Urs schwarzenbach biography of william
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Swiss financier Urs Schwarzenbach has become a serious British landownerGetty Images
Wealthy foreigners are flocking to the UK to buy up large farming estates according to Savills. They told The Times, ‘recently we have witnessed a significant increase in farms over 500 acres being sold to overseas buyers’.
It could be seen as an example of history repeating itself, since after the Norman conquest, King William handed out vast tracts of land to French noblemen; and, now, all these years later quintessentially British villages, rich-in-charm, are being sold to wealthy foreigners.
Swedish billionaire Stefan Persson, 72, is but one example, owner of the Swedish clothing chain H&M, and now 19,000 acres in Wiltshire, Berkshire and Hampshire that form his Ramsbury Estate. Swiss financier, Urs Schwarzenbach, also 72, has paid £38 million for the Hambleden Estate in Buckinghamshire, which comes with 44 houses, a pub, shop and 1,600 acres. Count Luca Rinaldo Contardo Padulli di Vi
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Even the wealthy feel effect of recession
MULTI-MILLIONAIRES from the Henley area are worth a total of more than £3billion according to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.
But the recession seems to have made a dent in the fortunes of the super-rich, with several experiencing a drop in wealth.
A new entry is Russian financier Andrei Borodin who is in joint 319th place with a fortune of £250million. He was granted asylum in the UK in February, six months after buying Park Place in Remenham for a record £140million.
Swiss financier and hotelier Urs Schwarzenbach tops the local list with a fortune of £850 million, putting him in joint 102nd place, down 15 places on last year.
Mr Schwarzenbach, who lives in Shiplake, has owned Hambleden village since 2007 and also owns Culham Court in Remenham.
The McAlpine family, who run the biggest construction company in the country, are 288th on the list with a £295million fortune, the same as last year, when they were 13 places higher.
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Financier offers £10m over the asking price for record country house sale
When a magnificent country house went on the market for £25million, financier Urs Schwarzenbach decided that the owners weren't asking enough.
He offered £10million extra and exchanged contracts within a week on Culham Court, on the banks of the Thames.
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Swiss-born Mr Schwarzenbach, 57, and his wife Francesca, a former Miss Australia, plan to move into the ten-bedroom house nära Henley, Oxfordshire, later this year.
The couple, who have two children, already own a palatial property a few miles upriver and program to keep it for family use.
Culham Court, set in 650 acres, went up for sale in June. Four days later Mr Schwarzenbach, who is said to be worth £880million, had his offer accepted through the estate agent Knight Frank.
"We are thrilled at the thought of moving into Culham Court and making it our home," the couple said in a statement.