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Did Russia’s Fertilizer King Overpay for His Da Vinci?

An explosive legal battle between billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, a scheming Swiss art dealer, and the auction house Sotheby’s threatens to expose some of the industry’s dirtiest secrets.

Dmitry Rybolovlev, the billionaire Russian fertilizer mogul.
Dmitry Rybolovlev, the billionaire Russian fertilizer mogul. Photo: Xavier Laine/Getty Images
Eriq Gardner
December 4, 2023

A courtroom in downtown Manhattan is the last place you’d expect to find Dmitry Rybolovlev, the billionaire Russian fertilizer mogul who, like any oligarch who hasn’t yet fallen off his balcony, is considered an ally of Vladimir Putin. But he might soon appear in New York to persuade a jury that Sotheby’s colluded with a Swiss art dealer, Yves Bouvier, to trick him into overpaying by hundreds of millions for artworks including Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi.