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Oligarch Starts New Year's With a Bang
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B.Y.O.HO Byblos, Prokhorov (inset)
Mark your calendars for Saturday night! On January 13, Russians celebrate the grand finale of "Old New Years," the culmination of a fortnight of winter bacchanalia that kicked off on January 1. How did your average oligarch celebrate? By raising a tumbler of vodka to 2007 in an Icelandic "ice castle" with Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, and Whitney Houston, of course.

And then there's Mikhail Prokhorov—the 89th richest man in the world—who decided to ring in the Old New Year at the Hotel Byblos in Courcheval the old-fashioned way: with 16 fresh-faced consorts. The ballsy move led to a prostitution raid on the tony lodge this week.

The ski resort has become a hive of late for an estimated 10,000 minted Russians and their entourages, who fill the Alpine village's boutiques and night spots with an array of "good time girls," as one observer put it to the Times. The billionaire's move has landed him in trouble with French authorities, who arrested 26 people in the alleged prostitution crackdown. Mr. Prokhorov, a mining don, insists the raid was just one big misunderstanding. The 41-year-old explained, "To stay young, you have to be surrounded with youth and beauty," insisting he did not have sex with any of the 20-something women. The French prosecutor in the case goes on to clarify: "According to Prokhorov, he likes the company of intelligent women."

Who just happen to have epic asses.

By Sarah Horne   01/12/07 12:21 PM
Related: Culture, Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, Mikhail Prokhorov, Top, Whitney Houston
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