Inside the world of NYC’s Russian billionaire buyers

From the November issue: Elizabeth Lee Sample has brokered $1.5 billion worth of real estate in her career. But it wasn’t until she began working with high-end Russian buyers several years ago that she found herself leaving the Four Seasons Hotel on East 57th Street one Sunday with a check for $2.5 million burning a hole in her pocket.

 “We had shown a couple a penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton,” she recalled. “They really liked the apartment, but they were leaving right away for California. So they left the check for us in the lobby for the escrow deposit.” [more]