky risen by 454%. Russia's Siberian Generating Company was also relieved of requirements to modernize four power plants in Siberia. The company will have to pay about 2 billion rubles ($22 million) for the projects to be phased out. The Second Generation Company of the Wholesale Electricity Market, owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom, was also released from its obligations to renovate its power plant in the city of Surgut due to a 16-month delay in equipment deliveries. Billionaire Viktor Vekselberg's T Plus was also allowed not to modernize the plants he owned in Izhevsk and Samara. The combined effect of sanctions and inflation is beginning to threaten the Russian economy in various sectors, including automotive, aviation, and retail. This development comes amid a growing push by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to launch negotiations in Ukraine as soon as possible, though Moscow has shown little interest in peace talks. Read also: Russia buys acceptance with cash, plunging economy into uncertainty We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
