Israeli Leviev buys £35m London home

A diamond magnate, who was until a week ago classified as Israel's richest man, has bought Britain's most expensive new-build property - a bullet-proof mansion in Hampstead, north London, worth £35m. Lev Leviev, 51, who is a close friend of Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, owns an Israeli Russian-language TV channel, Israel Plus. He already has houses in New York, Moscow and Israel. He recently went on a worldwide property buying spree, paying almost £300m for the former New York Times building. Leviev, born in Uzbekistan, is famous in international circles as the man who broke the cartel controlled by the multinational diamond company, De Beers, by buying up diamond mines in Russia, Angola and Namibia. One-third of all the diamonds sold anywhere in the world are said to be cut and polished by his company. As befits a man of his wealth – estimated at £3.2bn - the latest Leviev family home boasts a gold-tiled swimming pool, a nightclub, a hair salon and a family room that can be transformed into a cinema. The house is in a private road where Lulu, Ringo Starr and Maurice Gibb have all owned homes. His wife, Olga, and his two youngest children, aged 15 and 13, have also moved to London while their other seven children remain in Israel. Several of Leviev's close neighbours are fellow Israeli billionaires. Among those who have recently made their homes in London, where foreigners can avoid paying tax on overseas earnings, are Zvi Meitar, the founder of one of Israel's biggest law firms; Benny Steinmitz, a diamond dealer and property tycoon; Yigal Zilka, head of Queenco Leisure International; and the real estate developer, Sammy Shimon.