Russian billionaire and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich and his wife of 10 years, gorgeous Garage Magazine founder Dasha Zhukova, have separated, Page Six has exclusively learned.
The jet-setting pair, who have two children, say the split is amicable. They confirmed their separation in a joint statement, exclusively telling Page Six: “After 10 years together, the two of us have made the difficult decision to separate, but we remain close friends, parents and partners in the projects we developed together.
“We are committed to jointly raising our two children. We will also continue to work together as co-founders of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow and the New Holland Island cultural center in Saint Petersburg.”
Until a couple of years ago, the very private pair’s marital status was a bit of a mystery. Page Six reported in 2015 that while Zhukova was routinely reported as Abramovich’s domestic partner, a WSJ Magazine profile on her confirmed they “met in 2005 and were married a few years later; they have two children.”
This is the third marriage for Abramovich, who is ranked No. 139 on Forbes’ Billionaires List, with a reported $9.1 billion. The couple has a major private art collection. Last year, Abramovich got the go-ahead to turn three Upper East Side townhomes into an 18,000-square-foot mega-mansion.
Art collector, fashion favorite and entrepreneur Zhukova — who is on the board of the Metropolitan Museum — spearheaded the $27 million Rem Koolhaas-designed Garage Museum of Contemporary Art that opened in 2015 and drew a crowd from Jeff Koons to François Pinault. Vice Media acquired a controlling stake in her Garage Magazine last year, and she is also a founding partner in hot art startup Artsy.
Despite any separation, Zhukova’s been a fixture at global power business gatherings this summer. Last week, during Google’s elite “The Camp” retreat at a Sicilian resort, Zhukova was a guest on David Geffen’s yacht, Rising Sun, with Oprah Winfrey. Geffen captioned an Instagram shot, “Michael Hess, Dasha Zhukova and me taken by Bob Iger on Rising Sun. Happiness.”