Famous Billionaire Roman Abramovich Purchases $145 million London Home2

The 10-bedroom mansion is located in exclusive Kensington Palace Gardens.

Star hedge fund manager Pierre Lagrange, 49, who is a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc trader and backer of the comic book-based action film “Kick Ass“, which was released last year, has sold his mansion in London‘s “billionaires’ row” for $145 million.

Kensington Palace Gardens is one of London’s most exclusive streets. Foxtons’ founder Jonathan Hunt and the Saudi royal family own property on this tree-lined park-side road. Houses here have very rarely go on the market.

The house is leasehold, with 118 years left to run. The Crown Estate (i.e. the Queen) owns the freehold and the ground rent is predictably steep: in 2004 it cost $16,000 a year, but according to the Land Registry report this could rise to $255,000.

The long-haired Belgian purchased the home, right next to the home of billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, UK’s wealthiest man, for $30 dollars back in 2004.

Catherine and Pierre Lagrange

The sale comes after Lagrange and his wife Catherine, a big donor to the Conservative party, filed for divorce. He was ranked 236th in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of $530 million dollars.

The Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, 45, is the owner of Chelsea Football Club. Abramovich moved his headquarters from Chelsea to Knightsbridge, close to Kensington Palace Gardens.

Daria Zhukova and Roman Abramovich

It’s unlikely to be for his personal use, as work is currently underway on the mega-home he owns in Knightsbridge, which he plans to share with girlfriend Daria Zhukova and their two-year-old son Aaron. They are knocking together two adjoining townhouses on Lowndes Square, creating one palatial residence. The houses were originally home to a combined nine flats, and when finished will feature eight bedrooms and span a jaw-dropping 30,000 sq ft, five times the area of the average five-bed home.