ABSTRACT
The Russian billionaire has spent roughly £600 million on Chelsea since he acquired it in 2003. Roman Abramovich's other spending habits—building an art collection with works by Bacon, Freud, and Giacometti, and helping his twenty-six-year-old girlfriend Dasha Zhukova open her contemporary art gallery in Moscow—suggest a midlife crisis. A snapshot biography of Roman Abramovich reveals that his mother died when he was one and his father was killed when he was three. Abramovich seems to have a habit of firing wives and football managers. Abramovich is emotional about the game and may well experience the team as an extension of himself. The problem is that as Abramovich becomes increasingly anxious about loss, the more heads are likely to roll. This in turn is likely to make Abramovich feel guilty—at least unconsciously—about getting rid of his managers, and possibly his wives as well.
