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Russian oligarch’s seized superyacht sold for $37.5m

Axioma, which had been owned by Dmitry Pumpyansky, auctioned after being impounded in Gibraltar

A luxury superyacht taken from a Russian oligarch facing sanctions has been sold to an undisclosed buyer for $37.5m (£35m) in the first sale of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine.

The 72.5-metre Axioma was seized from the steel billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky in March after sanctions by the UK, EU and the US .

However, the yacht, which features a swimming pool, a 3D cinema room, a gym, a Jacuzzi and a fully equipped spa – was not sold for the benefit of the Ukrainian people but for a US investment bank, JP Morgan , which claims Pumpyansky owes it €20.5m.

The yacht was impounded by the Gibraltar authorities in March, after a court claim from JP Morgan. The Office of the Admiralty Marshal, a branch of Gibraltar’s supreme court, oversaw its auction in August, which attracted 63 bids.

“The Admiralty Marshal has today sold the MY Axioma following payment into court of $37.5m by the successful bidder,” the court said in a statement on Tuesday. “The bid was selected after completion of an enhanced due diligence process, but the Admiralty Marshal will not be disclosing the identity of the buyer.”

Pumpyansky was until March of this year the owner and chair of the steel pipe manufacturer OAO TMK, a supplier to the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom. The UK said the billionaire, who it said had built up an estimated £1.84bn fortune, was one of the oligarchs “closest to Putin” .

The yacht was detained by the Gibraltar government after a legal claim from JP Morgan , which said Pumpyansky’s holding company Pyrene Investments owed it €20.5m.

JP Morgan said the fact the billionaire had been subjected to sanctions meant the terms of the loan had been breached because it legally could not accept repayments from Pyrene, and asked the Gibraltar courts to detain and sell the yacht.

The yacht, the work of the superyacht designer Alberto Pinto, was built by Dunya Yachts in Turkey in 2013. The boat, which was originally named Red Square before being renamed Axioma, was available for other millionaires to charter for $558,500 a week.

“With its luxurious interiors, vast array of onboard facilities and a highly trained and professional crew, a luxury yacht vacation onboard motor yacht Axioma promises to be nothing short of spectacular,” the charter listing states.

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Seizing an Oligarch’s Assets Is One Thing. Giving Them to Ukraine Is Another.

It could take years for Russian assets seized by the United States to be permanently confiscated and sold to benefit the Ukrainian people. The Biden administration wants to speed up the process.

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By Matthew Goldstein

The U.S. government was so pleased with its swift seizure of a Russian oligarch’s 255-foot yacht on the Mediterranean island of Majorca last month that it posted a video on YouTube of the moment F.B.I. agents and Spanish authorities clambered up the gangplank. The $90 million yacht owned by Viktor Vekselberg, called the Tango, was the government’s first big prize in a campaign against billionaires with close ties to the Kremlin.

The Tango is just a sliver of the $1 billion in yachts, planes and artwork — not to mention hundreds of millions in cash — that the United States has identified as belonging to wealthy allies of Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, since the invasion of Ukraine. U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui, who approved the seizure, called the pursuit of the yacht by a new Justice Department team called task force kleptocapture “just the beginning of the reckoning that awaits those who would facilitate Putin’s atrocities.”

The reckoning may take a while.

Seizing assets, whether a yacht or a bank account, is the easy part. To permanently confiscate them, the government must usually navigate a potentially cumbersome process known as civil forfeiture, which requires proving to a judge that the assets were obtained from the proceeds of a crime or through money laundering. Only then does the government actually own the assets, and have the power to liquidate them.

All that can take years, especially if the former owner is inclined to fight the forfeiture action in court.

Hoping to speed things up — and quickly get the proceeds from seized assets turned over to the Ukrainian government — the White House announced a plan last week that would make it easier for U.S. authorities to go after some oligarch assets through an administrative procedure led by the Treasury Department. Although it has not provided details of its plan, administration officials said the new procedure will provide adequate due process and allow for an “expedited” review by a federal court.

The White House proposal would significantly change the way the government handles high-dollar asset seizures. Generally, administrative forfeiture is used in lower-profile cases, intended for assets worth $500,000 or less. Such efforts are not really designed for luxury homes or massive yachts, let alone the huge sums of money that wealthy Russians are believed to have stashed away in U.S. bank accounts or invested with hedge funds and private equity firms.

“The idea of a yacht or jet valued in the hundreds of millions seized and liquidated administratively is new territory,” said Franklin Monsour Jr., a former federal prosecutor and a white collar defense lawyer with Orrick in New York.

Mr. Monsour said the administration and Congress may be banking that many Russian oligarchs will not muster a legal challenge to a new, expedited process because that would risk subjecting themselves to U.S. jurisdiction.

“It will likely be without challenge,” he said. “And the government knows that.”

Even if prosecutors are forced to proceed in some cases through the more typical civil forfeiture process, the litigation might go faster than normal for that same reason, Mr. Monsour said.

There are indications the pace of seizures is picking up. On Thursday, prosecutors said that authorities in Fiji working with the task force seized a $300 million mega yacht belonging to Suleiman Kerimov, a Russian gold magnate. But in a sign the task force may be unwilling in some cases to expose its tradecraft in tracking down assets, the 24-page affidavit presented to a federal judge in support of the seizure was heavily redacted.

The more pricey assets the government seizes, the more reason it has to speed up the forfeiture process: Luxury property must be properly maintained, otherwise their value will drop before they can be sold off to someone else in the small pool of people who can afford them.

“For yachts that are languishing in ports, there will be assets spent to maintain the vehicles,” said Daniel Tannebaum, an expert on financial crimes at the consulting firm Oliver Wyman and former Treasury official. “Some of these assets can sit for an extremely long time.”

But authorities in the U.S. are looking to do more than just strip oligarchs of their prized possessions. Elizabeth Rosenberg, assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at Treasury, said one goal is to “undermine the financial architecture that Russia uses to move money.”

Over the years, Russia and its oligarchs have become skilled at using a parade of shell companies in places like the British Virgin Islands to move money from Cyprus to the Cayman Islands to Jersey, in the Channel Islands, all places with a history of being seen by investors as tax havens. The task force will be looking for evidence of oligarchs taking steps to illegally evade sanctions by surreptitiously transferring money and property to an unsanctioned person or business entity.

Just last month, federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed criminal charges against Konstantin Malofeyev for illegally transferring $10 million from a U.S. bank to a business associate in Greece. Mr. Malofeyev, who recently described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “holy war,” was the subject of a sanctions order by the Treasury Department in 2014 after Russia’s invasion of Crimea, a part of Ukraine that it ultimately annexed.

In October, federal agents raided a mansion belonging to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska in Washington and seized a wide array of assets including a Diego Rivera painting. Authorities took action in response to suspicions that Mr. Deripaska had been trying to evade sanctions by moving some of his money around, Bloomberg reported last month.

U.S. authorities have pursued assets belonging to Mr. Deripaska, an industrialist with close ties to Mr. Putin, since a sanction order in 2018 that was partly in response to Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election. A year later, Mr. Deripaska sued the U.S. government, claiming that the sanctions designation was based on rumor and had rendered him “radioactive” in the business community. Six weeks ago, a federal appellate court rejected his claims .

Since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February, the Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on more than 530 well-connected Russians. Andrew Adams, the federal prosecutor directing the new kleptocapture task force, said much of his team’s early work has involved “unprecedented” sharing of information about those individuals with U.S. financial firms, Treasury officials and overseas law enforcement groups.

Even without taking possession of an asset, the task force can make it difficult for the owner to make use of it, said Mr. Adams, a veteran federal prosecutor in Manhattan who has focused on money laundering and asset forfeiture cases.

“In the past, I would consider a win to be getting a conviction,” Mr. Adams said. “Now it could be getting an insurance company to cancel policy coverage for an oligarch’s yacht.”

Although it’s possible for the government to seize assets as part of a criminal case, Mr. Adams said, the government was unlikely to take that route. Doing so would require the arrest and conviction of their owners — an even more daunting process than the civil process or the expedited administrative procedure that the White House is considering.

But even the civil forfeiture process requires the government to show evidence of criminal conduct.

In approving the seizure of the Tango, Judge Faruqui said federal authorities had shown probable cause that Mr. Vekselberg had purchased the yacht — held through a series of shell companies — with “illicit proceeds and laundered funds.” Permanent confiscation will require prosecutors to establish that Mr. Vekselberg actually committed bank fraud, money laundering or some other crime.

Although the United States imposed sanctions on wealthy Russians soon after the invasion, global efforts to seize their assets have mostly played out in Europe and the Caribbean.

The European Union has frozen about $30 billion assets traced to Russian oligarchs since February. A few weeks ago, British officials said they had frozen some $13 billion in assets tied to just one of them: Roman Abramovich. Mr. Abramovich, one of Russia’s wealthiest men and the longtime owner of London’s Chelsea Football Club, has faced significant pressure from British officials. He agreed to part with the team in March as officials were moving to impose sanctions, and the club said on Friday that it had accepted a $3 billion bid from a consortium of buyers. The proceeds from the sale — the highest price in history for a sports team — will be placed in a frozen British bank account.

Mr. Abramovich, who has invested billions of dollars with offshore funds managed by U.S. firms and has an interest in several steel mills in the United States, has not been sanctioned by American officials, in part because he has served as an intermediary in negotiations between Ukraine and Russia . Mr. Adams, the leader of the kleptocapture task force, declined to discuss the matter.

But he did offer an explanation for why the Russian oligarchs his team is focused on seem to have fewer assets in the United States than in other countries: The sanctions that Treasury imposed following Russia’s invasion of Crimea seven years ago scared some away.

“We have had sanctions in place since 2014,” said Mr. Adams. “We have not been a friendly country to park your money in.”

Matthew Goldstein covers Wall Street and white collar crime and housing issues. More about Matthew Goldstein

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A russian oligarch's $90 million yacht is seized as part of u.s. sanctions.

A Civil Guard stands by the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on Monday. U.S. federal agents and Spain's Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch. Francisco Ubilla/AP hide caption

A Civil Guard stands by the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on Monday. U.S. federal agents and Spain's Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch.

Spanish officials have seized a Russian-owned luxury yacht in Mallorca at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice. It was the first coordinated seizure under the department's Task Force KleptoCapture, which is tasked with enforcing the sweeping sanctions placed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

The $90 million 255-foot yacht, named Tango, is owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who heads the Renova Group, a Russian conglomerate with interests in metallurgy, machinery, energy, telecommunications as well as others.

"Today marks our taskforce's first seizure of an asset belonging to a sanctioned individual with close ties to the Russian regime. It will not be the last," said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement. "Together, with our international partners, we will do everything possible to hold accountable any individual whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue its unjust war."

The seizure was performed by Spanish Guardia Civil officers with assistance from the FBI.

U.S. officials allege that the Tango has been owned continuously by Vekselberg since 2011 and that he used shell companies to " obfuscate his interest in the Tango ," the Justice Department said in a press release.

The release cites alleges bank fraud and money laundering as justification for the seizure, highlighting U.S. bank payments for support and maintenance of the vessel — including a December 2020 stay at a luxury water villa resort in the Maldives.

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Superyacht seized by U.S. from Russian billionaire arrives in San Diego Bay

June 27, 2022 / 3:40 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A $325 million superyacht seized by the United States from a sanctioned Russian oligarch arrived in San Diego Bay on Monday.

The 348-foot-long (106-meter-long) Amadea flew an American flag as it sailed past the retired aircraft carrier USS Midway and under the Coronado Bridge.

"After a transpacific journey of over 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers), the Amadea has safely docked in a port within the United States, and will remain in the custody of the U.S. government, pending its anticipated forfeiture and sale," the Department of Justice said in a statement.

The FBI linked the Amadea to the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, and the vessel became a target of Task Force KleptoCapture, launched in March to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine. The U.S. said Kerimov secretly bought the vessel last year through various shell companies.

But Justice Department  officials had been stymied  by a legal effort to contest the American seizure warrant and by a yacht crew that refused to sail for the U.S. American officials won a legal battle in Fiji to take the Cayman Islands-flagged superyacht earlier this month. 

The Amadea made a stop in Honolulu Harbor en route to the U.S. mainland. The Amadea boasts  luxury features  such as a helipad, mosaic-tiled pool, lobster tank and a pizza oven, nestled in a décor of "delicate marble and stones" and "precious woods and delicate silk fabrics," according to court documents.

"The successful seizure and transport of Amadea would not have been possible without extraordinary cooperation from our foreign partners in the global effort to enforce U.S. sanctions imposed in response to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine," the Justice Department said.

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16 superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs

Western sanctions over moscow's invasion of ukraine led to many luxury vessels being detained in europe.

Two superyachts linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich were spotted on the Turkish coast on Tuesday, 'Eclipse' and 'My Solaris'. Mr Abramovich is among several wealthy Russians added to an EU blacklist as governments act to seize their yachts and other luxury assets. AP

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

Several luxury yachts owned by wealthy Russians have been detained across Europe this month.

It comes after the West imposed sanctions on oligarchs over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine .

Some have taken evasive action – two such superyachts linked to billionaire Roman Abramovich were spotted approaching the Turkish coast on Tuesday. A group of Ukrainians tried to stop one of the yachts from docking in Turkey.

Chelsea FC owner Mr Abramovich is one of several oligarchs who were added to an EU blacklist last week as governments acted to seize yachts and other luxury assets owned by the billionaires.

Western sanctions resulted in many large vessels relocating from Europe in the past few weeks. Several have headed to places such as the Maldives, which have no extradition treaty with the US.

Where is the Abramovich-owned yacht heading?

Mr Abramovich's yacht Eclipse was seen heading towards Marmaris on Tuesday, according to data compiled by monitoring site Marine Traffic, which was seen by Reuters.

The previous day, his superyacht Solaris was moored in Bodrum, about 80 kilometres from Marmaris, data showed, after skirting waters of EU countries.

There was no suggestion Mr Abramovich was on board either of the yachts.

Ukrainians attempt to stop Abramovich's yacht docking in Turkey

Which yachts have been detained?

On Monday, a superyacht linked to another Russian billionaire was detained by authorities after docking in Gibraltar.

The Axioma , believed to belong to Dmitrievich Pumpyansky, moored at Gibraltar on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, Reuters TV footage showed.

Mr Pumpyansky, who is under UK and EU sanctions, owns Russia's largest steel pipe maker TMK. Data shows the 72-metre vessel is owned by a British Virgin Islands holding company called Pyrene investments, Reuters reported. An article published as part of the Panama Papers leaks names Mr Pumpyansky as a beneficiary of the holding.

On March 12, the world's biggest sailing yacht, called Sailing Yacht A and owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko , was seized by Italian police.

Several other luxury yachts have also been detained across Europe, including in Gibraltar, Mallorca in Spain's Balearic Islands and the French coast.

Here are 16 superyachts linked to wealthy Russians

1. Eclipse , a superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich , was this week spotted heading in the direction of Marmaris in Turkey.

2. Solaris , belonging to Mr Abramovich , moored in Bodrum at the start of the week.

3. The Axioma superyacht, belonging to Russian oligarch Dmitrievich Pumpyansky , who is on the EU's list of sanctioned Russians, was detained by authorities after docking in Gibraltar on Monday.

4. The Crescent , which was seized by the Spanish government in Tarragona, Spain, on March 17. The ship's owner is not publicly known, although it is believed to belong to Russian Igor Sechin, head of Rosneft Oil in Moscow.

5. Ragnar , owned by former KGB officer and Russian oligarch Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, who is not on the EU sanctions list.

6. Tango , owned by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who was sanctioned by the US on March 11.

7. Lady Anastasia , owned by Russian arms manufacturer Alexander Mijeev, is retained at Port Adriano, Mallorca, as a result of sanctions against Russia and Belarus issued by the European Union.

8. Valerie was seized by the Spanish government in Barcelona, Spain, on March 15. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that the ship is linked to Rostec State Corporation’s chief executive Sergey Chemezov.

9. The $578 million Sailing Yacht A owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko was seized by Italian police in the port of Trieste on March 12.

10. The 156-metre Dilbar superyacht is owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.

11. La Datcha belongs to Russian billionaire businessman Oleg Tinkov.

12. Lady M , owned by Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov, was seized by Italian police on March 5.

13. Amore Vero was seized in the Mediterranean resort of La Ciotat on March 3 by French authorities. The yacht is linked to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs the Russian oil giant Rosneft.

14. Quantum Blue , owned by a company linked to Russian billionaire Sergei Galitsky, the head of Russian oil giant Rosneft, was seized in southern France on March 3.

15. Superyacht Luna is owned by Russian billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov.

16. Triple Seven is owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Abramov, according to media reports. The yacht was last up for sale in 2020 for €38 million ($41.85 million).

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Amadea, a superyacht, docked at the Port of Everett on Monday, April 29, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

How did a Russian oligarch’s seized superyacht end up in Everett?

Worth more than $300 million, the Amadea could soon be up for sale. But first, it came to Everett on Monday.

• Monday, April 29, 2024 1:44pm
• Local News Everett

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Russian oligarch's seized yacht costs $7 million a year to maintain, US says

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Italy's multimillion-dollar upkeep of Russian oligarchs' yachts ignites debate

S even yachts owned by Russian oligarchs remain stationed in Italian ports, a direct consequence of assets being frozen amid the conflict in Ukraine. These yachts have not been confiscated and incur significant maintenance expenses. The Italian government has footed a bill of approximately $34.5 million for these costs.

The presence of Russian yachts in Italian ports symbolizes the broader impact of European sanctions against Russia, introduced following the onset of the Ukraine war.

The cost of holding and maintaining these luxury vessels is substantial, burdening the Italian state treasury with million-dollar expenses.

The Italian government has expended around €32 million ($34.5 million) over two years on the upkeep of Russian oligarchs' seized yachts, covering all maintenance costs, from docking fees to routine upkeep, for a total of seven vessels, as reported by the Nexta agency on the X platform.

Italian government covers maintenance costs for confiscated Russian yachts

Maintaining each luxury yacht incurs significant expenses, with the Italian government bearing the full cost. Docking fees range from $13,000 in winter to $32,300 in summer. Moreover, the monthly cost of port-supplied electricity averages $10,800, alongside additional expenses for insurance and fuel. Furthermore, yacht engines require an inspection and maintenance service every 12 months, which can cost up to $54,000 at a time.

Legal restrictions prevent sale and confiscation

The Italian government has expressed an interest in officially confiscating and reselling the yachts of Russian oligarchs. However, legally, these boats remain under the ownership of their original owners, making such actions unfeasible.

"This situation represents a temporary freezing of assets, not a confiscation. Any permanent seizing would face legal challenges as it might infringe upon basic human rights, including the right to property. Arbitrary confiscation by the state is not permissible," stated Andrea Saccucci, legal defender of the Russian oligarchs.

The Kremlin has been forthright in its response, threatening legal action against any attempts to seize Russian nationals' assets. This situation places Italy and other European nations in a difficult quandary.

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“This is what you’ve worked for and dreamed of, and now you get to put your jersey on for the first time and go out there and play. More than anything, just soak in the moment,” Clark told members of the media over the weekend.

The WNBA is hopeful that Clark’s star appeal will translate to the pros, and it seems some changes are already afoot . For the first time (and not so coincidentally), women’s teams will fly charter for all games. And Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league is eyeing a monster TV deal next year.

On the eve of Clark’s pro debut, Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder announced her retirement after 24 years leading the Hawkeyes.

Russian political shake-up hints at Putin’s true focus

The removal of Sergei Shoigu as Russia’s defense minister is the most dramatic shake-up of the country’s military leadership since the war with Ukraine began more than two years ago. And, according to observers of the Kremlin, it shows that President Vladimir Putin is ready for a long fight with Ukraine and its Western allies.

Shoigu isn’t gone completely. He has been appointed secretary of Russia’s national security council, replacing another Putin ally who will be appointed to a new job that has yet to be announced. (Putin rarely fires people in his inner circle outright.) Replacing Shoigu will be 65-year-old Andrei Belousov, a civilian economist whose “unexpected but logical” appointment could offer insight into Putin’s war plans . With the war in its third year, the Kremlin needs to fully militarize not just Russian society, but also the country’s economy, analysts said.

Orcas sink yacht off Spain’s coast

An unknown number of orcas have sunk a yacht after ramming it in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain’s maritime rescue service said yesterday, a new attack in what has become a trend in the past four years. The vessel, Alboran Cognac, which measured 49 feet in length and was carrying two people, encountered the highly social apex predators, also known as killer whales, on Sunday, the service said.

Those on board reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder before water started seeping into the ship. After they alerted the rescue services, a nearby oil tanker took them onboard and transported them to Gibraltar.

The yacht was left adrift and eventually sank. The incident is the latest example of recurring orca rammings around the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Europe from Africa, and off the Atlantic coast of Portugal and northwestern Spain.

Woman recalls stage dive that left her severely injured

A 24-year-old woman is working to regain function in her fingers and toes after a singer’s stage dive at a punk rock concert left her severely injured. In an exclusive interview, Bird Piché detailed what she felt as Trophy Eyes frontman John Floreani leaped backward into the audience at the April 30 show — and onto Piché. “It was like his body and my neck,” she said. Her family said she was paralyzed when she went to the hospital but has since regained basic movements of her arms and legs. “I have a long road ahead, but I’m very optimistic right now,” Piché said. Read the full story here.

Politics in Brief 

Tax hikes for China:  President Joe Biden will announce today that his administration  is raising tariffs  on $18 billion of Chinese exports, including electric vehicles, a move that escalates what economists see as a volatile trade war in the U.S. and China’s race for supremacy. 

Abortion rights:  The Arizona Supreme Court  granted a request to delay enforcement  of the state’s 1864 near-total abortion ban, narrowing the window that the law could be enforced, if at all.

‘Forever chemicals’ vote: San Francisco is poised to vote tonight to become the first U.S. city to ban so-called “forever chemicals” in protective equipment for firefighters. Nearly all firefighters’ uniforms contain these chemicals despite their links to health problems.

Want more politics news? Sign up for From the Politics Desk to get exclusive reporting and analysis delivered to your inbox every weekday evening.  Subscribe here.

Staff Pick: Instead of poker, try ‘throwing eggs’

With American investment receding amid U.S.-China tensions, Chinese financial professionals are looking closer to home for business opportunities — and learning a homegrown card game favored by local government officials who hold the purse strings. Guandan, a four-person game that translates to “throwing eggs,” has eclipsed Texas Hold’em as the must-have social skill for those looking to close deals. NBC Asia Desk fellow Larissa Gao and intern Cheng Cheng  explore the rise of the game .

—  Jennifer Jett,  Asia digital editor

In Case You Missed It

• Dali, the container ship that caused the collapse of a major Baltimore bridge in March, was freed by a controlled blast that also dismantled the span of the roadway. See video of the demolition.
• At least two people died as severe weather hit Louisiana overnight , with storms and tornadoes bringing devastation to southern states.
• Does a six-week break from Facebook and Instagram affect your politics? A study of 35,000 people found: not really.
• One of Kendrick Lamar’s Drake diss tracks landed at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 .
• Prince Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation has been found delinquent over unpaid fees.

Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

When shopping for carpet cleaners, experts say to consider portability, heat and suction capabilities, various attachments and a solid warranty.  Here are the best carpet cleaners  for keeping your floors clean and stain free.

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Elizabeth Robinson is a newsletter editor for NBC News, based in Los Angeles.

The largest yachts owned by tech billionaires, from Mark Zuckerberg to Jeff Bezos

• Megayachts have become a status symbol for the richest of the rich.
• In recent years, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have splurged on enormous boats.
• These are the biggest yachts owned by tech billionaires.

The average Joe celebrating a personal renaissance after, say, the end of a long-term relationship or when approaching a fresh decade might commemorate it with an ankle tattoo or a sports car. But if you're a billionaire, you may instead spend hundreds of millions on a yacht .

A few years after he and his wife divorced, Jeff Bezos shelled out on a megayacht. Last year, Bezos debuted the 127-meter vessel "Koru," a Māori symbol that signifies a fresh start — perhaps referring to that with his fiancée Lauren Sanchez.

Earlier this year, just before his 40th birthday, Mark Zuckerberg became the rumored owner of a yacht originally built for a Russian oligarch.

Superyachts have increasingly become ultrawealthy status symbols , providing highly secluded leisure and networking sites. They are — even more so than real estate — the single most expensive asset you can own.

"It's a bit of a celebration of your success in life, of wealth," Giovanna Vitelli, the chair of the Azimut Benetti Group, the world's biggest producer of superyachts, told Business Insider.

While many tech billionaires have bought yachts, the richest of the rich, like Bezos, Zuckerberg, and Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, have gone bigger. Their boats are virtual palaces at sea, decked with amenities like gyms, spas, pools, nightclubs, and movie theaters.

A look at these megayachts — broadly defined as over 70 meters long, mostly custom-built, and often costing nine figures — offers a glimpse into how the .00001% lives. It's something few others will ever get to experience. Even chartering a yacht of this size for a week typically costs upwards of $1 million.

One major thing that hundreds of millions of dollars can buy is privacy. There are likely yachts that have not been publicly recorded or registered — for example, Evan Spiegel is rumored to own the 94-meter megayacht Bliss. In an industry ruled by discretion , deciphering who owns what is typically an exercise in stringing together many clues.

Here are the largest yachts owned by tech billionaires, listed in order of length.

Jeff Bezos: Koru and Abeona

Amazon founder Bezos' $500 million megayacht, the 127-meter Koru, made a splash last year as she crisscrossed the Mediterranean in her first summer at sea, with her 75-meter support vessel Abeona in tow.

The sailing yacht, which is hard to miss thanks to her massive size and unique design, was host to Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez's famous friends . The couple held an engagement party on board, which reportedly drew guests including Bill Gates, Ari Emanuel, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Just a week later, they were seen on the streets of Dubrovnik, Croatia, with Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry, and Usher.

Even before her completion, Koru made headlines. She drew the ire of some Dutch people, who vowed to hurl eggs after she was announced a historic bridge in Rotterdam might be taken apart to allow the Oceanco boat through. Luckily, the shipyard made alternative plans, and an egg crisis was averted.

Among yacht world insiders , Koru is widely praised for her craftsmanship.

"I heard back in 2018 or something that somebody had ordered a classic sailing yacht," one superyacht expert told BI. "You order 125 meters, that's not really going to be classic. But it is. I think it's pretty cool."

Mark Zuckerberg: Launchpad

Earlier this year, the yacht world was rife with rumors that Zuckerberg purchased Launchpad, a 118-meter superyacht originally designed for a sanctioned Russian businessman.

The ship made her maiden voyage in March, going from Gibraltar to St. Maarten and mooring in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Little is known about her interior, but photos show a large swimming pool and helipad. Her price, too, has been kept under wraps but is said to be nine figures.

Eric Schmidt: Whisper

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt made waves last year when he agreed to buy the Alfa Nero , the yacht of a sanctioned Russian oligarch, for $67 million in an auction conducted by Antigua and Barbuda. But he backed out of the deal following legal issues over her true owner. He quietly purchased Kismet instead. The 95-meter-long Lürssen-built boat was formerly owned by the Jacksonville Jaguar's billionaire owner Shahid Khan . Schmidt renamed her Whisper.

The ship can fit 12 guests and a crew of 28, according to Moran Yacht & Ship, which oversaw her construction. She features a master deck with a private jacuzzi, full-service spa, lap pool, movie theater, and outdoor fireplace.

While her final sale price was not public, she was listed for 149 million euros (about $161 million at current exchange rates), and at a charity auction in January, one week aboard the ship went for $2.4 million, according to industry outlet Yacht Charter Fleet.

Barry Diller: Eos

Barry Diller , the chairman of digital media company IAC, co-owns the megayacht Eos with his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg , who is immortalized by a figurehead sculpture by Anh Duong.

One of the largest private sailing yachts in the world, the three-masted Lürssen schooner measures 93 meters long. She took three years to be built before being delivered to Diller in 2009, and since then, little has come to light about her interior and features.

The power couple has hosted many celebrities on the Eos, which spends her summers crisscrossing the Mediterranean and New Year ' s Eve in St. Barts . Over the years, guests have included Oprah Winfrey, Emma Thompson, Anderson Cooper, and Bezos, leading some to believe she provided inspiration for his Koru.

Jim Clark: Athena

Netscape founder Jim Clark purchased the 90-meter sailing yacht Athena in 2004.

"I could easily have built a 50- or 60-meter motor yacht that would have had the same space as Athena, but I was never really interested in building a motor yacht," he told Boat International in 2016. "To my eye, she's one of the most gorgeous large sailing yachts, maybe the most gorgeous large sailing yacht in the world."

Athena has room for 10 guests and 21 crewmembers, and the only change Clark says he'd make in her design is adding more space for his kids.

"If I was forced to change something, I would convert the office on the lower deck into a children's room," he said.

The former Stanford professor tried to sell her at various points — listing her for $95 million in 2012 , $69 million in 2016, and $59 million in 2017 — but she has yet to change hands.

Larry Ellison: Musashi

Oracle founder Larry Ellison has owned several superyachts over the years, including the Katana, the Ronin, and the Rising Sun — which he sold to fellow billionaire David Geffen .

He purchased his current boat, Musashi, in 2011 for a reported $160 million from custom-yacht giant Feadship.

Named after a famous samurai warrior, the 88-meter-long yacht has both Japanese and Art Deco-inspired design elements. She also boasts amenities including an elevator, swimming pool, beauty salon, gym, and basketball court.

Ellison is known for his extravagant spending — private islands, jets, a tennis tournament — and yachting is among his favorite and most expensive hobbies. He took up racing them in the 1990s and financed the America's Cup-winning BMW Oracle Racing team .

Laurene Powell Jobs: Venus

Steve Jobs' wife, investor and philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, inherited a nearly finished 78-meter yacht named Venus when the Apple cofounder died in 2011.

After spending years vacationing on Ellison's yachts, Jobs wanted one for himself. He designed Venus with French starchitect and decorator Philippe Starck , and she was worth $130 million at completion.

"Venus comes from the philosophy of minimum," Starck said of her design. "The elegance of the minimum, approaching dematerialization."

Jobs and Starck began working together in 2007, the designer told Vanity Fair , and held monthly meetings over four years. Venus was delivered in 2012 to Jobs' specification: six identical cabins, a design to ensure spaces of absolute silence, and the most up-to-date technology.

"There will never again be a boat of that quality again. Because never again will two madmen come together to accomplish such a task," Starck told the magazine. "It was not a yacht that Steve and I were constructing, we were embarked on a philosophical action, implemented according to a quasi-religious process. We formed a single brain with four lobes."

Charles Simonyi: Norn

Early Microsoft employee Charles Simonyi has purchased two megayachts from the German shipyard Lürssen: the 90-meter Norn and 71-meter Skat.

Delivered in 2023, Norn is full of luxe features, including an outdoor cinema and a pool floor that lifts to become a light-up dancefloor. She shares a militaristic style with Skat , which Simonyi sold in 2021.

Skats's name is derived from the Danish word for treasure, and she had a listing price of 56.5 million euros and was launched in 2002.

"The yacht is to be home away from my home in Seattle, and its style should match the style of the house, adapted for the practicalities of the sea," Simonyi once said .

Sergey Brin: Dragonfly

Google cofounder Sergey Brin has built a flotilla of yachts, boats, and toys known as the "Fly Fleet."

Named after a once-secret Google product , the largest of Brin's armada is the sleek Dragonfly , which boasts a movie theater and a helipad. The 73-meter-long vessel was built by the Australian shipyard Silver Yachts and can fit up to 18 guests and 16 crew members, according to SuperYacht Times.

Also in his fleet is the superyacht Butterfly, a mere 38 meters long. Often moored in the Bay Area, her crewmembers spend their downtime kitesurfing and giving swimming lessons to local kids.

The rest of his marine lineup includes a smaller boat called Firefly, as well as Jet Skis, foilboards, dinghies, and kiteboards. She takes a team of 50 full-time employees to manage, steer, and maintain the entire operation.

Sindhu Sundar contributed to an earlier version of this story.

Correction: May 6, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated Giovanna Vitelli's title. She is the chair of the Azimut Benetti Group, not a vice president.

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