As the Russian-Ukraine conflict drags on, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is said to be pleading with his Hollywood and US power broker friends to lend him $1 million each to keep him afloat while his assets are blocked by international authorities.
According to Page Six, Chelsea Football Club owner, whose bank accounts in the United States and the United Kingdom have been frozen, has been seeking loans from prominent and powerful friends in order to maintain his rumored $750,000-per-week staff payroll, which involves those who maintain his multiple luxury super-yachts.
Even while he participates in the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, his allies are thought to be leery of lending him money.
According to Page Six, “Roman is asking some of his closest powerful friends to let him borrow $1 million.
“He is saying he has never missed payroll for his staff, which is $750,000 a week, and with his assets frozen he can’t pay his people.
“He has reached out to Hollywood producer and director Brett Ratner and the Rothschild family, among many others for money, but – while they are good friends with Roman – they have not agreed to give him money, because either they do not have that in liquid cash, or moreover it is not clear what are the repercussions under international law.”
Abramovich has several close friends in Hollywood, Wall Street, and the IT sector, and has held a number of star-studded celebrity parties on his yachts and at his enormous St Barth’s home.
In reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the European Union sanctioned Abramovich, who according to Bloomberg has a net worth of $14.3 billion.
Hedge funds in the United States also put a freeze on his assets. Abramovich was also barred from benefitting from the $3 billion sale of Chelsea Football Club as a result of the fines.
