Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone sold his multimullion-dollar mansion in London without ever having lived in it after his wife said she didn't like it.
Ecclestone bought the 15-bedroom home in 2001 for Stg 50 million, but sold it three years later because it failed to impress his wife Slavica, a former model, from whom he is now estranged.
This was despite the property's generous views of Kensington Palace, its own hair salon, opulent indoor swimming pool and pillars carved from the same marble as the Taj Mahal.
The pillars were inlaid with precious stones. There is an underground car park for 20 vehicles.
Court papers obtained by the Daily Telegraph said while Ecclestone "fell in love" with the home when he first saw it, "he was not able to convince his wife to agree to the purchase as she did not like it enough to live there".
When Ecclestone bought the house, it was the most expensive private home in Britain at the time. He sold it in 2004 for Stg 57 million.
Ecclestone's debate with his wife over the house was revealed in documents filed at the High Court in London by a businessman who claims he was owed a Stg 2 million commission for selling the home.
An out-of-court settlement was reached between the parties, the newspaper reported on Friday.
