Abramovich, the £7bn divorce and a prima ballerina
Russian media’s claims on £7bn footie boss
Football is known as the Beautiful Game and it has long captivated Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. But he has been appreciating performances on a more graceful stage than Stamford Bridge in recent years.
The 50-year-old has been spotted transfixed by the ballet, often alone and especially in his native Russia – sometimes several times a week.
With a £7billion fortune, the oligarch understandably has an appreciation for the finer things in life. In 2012, he even joined the Bolshoi Ballet’s board of trustees.
But yesterday, Russian media suggested he is interested in one prima ballerina in particular.
After Abramovich and third wife Dasha Zhukova, 36, announced their separation on Monday, speculation spiralled in Moscow about the prospect of the most expensive divorce ever.
And there was talk amid Russian outlets of an alleged link between the mogul and glamorous, married Russian ballerina Diana Vishneva, 41.
The dancer, currently in London, where she has been performing in Anna Karenina with the Mariinsky Ballet at the Royal Opera House, was first rumoured to be linked to Abramovich three years ago by some segments of Russian media.
The oligarch’s circle has always flatly denied the talk as “total nonsense” but after he confirmed his split from Dasha, it re-surfaced.
A friend close to Abramovich has again laughingly denied the rumours, which suggest the tycoon’s “heart had been conquered” by the ballerina – stating Diana is a good friend of Dasha too and they both support her work.
But newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets mentioned again yesterday a relationship between Abramovich and the dancer, while Russian Cosmopolitan speculated on “possible relations”. Of course, there is no evidence for any of the claims, which will no doubt irritate the famously enigmatic football chief, who rarely comments on his side’s form.
Famously, his 2008 marriage to Dasha was not made public for six years.
But the Russian media suggests any new romance is a game of two halves, claiming socialite Dasha, the daughter of a Russian oil magnate, may also have found new romance. Yet the couple, who have children Aaron, seven, and Leah, four, insist the parting is amicable.
They confirmed the “difficult” decision on Monday but said they would “remain close friends, parents and partners in the projects we developed together”.
Whatever the cause, the news spells a hat-trick of broken hearts for the Chelsea owner, proving all the money in the world, plus a plus a £1billion, 536ft luxury yacht, cannot buy you love.
Abramovich wed first wife Olga Lysova in 1987, then married air stewardess Irina Malandina in 1991, having five children with her. Olga has said she suspected the billionaire had an affair with Irina, describing nights when she waited up for him, saying: “I just knew that he had come from another woman.”
Abramovich was a struggling businessman and they shared a one-bed flat in Moscow with Olga’s daughter from another relationship. A £1,000 wedding gift from her parents helped set him up – first invested in black market goods such as perfume and toothpaste, and in a firm making dolls. But their relationship faltered as his success grew.
“There were times when he would go out to parties saying it was business or boys only,” Olga said. She has claimed when their marriage ended in 1989, she got enough cash to live on for two years.
Abramovich married Irina in 1991, before he made his fortune in the Russian privatisation boom. They divorced in 2007, after 16 years.
In 1995, he and fellow oligarch Boris Berezovsky had bought the majority stake in oil company Sibneft. They also bought into aluminium giant Rusal and airline Aeroflot. Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 for £140million
Irina’s settlement was believed to be £150million – a lump sum plus four homes, including an £18million estate in Petersfield, West Sussex, and two Central London homes. A friend said: “There
were no complaints.” But Dasha, who divorce lawyers are predicting could get hundreds of millions, has always presented a more equal match for him. Despite being 15 years his junior, she has introduced her husband to a cultured world. It was Dasha who whetted Abramovich’s appetite for the ballet and the pair support it together, say friends who deny the rumours in the Russian press. Dasha once owned fashion label Kova & T, was editor of fashion magazine POP and now runs her own magazine, Garage. She is also on the board of New York’s Metropolitan Museum. By her side, Abramovich became a leading art collector and they launched an arts centre in Russia’s Gorky Park. But ballet in particular seems to have grabbed his attention. A Bolshoi source once said his passion for it is almost obsessional, reflecting the way he got into football – which he is said to have once had no interest in.
The source said: “With the passion of a neophyte he likes everything, classical and contemporary. When he becomes interested in something he wants to know everything. He sits nearer the stage as he likes to see the dancers close-up. But he’s always very low-key when he visits.”
He would often have Dasha by his side and it is said they supported a festival called Context run by Vishneva.
Another ballerina once said: “He likes to interact with the dancers. At first they were a touch intimidated and shy but have now become used to seeing him.”
And it has been reported Abramovich was one of the first to offer help when the Bolshoi’s artistic director, Sergei Filin, was blinded in an acid attack in 2013. He and Dasha made perfect foils to one another, spanning sport, business and art with pals including Vladimir Putin, Princess Beatrice and Leonardo DiCaprio. It makes the split more of a surprise.
Some sources say it happened after Christmas and they have lived apart since. Dasha seems to be putting on a brave face, pictured in recent months with pals such as supermodel Karlie Kloss.
But a social media message this week from an old friend, TV presenter Kseniya Sobcha, seemed to hint that she might be struggling. Writing directly to Dasha, who was “in her thoughts”, she advised: “We’ve got to appreciate what’s coming into our life, enjoy what we have and, the most complicated, let go when it is all over...”
A spokesman for Abramovich refused to comment when the stories circulating in Russia were put to him.