Vladimir Putin: 'World's richest man' enjoys luxury watches, gold toilets and collecting aircraft

However, according to some financial experts, the Russian President may actually be the wealthiest man in the world, with a $200 billion stash.

Reports in the US-based Fortune Magazine indicate that Putin, who has a penchant for high-end luxury watches, likes to kick back in a $1.4 billion mansion by the Black Sea and has a collection of 58 aircraft and helicopters.

This includes a $716 million dollar plane called ‘The Flying Kremlin’ that has a toilet made of gold.

As the man behind a war that has convulsed a nation, speculation and interest in his private affairs has reached levels that the notoriously private dictator would clearly find uncomfortable.

“I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected,” Putin has previously declared, while dismissing those “who, with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others' lives".

However, since his country’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, details have been bandied across the internet involving his two talented daughters - a rock ‘n roll dancing scientist and a doctor who has become one of her country’s top experts on dwarfism.

There is also his secret love life with a former Olympic gold-winning gymnast, Alina Kabaeva (38), once called “Russia's most flexible woman”, who is said to share two sons and two seven-year-old twin daughters with the 69-year-old Russian leader.

Now, with severe sanctions slapped on Russian individuals and companies in the wake of the Russian invasion, focus has turned on just how wealthy Putin really is.

Despite his portrayal as a modest, dedicated bureaucrat who enjoys a simple, middle-class lifestyle, Putin is often seen sporting high-end luxury watches that would even light up Conor McGregor’s eyes.

He has been pictured wearing Patek Philippe’s Perpetual Calendar watch that comes with a $60,000 price tag and a $500,000 A Lange & Sohne Toubograph, as well as other exclusive designs.

He is also believed to be the owner of a massive 190,000 square-foot mansion called ‘Putin’s Country Cottage’ that sits on a cliff overlooking the Black Sea.

With frescoed ceilings, a marble swimming pool lined with statues of Greek gods, and a 27,000 square-foot guest house, it costs an annual $2 million every year just to maintain the property’s landscaping by a 40-person staff.

There are also spas with traditional hammams, a musical parlour, dressing rooms for all his staff, an amphitheatre, a state-of-the-art ice hockey rink, a Vegas-style casino, and a nightclub equipped with stripper poles.

A barroom boasts more than $100,000 in wine and spirits while there is an underground tasting room overlooking the water.

Decorated by an exclusive luxury Italian brand called Citterio Atena the mansion includes Louis XIV style sofas, $500,000 in dining room furniture, and a $54,000 bar table. It even has bathrooms decked out with $850 Italian toilet brushes and $1,250 toilet paper holders.

The Kremlin denies Putin’s ownership of the palace, saying it belongs to a wealthy businessman but analysts have pointed out that no businessman can have properties guarded by the FSB (Russia’s federal security service) with a no-fly zone over it.

As well as his collection of 58 aircraft and helicopters he can also take to the sea in a $100-million-dollar mega yacht designed by a nuclear submarine maker from the Russian navy.

The $200 billion figure for his wealth was arrived at by financier Bill Browder in testimony to the US Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017.

That sum - which would make Putin richer than Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk - is based on Browder’s belief that Putin ordered Russia's richest oligarchs to offer him half of their wealth following the 2003 arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the founder of oil company Yukos and once Russia's wealthiest person.

He has also been named in the famous Panama Papers that revealed a network of secret offshore deals and loans worth $2 billion pointing to Putin in 2016.

And even though Putin, who carries the sole responsibility for the decision to invade Ukraine is not yet a target for sanctions, he may already be taking action to preserve his assets.

Last month, German outlets reported that the Graceful—a superyacht reportedly owned by the Russian president—quietly sailed out of Hamburg before completing scheduled repairs.

Vladimir, meanwhile, has admitted being the wealthiest man, not just in Europe but in the whole world for his collection of …emotions.

“I am wealthy in that the people of Russia have twice entrusted me with the leadership of a great nation such as Russia,” he once said. “I believe that is my greatest wealth."