Roman Abramovich has been found not guilty in a court case that could have cost him £3 billion.

The Chelsea owner - worth an estimated £7.5 billion - had been accused of "intimidation" by Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky, who claimed that Abramovich had bullied him into selling shares in oil company Sibneft for a fraction of their value.

Delivering her verdict at the London Commercial Court today, Justice Gloster dismissed Berezovsky as an "unimpressive and inherently unreliable" character, while describing Abramovich as "truthful, and on the whole reliable".

Abramovich was not present for the verdict and is instead thought to be in Monte Carlo ahead of Chelsea's Super Cup clash with Atletico Madrid tonight.

Legal costs in the case are thought to exceed £100m.

Written by
Neil Wilkes