The 45 year-old owner of Chelsea FC, who guards his privacy as closely as he guards his billions, faced an uncomfortable afternoon in the witness box at the High Court in London as he disclosed details of his personal and business life.
The oligarch is being sued for $6.5 billion by Boris Berezovsky, his former associate who accuses Mr Abramovich of swindling him out of shares in companies they allegedly set up together.
Mr Abramovich set out his rags-to-riches tale of how he had gone from selling rubber ducks to sitting on a £10.3 billion oil and minerals empire in just two decades. And while he acknowledged Mr Berezovsky’s role in helping him to win friends in the Kremlin, he described the 65 year-old as a “megalomaniac” who “behaved like a child”.
As the costly legal battle entered its fifth week, Mr Berezovsky stared intently at the man he says was his protégé as he entered the witness box. Mr Abramovich cut a strangely unassuming figure. Unable to read or speak any English, he gave his evidence via a translator and wore headphones to hear barristers’ questions in his native Russian. » | Duncan Gardham, and Gordon Rayner | Tuesday, November 01, 2011
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