Roman Abramovich did not see his fortune fall by some £650m in a single day, contrary to earlier reports suggesting investors feared the Chelsea owner's investments could be impacted by the situation between Russia and Ukraine.
Abramovich has a significant shareholding in Evraz, a mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange, and the company's share price has fallen of late.
However, while earlier reports attributed the drop to concerns about rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the change in share price has been put down to the demerger of the Raspadskaya coal business, which was proposed in documents dated December 2021.
The Blues' owner is among the richest owners in the entire Premier League, according to the 2021 Forbes billionaire's list, with a fortune north of £10bn.
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"On 26 January 2021, EVRAZ plc... announced that it was considering the strategic merits of, and possible structures for, the potential demerger of its metallurgical coal assets consolidated under PJSC Raspadskaya," a release from Evraz in December read.
"The board of EVRAZ and management of EVRAZ have conducted a comprehensive review of the rationale and feasibility of the Demerger and have now concluded that the separation of the two businesses serves the long-term interests of EVRAZ’s shareholders, employees, clients and other stakeholders.
"EVRAZ today announces that definitive terms have been entered into in relation to the Demerger, subject to, among other things, approval of the Demerger and related matters by EVRAZ’s shareholders."
Monday was the first day of dealing in Evraz's shares "ex-entitlement to the Demerger Dividend," per a separate Evraz release dated February 1, hence the fall in valuation.
As asktraders explains: "Raspadskaya is now separately listed and has its own valuation. Evraz has fallen in value as a result of that hiving off. But the combined valuation of the two – and the Raspadskaya shares are distributed to the Evraz shareholders – is higher than the starting point."
Abramovich has still seen his net worth rise since the publication of Forbes' most recent billionaires list, with his fortune reported as £12.9bn at the time of writing despite the recent drop.
His shareholding in Evraz is just one of a number of investments held by the 55-year-old.
The Russian, who also holds Israeli and Portuguese citizenship, has reportedly been in talks over investment in a second football club alongside Chelsea.
Sport Witness reports that Abramovich is part of a group interested in taking a stake in Brazilian club Vasco da Gama, with the president of the Rio de Janeiro-based side said to be heading to Europe for talks with potential investors.
