Robbie Williams’ Bad Real Estate Deal in Switzerland Caused Him to Lose 14 Million Euros

The British pop star, Robbie Williams resold his villa in the canton of Geneva for 16 million Swiss francs, acquired for 29 million Swiss francs five years earlier.

This is called a record capital loss in a country that is not particularly known for the roller coaster of its real estate market. The British singer Robbie Williams had in fact set his sights on Switzerland to afford a property on the outskirts of Geneva, in Vendoeuvres, very close to Lake Geneva. And as success allows him to have some means, he did not hesitate to pay 29 million Swiss francs (31.4 million euros) in December 2020 for a mansion of almost 400 m² on a vast land of 8500 m². In the midst of a health crisis, the artist was ready to do crazy things to “escape Covid” and settle in this upscale Swiss town, as he told the BBC in an interview.

The sequel shows that the former leader of the group Take That had largely overpaid for his cocoon, as told by La Tribune de Genève. After doing business with a wealthy Geneva entrepreneur who owned the premises and was probably met on the greens of the Geneva Golf Club, Robbie Williams had great ambitions for work. Renovation and expansion projects, including the creation of a swimming pool, had also been submitted and accepted in 2021 and 2022, according to the Swiss press. His desires having changed, the singer put the property back on sale two years ago, expecting to get his stake back. He finally had to revise his claims almost in half (-46%) to extract 16 million Swiss francs (17.3 million euros), or a deadweight loss of 13 million Swiss francs (14 million euros).

View of the Geneva property sold by Robbie Williams. Photo Credit: Capture Google Maps

Heading for Gstaad

A discomfiture which can be explained by the bad advice given to the star and also by this period of irrational excitement giving way to the craziest transactions. And the property proved all the more difficult to resell as it required heavy work to meet the standards of the clientele of this type of villa. According to professionals surveyed by the Tribune de Genève, there are at least 5 million, which has cooled a clientele looking for more contemporary residences ready to live in. The new buyer, a portfolio manager, employee of a large international investment fund, would have gotten a good deal. Robbie Williams does not hold grudges against the Swiss Confederation, however: since he turned to another Swiss jewel in 2023: the upscale resort of Gstaad. And in the end his Geneva misfortunes only cost him 5% of his fortune…