Inside a Russian billionaire’s $200 million plan to transform the tiny Greek island where Jacqueline Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis into a luxury resort

• Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev is spending an estimated $200 million transforming the tiny Greek island of Skorpios into a luxury resort. 
• Jacqueline Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis on the island in 1968.
• Plans for the project include a luxury hotel and spa, a sports complex, vineyards, an amphitheater, a helipad, and an expanded harbor to accommodate large yachts.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev is spending about $200 million to transform a tiny Greek island into a luxury resort, an adviser to Rybolovlev confirmed to Insider.

Skorpios, the 200-acre island off the western coast of Greece, is the same island where former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis in 1968.

Rybolovlev, who’s worth an estimated $6.7 billion, bought the island from Aristotle Onassis’ granddaughter for $153 million in 2013. His plan to turn it into an upscale tourist destination has been in the works since he purchased the island, according to Sergey Chernitsyn, the adviser to the Rybolovlev family.

“When the Rybolovlev family acquired the island, it was clear that it would, at minimum, require a complete renovation,” Chernitsyn told Insider.

The project has an expected budget of €165 million – about $200 million – and is expected to create at least 130 new jobs, according to a January 13 press release by the Greek ministries of tourism, development, and investment, which approved the project. Plans for Skorpios’ complete renovation include a luxury hotel known as a “VIP complex,” a spa, villas, a sports complex, a farm and vineyard, an amphitheater, a helipad, and a extension of the harbor to accommodate large yachts.

Some preparatory work for the resort project started in early 2020, Chernitsyn said, and the project is expected to be finished sometime in 2024. 

Rybolovlev and his family will personally use the resort at times, Chernitsyn said. Rybolovlev's daughter, Ekaterina, celebrated her 25th birthday on the island in 2014 and her wedding in 2015.

When the family is not spending time on Skorpios, they plan to rent out the entire complex for a minimum one-week period. Chernitsyn said that while any discussion about price is preliminary, he estimates that a weekly stay could exceed €1 million, or about $1.2 million.

An island with a glamorous history 

Aristotle Onassis bought Skorpios island in 1963 for 3.5 million drachmas, or what would be about $12,500 today, according to the Wall Street Journal. He imported sand and thousands of trees to the island and hosted glamorous parties there.

Onassis married Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of assassinated president John F. Kennedy, in a small ceremony in the island's Greek Orthodox chapel on October 20, 1968.

After Onassis' death in 1975, the buildings on the island that once hosted extravagant parties were left abandoned, per the Journal. Today, the island's infrastructure includes a harbor, agricultural plots, a helipad, and water and electricity systems, as well as some other aging structures. 

"In Onassis's time, it was exceptional, but by today's standards it is seriously worn out and therefore there is a need for a substantial renovation," Chernitsyn said.

The island is also home to the iconic "Pink House," the villa built for Kennedy Onassis and where the former First Lady spent most of her time when she was on the island.

Penthouses, a $450 million da Vinci, and a deal with Trump

Rybolovlev is based in Monaco, the affluent city-state on the French Riviera, where he reportedly owns a penthouse overlooking the water in the ritzy Monte Carlo district. 

The 54-year-old billionaire made his $6.7 billion fortune in Russian fertilizer production, according to Forbes. He is known to spend his millions on luxury real estate, art, and soccer: He bought Monaco's soccer club, AS Monaco, in 2011.

In addition to his Greek island and Monaco penthouse, Rybolovlev has owned real estate in New York City and Palm Beach, Florida. 

In 2008, Rybolovlev bought a six-acre plot of land in Palm Beach from Donald Trump for $95 million, breaking the area's real-estate record at the time. The sale later became a source of interest in 2016, when the explosive Steele dossier that alleged ties between Trump and Russia said that Trump's land and hotel deals should be investigated. (Both Trump and Rybolovlev have said that they never met during the transaction or at any other time.)

In 2011, Rybolovlev bought his daughter Ekaterina an $88 million penthouse at Manhattan's coveted 15 Central Park West building. Rybolovlev has one other daughter, Anna. His divorce from their mother, Elena Rybolovleva, was a six-year, high-profile legal battle that ended with an undisclosed settlement in 2015. 

His lavish purchases extend beyond penthouses and private islands. In 2013, he paid $127.5 million for a Leonardo da Vinci painting, called "Salvator Mundi." Four years later, he sold it for a record $450 million. 

When visiting Skorpios, Rybolovlev typically stays on his yacht as the buildings on the island are in disrepair, Chernitsyn said. Rybolovlev is reported to own a 360-foot superyacht named Anna.