Photos: British billionaire cuts price of London mansion by $13 million

• British billionaire David Sullivan has reduced the price of his London mansion by about $13 million.
• The businessman, who owns West Ham United football club, said he was making a loss on the property.
• Sullivan has an estimated worth of $1.6 billion.

British billionaire David Sullivan has reduced the price of his London mansion to 65 million pounds (about $85 million), shaving about $13 million off his previous asking price.

Sullivan, an owner of West Ham United soccer club in east London, told Bloomberg that while he will now sell the property for a loss, “you have to be realistic.”

“Interest rates are high — they’re coming down, but not by much,” Sullivan said.

“Also, I think what the government is doing to the unruly is not very nice and a lot of rich people are leaving the country as a result of what they are anticipating in the budget. Three or four of my friends have already left. in Monaco or Dubai,” he added.

Sullivan, 75, was referring to planned government policy changes that would remove certain tax benefits for wealthy UK residents whose permanent home – for tax purposes – is outside the UK.

The proposed changes have led to uncertainty in the market, according to property firm Knight Frank, with London’s “super-prime market” seeing 22% fewer transactions in the 12 months to July than a year earlier.

And that’s not ideal for Sullivan, who told Bloomberg he spent about 75 million pounds (about $98 million) on his Marylebone property — 27 million pounds (about $35 million ) to buy the house in 2015 and nearly £50 million (about $65 million). reconditioning it.

According to Knight Frank, the 21,000-square-foot home at 33 Portland Place was built in 1775. It has 10 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a swimming pool, a wine cellar, a movie theater, a sauna and a “sky lounge.” “

One of the property’s former owners, Edward Davenport, was convicted of multimillion-pound fraud in 2011. He was released in 2014 after being granted clemency on health grounds, The Guardian reported.

Under Davenport’s ownership, the house hosted several celebrity guests and was famous for hosting raucous parties.

Supermodel Kate Moss once shot a campaign for Agent Provocateur on the property, while British music icon Amy Winehouse used it as a set for her “Rehab” video. It was also used to film scenes for the Oscar-winning film The King’s Speech.

Davenport’s website shows photos of him posing with various celebrities, from Paris Hilton to Daniel Radcliffe. A photo also shows him with Sullivan.

Davenport bought the house from the High Commission in Sierra Leone in 1999.

Who is David Sullivan?

Sullivan is worth an estimated £1.2 billion (about $1.6 billion), according to The Sunday Times Rich List.

The 75-year-old first made his money in the adult entertainment industry before moving into media, owning the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport newspapers.

Speaking to The Times of London about his career in 2006, Sullivan said: “I’ve always had a burning desire to be fabulously rich because I came from a fabulously poor background.”

“I’m not ashamed of what I did,” he added. “I’m not one of those people who tell the neighbors I’m in the printing industry. I’m in the adult entertainment industry and I’ve met pretty girls and made a lot of money. I gave a lot of people. much pleasure and I never hurt anyone.”