Greek Islands for Sale

The residents of the Greek island of Lefkada are feeling a sense of deja vu these days. A short distance across the Ionian Sea, a billionaire and his family have been relaxing on the tiny island of Skorpios. This week it was Russian tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev and his loved ones enjoying the lush environment and pristine waters; 50 years ago it was Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and his relatives taking in the idyllic surroundings.

Rybolovlev is No. 119 on the Forbes list of billionaires, with a net worth of $9.1 billion. His 24-year-old daughter Ekaterina purchased Skorpios and the smaller outcrop of Sparti in April for an undisclosed price reported to be around €100 million ($129 million). The island had been owned by Onassis’s granddaughter Athina, Aristotle’s only surviving heir. Onassis bought Skorpios in 1963 and spent five years developing the abandoned islet, a project that included the planting of hundreds of trees and construction of relatively plain living quarters.