OREANDA-NEWS. The president of the PIK construction corporation, billionaire Sergey Gordeev, lost $ 1 million a few years ago in a dispute with Nicholas Ilyin at a dinner at the Guggenheim Foundation in Venice. About this art critic and curator Ilyin, who now holds the post of adviser to the director of the Hermitage, told Forbes. The magazine claims that two witnesses to the bet confirmed this information.

According to Ilyin, during a traditional dinner organized by the foundation, Gordeev began to claim that he was the richest person at the event, and in response to Ilyin’s offer he bet $ 1 million. The billionaire lost the argument because he didn’t see the “Sheikh from Abu Dhabi” at the table , says Ilyin. A week later, the Guggenheim Foundation received $ 1 million, he added. The PIK press service told Forbes that there was no such case with Gordeev.

In addition to his post at PIK, Gordeev is also involved in venture capital investments, in particular, in the Hyperloop project, Ilona Mask. In 2006, he founded the Russian Avant-Garde Foundation for the Protection and Restoration of Russia's Cultural Property. The magazine estimates the fortune of a businessman at $ 1.8 billion.