Please enjoy this, from The New York Times:

A former cabdriver who struck it rich in Russian oil and went on to invest in Manhattan real estate has signed a contract to buy a Fifth Avenue mansion for $40 million.

 

Duke Semans Mansion
Quite mean

 

Tamir Sapir, who immigrated to the United States 30 years ago, said he signed a contract on Friday to buy the house, known as the Duke Semans mansion. He said the sellers, relatives of the late tobacco heiress Doris Duke, signed the contract yesterday.

Mr. Sapir, who lives in the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue and owns a 12-acre estate in Kings Point on Long Island, said he was attracted to the mansion by its location and its history. He had already considered installing his ivory collection in the office tower on Madison Avenue, he said, but the mansion’s proximity to the Met and the Guggenheim Museum made him decide “this is the right location for me.”

The musician Lenny Kravitz had been interested in the property, which came on the market last May, but he was never able to work out a deal. About 40 prospective buyers toured the mansion, which houses a doctor’s office in the basement.

[more here]

Nice. Not bad at all.

I did some extra research, and it seems our boy ranks #785 on the Forbes World’s Billionaires list.

He worked pretty hard to get there, too. Dealing in Russian oil and the like.

Personally, I’ll be taking the easy route to becoming a billionaire. And that’ll be Friday’s EuroMillions SUPERDRAW, The incredibly rare SuperDraw is sporting a guaranteed jackpot payout of R1.5 BILLION.

One point five BILLION Rand.

One hundred and eighty six million Dollars.

I’m not kidding. Check it out here.