Inside the €87-Million Mystery: The Sale of La Favorita and the Billionaire Behind It

 

The Côte d’Azur has always carried an air of intrigue—at times even scandal—and that mystique remains an essential part of its enduring allure.

One of the French Riviera’s most coveted estates, La Favorita in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, has quietly changed hands for an eye-watering €87 million. In a region where discretion is a currency and silence a skill, the sale of this sprawling “neo-Florentine” palace has stirred up questions about luxury real estate, international tax disputes, and the shadow of geopolitical sanctions.

At the center of the story is a billionaire who wants out, a billionaire who may have moved in, and a villa whose history is almost as labyrinthine as the offshore structure that once owned it.

A Seller Seeking an Exit

The seller, Italian industrialist Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, acquired La Favorita in the early 1990s. For 35 years, it served as his Riviera refuge—until it didn’t. When recently reached by phone, the 82-year-old tycoon offered a curt dismissal: “I have nothing to do with this property.”

That brief statement confirmed what many in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat’s tight-knit circle already knew: the villa had been sold. But behind the sale lies a tangled financial backdrop.

Caltagirone’s ownership was routed through a Delaware company, controlled by a Maltese entity, itself held by a Jersey-based trust—a common structure in high-end European real estate. Yet one thing was not common: a €14.5-million tax dispute with France. In November 2024, the Court of Cassation upheld a two-decades-old judgment in favor of the French tax authorities. The claim centered on unpaid annual taxes owed on properties held through offshore structures.

For years, Caltagirone had also been embroiled in legal trouble over illegal expansions to the villa—more than 1,000 square meters added without proper authorization.

By the time the recent judgment fell, selling La Favorita became more than a business decision. It became a financial necessity. Sources in the local real estate world say the billionaire was firm: he would sell only if he walked away with at least €20 million net after taxes, disputes, and fees. To guarantee serious inquiries, he barred real estate agents from organizing visits unless the buyer could prove credibility at the highest level.

He found one.

The Shadow Buyer: A Russian Billionaire in Monaco?

Whispers quickly filled the peninsula: the new owner was not French, nor Italian, nor discreetly European. All fingers pointed to one name: Leonid Fedun.

A former Red Army officer turned billionaire businessman, Fedun made his fortune as a major shareholder of Lukoil, Russia’s largest private oil company. He previously purchased Villa Joya on the same peninsula in 2011 for €72.6 million, demonstrating a taste for Riviera grandeur.

Fedun, who now lives primarily in Monaco, has not confirmed the acquisition. Caltagirone denies knowing the buyer. But agents insist that Fedun’s profile, wealth, and personal preferences fit perfectly.

One detail stands out: Fedun is passionate about tennis. La Favorita includes its own private tennis court, a rarity even in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

Locals whisper that the billionaire intends to settle his new, younger family—his wife, a former model thirty years his junior, and their five children—in the villa after extensive renovations. And renovations will be extensive: agents who have seen the property say at least €25 million is needed to restore the interior, plus several million more for the grounds.

A Palace in Need of Resurrection

Designed by architect Luc Svetchine, La Favorita was once a statement property: towering, ornate, and echoing the grandeur of Florentine villas. But decades of use, legal battles, and delayed work have dulled its splendor.

What still sets it apart is the land—21,000 square meters of manicured paradise stretching to the foot of Cap Ferrat’s semaphore. In a peninsula where many villas sit on tight parcels perched over the sea, La Favorita’s park-like estate is extraordinarily rare and contributes significantly to its €87-million valuation.

The Sanctions Cloud

The sale occurs at a delicate geopolitical moment. Last month, both the U.S. Treasury and the European Union imposed sanctions on Lukoil. While Fedun is not personally sanctioned, he remains one of the company’s largest private shareholders.

This raises questions: Could future sanctions affect the villa? Could the transaction draw scrutiny? Could Moscow itself intervene?

A recent report from Nice-Matin suggests that Russia is increasingly monitoring—and sometimes contesting—its elites’ overseas assets, adding another layer of intrigue.

For now, the transaction appears legal and unchallenged. But in an era where oligarch-owned villas on the Riviera have been frozen, seized, or politically targeted, the story of La Favorita may not be over.

A Riviera Transaction With Global Ripples

Beyond the tax drama, offshore structures, and political shadows, the sale of La Favorita highlights a broader truth: Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat remains one of the most exclusive and opaque real estate markets in Europe. Ultra-wealthy buyers operate through layers of trusts and shell companies, while deals worth tens of millions occur almost entirely out of public view.

This sale, however, pierced the bubble.

A billionaire trying to escape a decade-long tax battle. A Russian magnate possibly moving into one of the Riviera’s last great estates. A transaction happening just as sanctions tighten around the Russian oil industry.

La Favorita may now have a new owner.
But the story surrounding it is far from finished.