$230 Million: World's Most Expensive Home Sells In London

A MANSION in London is set to sell for £117million - making it the world's costliest home. The palatial residence, on a street dubbed Billionaires' Row, is believed to have been bought by Britain's richest man, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.

He is believed to be close to exchanging contracts with owner Noam Gottesman, 47, a US-born financier.

The home in Kensington Palace Gardens, West London, Princess Diana's former street, is being sold furnished and with an art collection. It works out at an astonishing £8,000 per square foot.

Mr Mittal, 57, who denies being the buyer, has been looking to splurge some of his £27.7billion fortune on a home for son Aditya, 32. Mr Mittal moved into the half-mile, tree-lined private avenue four years ago after paying £67million for a 12-bedroom home.

Keep reading

-Plus-

The Times also reported Mittal approached Gottesman:

Property sources told The Times that the family of Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire steel magnate and Britain's richest man, had made an approach for Mr Gottesman's home, which is next door to the Israeli Embassy.

Mr Mittal's son Aditya, 32, has been searching for a London house of his own over the past few months but wants to stay near his family. Mr Mittal lives in Kensington Palace Gardens, having paid £57 million in 2004 to buy the house from Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One chief.

-Plus-

See a slideshow of London's trophy homes.

The home:

It's good to be Lakshmi Mittal:

Comments

[VoiceOfReason7777]

$230 million for ONE house? As a believer in success and wealth, even I am staggered!

What? Does it come pre-packaged with the inner joy, deep fulfillment in life's mission, and the overarching peace of mind which comes from helping your fellow man?

Like $50,000 wristwatches and $600,000 cars, this is just an example of the obscene and pointless wastefulness which comes when we are blessed with more money than prudence.

Many centuries ago, a simple math question was posed, which was left unanswered: "What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul?" That is to say, "The whole world's riches, minus your own soul, is equal to x profit: Calculate x."

Anyone come up with the answer, please let me know.

[parunach]

If you are rich, there is no end to it. You can go all the way. You can get watches for over $1000000. Take a look at Patek Philippe. Things start at user level and go up as you have more money. It is not always wastefulness. Some of these watches sell for a huge amount of money after a few years. People who are rich know how to get richer, that is the trick. You need to know how to invest carefully and not throw your money away. Recently, a Patek watch bought for $500000 sold for over $1.8 million in Sothebys. It is not always obscenity.

[NedFlanders19]

Perhaps, instead of focusing on what amount of money this imaginary X is, it may be better to focus more on what you do have, be grateful for it and live so that your soul soars.

There is a reason why some questions are simply asked, and for me it is to get us to the point of realizing they are better left unanswered, and that the real lesson is to live fully. It can go much deeper than this, and with word counts and whatnot, I leave it to you to explore if you choose. One last hint - you won't find your answer from anyone else, it will come from deep within. Have fun...

[FunGuy13]

It' s great to have billions at your disposal to laud upon oneself, however it would have been far better if he used the monies, he is purportedly is spending, on setting up foundations in India to educate and provide economic opportunities for India's outcaste & abject poor. I think he would probably achieve greater nirvana but spending it on other less fortunate and still be able to enjoy the trappings of extreme wealth & success.

Another Indian billionaire is building a $1 Billion dollar house...this is totally crazy....people are trying to turn the world upside down!!!

http://www.smartmoneydaily.com/personalfinance/billion-dollar-house-ultimate-luxury-or-living-hell.aspx

[avraamjack]

.
The guy building the billion dollar house is providing a billion dollars of work to the local populace. This will be respent thus giving the economy a boost far greater than one billion.
.
It is government's job to skim some off in taxes to provide social services.
.
Two can eat for the price of one if you shop correctly.
.

[jmparks]

I wonder if he checked the average price of the utility bills?

[ramal]

As my sainted and wise Grandmother used to say, "If you can't beat them you can at least begrudge them."

[continental]

Nice shack. As the publishing magnate said, when told that he had a nice house, "It keeps the rain off our heads."

[Rashnak]

That would be 'Crocodile Dundee' and you might not have realized it, but the 'publishing magnate' was an actor playing a part.

[continental]

You're right, Rashnak. I should have mentioned the source of my quote.

[KillTheMessenger]

Somebody overpaid by about 200 million dollars.

[Vyvjala]

If this mansion was in Dubai, it would be used for a pigeon coup....................................

[drec1500Madrid]

HaHa...I like that...

[We]

When I lived in London it rained constantly (frequently flooded the tube/train lines) and it was bone chilling. I left because of bronchitis.

[theidaexpress]

When was that in Dicken's time? Come off of it--I have lived in London for years and it barely rains--a rainy and foggy London is a stereotype made up by Americans! The tube lines only get flooded on fictional movies shown on ITV. Don't comment about what you obviously do not know!
http://www.theidaexpress.com

[We]

My tale would make Dickens weep. Check your 1999-2000 London weather records. That was when they were also culling cattle in the country side. The Tube/trains were not reliably operational. Walking to work in the pouring rain. Good times. Summer was ok, but the AC was primitive Dickensian vintage, so we tended to sweat a lot. I guess that's why Arianna got the hell out of there too and bolted to sunny Southern California.

[AmbivalentGuy]

Hi Ida,
how about the summer before last -
I got sunburned on an afternoon walk in the westend!
Blazing enough that I was walking on the off side of the street,
and actually enjoying the construction because of the shade.

[mcole]

i live in london guv...floodin in the tube? really? what millenia was that? and its bone chilling in winter, as i'm sure it is in every other country that enjoys the seasons....

[We]

This reference is just from last year:

London's Tube network suffered major disruption, with the Circle line suspended, the District line partially suspended and several Tube stations closed because of flooding.

Mainline rail services remain badly disrupted, with services between London and the south coast and South West, and services in the Midlands particularly badly hit, with scores of train cancellations leaving thousands of passengers stranded.'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6907316.stm

[hughbetcha]

Yeah! You ought not talk mean about me country laddie!

[JScott]

And you'd think with all that money he could get a better dye job, hairpiece or transplant.

[leftcoastindy]

I think its a pretty good piece. I bet he paid over 10,000 for it.

[moana]

Why would anyone with that much money care?

[zigzag1]

Bet he doesn't have a problem getting laid

[JScott]

Uh just remember most all homes in the UK don't have screens on the windows.
I'd prefer an estate in Bel Air, Brentwood Hills, Montecito, Hollister Ranch, Carmel Valley or Strawberry Point in Marin County.

[kvass]

They don't need screens -- it's too cold and damp for the bugs. But the windows probably lack weather stripping which make these old dumps very drafty.

[mcole]

really? u even been to london?

[Annette]

As someone who just returned from 3 months in the UK. The subways very, very rarely flood, it does rain but less than in most of the US. They do get snow but it doesn't last. Some places have screens some do not, just like the US. Some places are drafty and some places are not.
The people are friendly, the medical care is fantasitc ( my husband ended up in the hospital for a week), They do have bugs but most of them do not sting or bite, Transport is great, didn't take the tube much but the busses ran frequently, were inexpensive, and you could travel anywhere at any hour and feel safe. Waaay lower violent crime rate.
Down side almost no air conditioning, windows that don't open enough, driving is more difficult(closer tolerences for tailgating, narrower lanes, poor signage).

You don't get bronchitis from temprature.

[philly282]

the best you 'll do is Redlands...git r done

[JScott]

As a matter of fact I HAVE been to both London and Redlands.
Hey don't knock Redlands it's one of the nicer places in San Bernardino County and it has the Smiley Library and Kimberly Crest (google it folks). And most of Europe doesn't have screens on the windows. London's weather is more like Seattle's.

[oh2beinNYC]

You liberals on this site are so predictable. Mr. Mittal built his company from the ground up with very little, good for him. It is his money, let him spend it the way that he wishes.

[drjasonmd]

Far be it from me to begrudge someone simply because he has money, but apparently you have no clue as to how Mittal made his money.

Answer: Slave labor and political payoffs.

Had he run his business that way in a western nation, he would be in prison. But yes, if the Indian legal system is so corrupt/inept that it will allow this type of thing, let him spend it the way he wants (as if anyone was trying to stop him).

[wsblake]

well moron what are you doin' here then. There's plenty of room over at Michelle Malkin's.

[Benthead]

Well, if we're going to have capitalist overlords, I like the fact that it's a brown man from the colonies who is ruling London. The Empire strikes back.

On this side of the pond, all hail Queen Oprah.

It's just too bad you don't see a lot of Ghandis or MLKs trying to remind the overlords that there are immiserated populations outside of the gates.

[jerryfromcalifornia]

He did quite well for a dot.

[triangleboy]

Are you just bitter or is that repulsive comment the way you talk about other ethnic groups.

[dartagnan]

What a dump.

[mystic]

The reason why this mansion is so expensive is because it's a block away from the nearest bus stop.

I can't wait for the garage sale.