Athina Onassis, heiress to the magnate Aristotle Onassis, agreed with a Russian billionaire for the sale of the Greek island of Skorpios, valued at over $200 million, the place where her grandfather Aristotle, her mother and uncle are buried, Greek media reported.
According to Greek media reports, the papers for the island bought by Aristotle over 50 years ago are in works at two law firms in Switzerland and Athens, and the parties are ready to sign them, writes the Greek Reporter portal.
Skorpios is known as the private island of the billionaire Aristotle Onassis, who died in 1975.
Onassis bought Skorpios in 1962 for 3 million Greek drachmas. The island came into international attention after it hosted Aristotle’s wedding to former U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in October 1968. Following intense media attention, owning a private island quickly became one of the most significant symbols of wealth and social status.
After Aristotle’s death, the island passed to his daughter’s legacy, Christina, and later to her daughter, Athina Roussel – Onassis. Aristotle, his son Alexander and daughter Christina are buried on the island. According to the Greek Reporter, there is little information, but is considered that Athina Onassis spent very little time on Skorpios.
The island is covered with over 200 species of trees, brought by Onassis to once deserted island. Also, the island has several beaches, best known is East Beach, where Onassis brought sand from the island of Salamis.
Among the celebrities who have previously shown interest in buying the island is Madonna and Bill Gates. The value of the transaction is not known yet, but the financial publications estimated it at more than $200 million.
In March, the international press wrote that the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, bought six Greek islands of the Ionian Sea from their private owners. He wants to build palaces for the 24 children and three wives. The cost for the islands was €8.5 million, and the transaction was concluded after 18 months because of bureaucracy in Greece.
The emir previously tried to buy the Skorpios Island. The transaction failed because Athina Onassis refused to drop the price.
UPDATE:
The island of Skorpios was bought by Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian billionaire, owner of French soccer club Monaco, for €100 million, according to Greek newspaper Kathimerini. In addition to Skorpios – an island in the Ionian Sea, where the billionaire Aristotle Onassis was buried, the Russian businessman bought Sparti, a small neighboring island.
Dmitry Rybolovlev, a native of Perm, Russia, whose business focuses on potassium fertilizers, ranks 100th on the 2012 Forbes top.
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