super yachts of the rich

CNN Originals

Cnn’s alisyn camerota reports on “superyachts and the super rich” for the whole story with anderson cooper.

EPISODE PREMIERES SUNDAY, JANUARY 28 AT 8PM ET/PT

Promo:   https://youtu.be/z1VKpHkq054

NEW YORK, NY – (January 22, 2024) – The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper , a CNN Original, returns with an inside look into the exclusive and luxurious world of the ultra-wealthy at sea. “Superyachts and the Super Rich” premieres on Sunday, January 28 at 8pm ET/PT.

CNN Anchor/Correspondent Alisyn Camerota journeys to Monaco, the richest country in the world per capita, during the annual Monaco Yacht Show, one of the greatest concentrations of wealth in the world and a major annual event for the ten billion dollar a year yachting industry. Camerota tours some of the largest superyachts in existence and speaks to owners, captains, crew and industry leaders to examine the appeal of these floating islands, what it takes to build and maintain these symbols of extreme wealth, their environmental impact and the symbolism it holds for the world’s economic divide.

“Before this assignment, I couldn’t imagine the level of opulence and wealth we’d find – I’d never seen floors made of wood from a 16th Century monastery or wallpaper made of Italian leather,” said Camerota. “But what most surprised me was the universal desire for more – bigger, newer, more extravagant yachts – from the richest people in the world, telling us that even huge superyachts aren’t enough.”

In this episode, Camerota also reports on how superyachts are now a matter of geopolitical concern. As the U.S. and European countries seized more than a dozen vessels allegedly belonging to Russian oligarchs, leaving American taxpayers on the hook to shell out millions of dollars in maintenance and upkeep.

The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper is executive produced by Susan Chun.

The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps on Sunday, January 28. “Superyachts and the Super Rich” will also be available on demand beginning Monday, January 29 to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps, and Cable Operator Platforms. Past episodes of The Whole Story are available to stream on demand now on Max.

The Whole Story is also available as a CNN Audio showcast. Visit CNN.com/audio or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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10 of the most impressive superyachts owned by billionaires

From a sailing yacht owned by a russian billionaire industrialist to the luxury launch of the patek philippe ceo, here are the best billionaire-owned boats on the water….

Words: Jonathan Wells

There’s something about billionaires and big boats . Whether they’re superyachts or megayachts, men with money love to splash out on these sizeable sea-going giants. And that all began in 1954 — with the big dreams of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

Onassis, keen to keep his luxury lifestyle afloat when at sea, bought Canadian anti-submarine frigate HMCS Stormont after World War II. He spent millions turning it into an opulent super yacht, named it after his daughter — and the Christina O kicked off a trend among tycoons. To this day, the world’s richest men remain locked in an arms race to build the biggest, fastest, most impressive superyacht of all. Here are 10 of our favourites…

Eclipse, owned by Roman Abramovich

Built by: Blohm+Voss of Hamburg, with interiors and exteriors designed by Terence Disdale. Launched in 2009, it cost $500 million (the equivalent of £623 million today).

Owned by: Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, the owner of private investment company Millhouse LLC and owner of Chelsea Football Club. His current net worth is $17.4 billion.

Key features: 162.5 metres in length / 9 decks / Top speed of 22 knots / Two swimming pools / Disco hall / Mini submarine / 2 helicopter pads / 24 guest cabins

Sailing Yacht A, owned by Andrey Melnichenko

Built by: Nobiskrug, a shipyard on the Eider River in Germany. The original idea came from Jacques Garcia, with interiors designed by Philippe Starck and a reported price tag of over $400 million.

Owned by: Russian billionaire industrialist Andrey Melnichenko, the main beneficiary of both the fertiliser producing EuroChem Group and the coal energy company SUEK. Though his current net worth is $18.7 billion, Sailing Yacht A was seized in Trieste on 12 March 2022 due to the EU’s sanctions on Russian businessmen.

Key features: 119 metres in length / 8 decks / Top speed of 21 knots / Freestanding carbon-fibre rotating masts / Underwater observation pod / 14 guests

Symphony, owned by Bernard Arnault

Built by: Feadship, the fabled shipyard headquartered in Haarlem in The Netherlands. With an exterior designed by Tim Heywood, it reportedly cost around $150 million to construct.

Owned by: French billionaire businessman and art collector Bernard Arnault. Chairman and chief executive of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company, his current net worth is $145.8 billion.

Key features: 101.5 metres in length / 6 decks / Top speed of 22 knots / 6-metre glass-bottom swimming pool / Outdoor cinema / Sundeck Jacuzzi / 8 guest cabins

Faith, owned by Michael Latifi

Built by: Similarly to Symphony above, also Feadship. With exteriors designed by Beaulieu-based RWD, and interiors by Chahan Design, it cost a reported $200 million to construct in 2017.

Owned by: Until recently, Canadian billionaire and part-owner of the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team , Lawrence Stroll. Recently sold to Michael Latifi, father of F1 star Nicholas , a fellow Canadian businessman with a net worth of just under $2 billion.

Key features: 97 metres in length / 9 guest cabins / Glass-bottom swimming pool — with bar / Bell 429 helicopter

Amevi, owned by Lakshmi Mittal

Built by: The Oceanco shipyard, also in The Netherlands. With exterior design by Nuvolari & Lenard and interior design by Alberto Pinto, it launched in 2007 (and cost around $125 million to construct).

Owned by: Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company. He owns 20% of Queen Park Rangers, and has a net worth of $18 billion.

Key features: 80 metres in length / 6 decks / Top speed of 18.5 knots / On-deck Jacuzzi / Helipad / Swimming Pool / Tender Garage / 8 guest cabins

Odessa II, owned by Len Blavatnik

Built by: Nobiskrug, the same German shipyard that built Sailing Yacht A . Both interior and exterior were created by Focus Yacht Design, and the yacht was launched in 2013 with a cost of $80 million.

Owned by: British businessman Sir Leonard Blavatnik. Founder of Access Industries — a multinational industrial group with current holdings in Warner Music Group, Spotify and the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat — he is worth $39.9 billion.

Key features: 74 metres in length / 6 guest cabins / Top speed of 18 knots / Intimate beach club / Baby grand piano / Private master cabhin terrace / Outdoor cinema

Nautilus, owned by Thierry Stern

Built by: Italian shipyard Perini Navi in 2014. With interiors by Rémi Tessier and exterior design by Philippe Briand, Nautilus was estimated to cost around $90 million to construct.

Owned by: Patek Philippe CEO Thierry Stern. Alongside his Gulstream G650 private jet, Nautilus — named for the famous sports watch — is his most costly mode of transport. His current net worth is $3 billion.

Key features: 73 metres in length / 7 guest cabins / Top speed of 16.5 knots / Dedicated wellness deck / 3.5 metre resistance pool / Underfloor heating / Jet Skis

Silver Angel, owned by Richard Caring

Built by: Luxury Italian boatbuilder Benetti. Launched in 2009, the yacht’s interior has been designed by Argent Design and her exterior styling is by Stefano Natucci.

Owned by: Richard Caring, British businessman and multi-millionaire (his wealth peaked at £1.05 billion, so he still makes the cut). Chairman of Caprice Holdings, he owns The Ivy restaurants.

Key features: 64.5 metres in length / Cruising speed of 15 knots / 7 guest cabins / Lalique decor / 5 decks / Oval Jacuzzi pool / Sun deck bar / Aft deck dining table

Lady Beatrice, owned by Frederick Barclay

Built by: Feadship and Royal Van Lent in 1993. Exteriors were created by De Voogt Naval Architects, with interiors by Bannenberg Designs. She cost the equivalent of £63 million to build.

Owned by: Sir David Barclay and his late brother Sir Frederick. The ‘Barclay Brothers’ had joint business pursuits including The Spectator , The Telegraph and delivery company Yodel. Current net worth: £7 billion.

Key features: 60 metres in length / 18 knots maximum speed / Monaco home port / Named for the brothers’ mother, Beatrice Cecelia Taylor / 8 guest cabins

Space, owned by Laurence Graff

Built by: Space was the first in Feadship’s F45 Vantage series , styled by Sinot Exclusive Yacht Design and launched in 2007. She cost a reported $25 million to construct.

Owned by: Laurence Graff, English jeweller and billionaire businessman. As the founder of Graff Diamonds, he has a global business presence and a current net worth of $6.26 billion.

Key features: 45 metres in length / Top speed of 16 knots / Al fresco dining area / Sun deck Jacuzzi / Breakfast bar / Swimming platform / Steam room

Want more yachts? Here’s the handcradfted, homegrown history of Princess…

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Most Expensive

The 20 most expensive yachts in the world.

What are the most expensive yachts in the world?

If you have a passion for sailing or can appreciate the engineering masterpieces mentioned below, then this is an article for you. 

To be able to afford even afford the cheapest superyacht on our list, your net worth will need to be in the hundreds of millions, if not, billions range!

Here’s a list of the 20 most expensive yachts in the world…  

Table of Contents

The list of yachts and figures mentioned below have been compiled from various sources around the web, such as Luxhabitat , List25 and Unilad . 

These are the 20 most expensive yachts in the world:  

20. Lionheart – $150 Million

Sir Philip Green kicks off the list with his 207-foot behemoth, Lionheart.

The British retail billionaire commissioned Italian shipbuilding company, Benetti, to build his superyacht.

The boat has six VIP rooms, several private balconies and was finished in 2016.

Lionheart has had many famous faces walking its decks, including Kate Moss , Simon Cowell and Cristiano Ronaldo .

19. Aviva – $150 Million

British billionaire Joe Lewis’s superyacht comes in at number nineteen at a cool $150 million.

His boat has a full-size tennis court and is thought to house some of his most precious and expensive art pieces, including Picasso.

When he’s not spending time in his Bahamas residence, Joe spends several months a year aboard Aviva and his other three superyachts.

18. Solandge – $180 Million

Next up, we have the $180 million dollar superyacht built by Lurssen. 

In 2017, the Solandge was the highest brokerage and is available to rent for around $1.1 million a week.

The 280-foot yacht has eight VIP suites, a grand piano and a glass art installation by Murano.

17. Ecstasea – $200 Million

Built by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in 2004, Ecstasea was the largest Feadship ever built.

The yacht is made of steel and is approximately 85.95 metres long and has a beam of 11.50 metres. This means it has a deadweight of 585 metric tons!

Ecstasea comfortably sleeps 14 passengers and has won multiple design awards for its stunning interior.

16. The Rising Sun – $200 Million

The Rising Sun was designed by Jon Bannenberg and built by Lürssen in 2004 for Larry Ellison .

It has 82 rooms over five floors, a basketball court, wine cellar and a movie theatre.

From 2010 it has been owned by David Geffen and is the 12th largest superyacht in the world, measuring 138 metres.

The Rising Sun cost $200 million to build and has since had even more money spent on luxury fixtures and fittings.

15. Octopus – $200 Million 

Designed and built in 2003 for Microsoft Co-founder, Paul Allen, Octopus has one hell of a lavish interior.

It has a large study, basketball court, recording studio, an outside bar with a whirlpool and a glass bottom swimming pool.

Octopus sleeps up to 26 guests and 56 crew members at any one time and comes equipped with two submarines and two helipads. 

14. Lady Moura – $210 Million

The next most expensive superyacht in the world is Lady Moura.

Lady Moura is owned by Saudi Arabian businessman Nasser Al-Rashid, who’s also an advisor to the Saudi Royal family.

The yacht comes with some very impressive features, such as a pool with a retractable roof, a helicopter and 24 karat gold lettering and embellishments throughout.

If that wasn’t enough, Lady Moura also features a unique sand-covered hydraulic platform that comes out of one side, to give guests a beach-like experience in the middle of the ocean.

13. Al Mirqab – $250 Million 

Al Mirqab is owned by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani, the former Prime Minister of Qatar.

The yacht has 10 bedrooms, a helipad, a swimming pool, a selection of VIP suites, an onboard cinema, jacuzzi and a variety of watersports equipment.

After it was completed in 2008, it was dubbed the second most beautiful yacht in the world.

It can accommodate up to 24 guests and comfortably house crew members in its 55 crew cabins.

12. Dilbar – $256 Million

Number twelve is Russian owned superyacht, Dilbar.

It belongs to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, and he’s often seen using Dilbar to cruise around his private islands.

As well as being one of the most expensive yachts in the world, it’s also one of the largest – measuring a colossal 360ft in length and just over 50ft high.

It was built in 2008 by Lürssen Yachts and was named after Alisher’s mother.

Dilbar has one helipad, several swimming pools and accommodates 20 guests and 48 cabin crew.

11. Pelorus – $300 Million

Pelorus was built by Lürssen in 2003 and bought by Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich in 2004.

Since then, Pelorus has changed hands a few times and is now owned by HongKong based billionaire, Samuel Tak Lee.

Pelorus is 115 meters long and weighs a staggering 5517 tonnes.

As well as all the normal luxuries you’d expect to find onboard a superyacht of this calibre, she also comes equipped with two helipads, landing boats and jet skis.

She accommodates a full-time crew of 46, year round.

10. Serene – $300 Million

The tenth most expensive yacht in the world is the 439-foot, Serene.

Built-in 2011 by Fincantieri, for Russian billionaire Yuri Scheffler, Serene is has been one of the favourite rental yachts for the mega-rich, reportedly costing celebrities like Bill Gates around million a week!

It was purchased in 2015 by Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and sleeps around 24 guests and 52 crew members.

It comes with multiple swimming pools, two helipads, a submarine, and an amazing underwater viewing room!

9. Al Said – $300 Million

The next mega yacht on the list is owned by and named after the Sultan of Oman, Qaboos Bin Said Al Said.

Built between 2007-2008, little else is known about the Al Said, other than it has a large concert hall that’s big enough to house a 50-piece orchestra.

Also, it can host up to 70 guests, sleep a crew of 154 and reach around 22 knots!

8. Radiant – $320 Million

Built by Lürssen in 2009, Radiant is owned by Emirate Billionaire Abdulla Al Futtaim.

The superyacht is roughly 110 meters long, weighs approximately 5027 gross tons and sleeps up to 20 guests and 44 crew members.

She comes with multiple swimming pools, a helipad, a massage room, a swimming platform, a movie theatre, a gym and a jacuzzi.

The Radiant is also equipped with a highly powerful water cannon to defend herself from pirate attacks!

7. Dubai – $400 Million

Dubai is owned by the Sheik of Dubai, Mohammed Rashid al-Maktoum.

Some of its features include jacuzzis, a swimming pool with handmade tiles, a helipad and a striking circular glass staircase which changes colour when lit from above.

Dubai also houses a split-level owner’s deck, several VIP and social areas, guest suites and a crew of up to 115 people.

6. Motor Yacht A – $440 Million 

This very impressive looking 390-foot superyacht was built by Blohm + Voss shipyard and launched in 2008.

It’s thought to be owned by Andrey Melnichenko, a Russian billionaire businessman and philanthropist.

Motor Yacht A can accommodate 14 guests and 42 crew members and is around 400 feet long.

It features a 2,500 sqft master bedroom, a disco, a helicopter hanger, a separate 30-foot speedboat and a glass-bottomed swimming pool.

Awesome! 

5. Topaz – $527 Million

Coming in at number five is this stunning Lürssen built superyacht, Topaz.

She was built for Abu Dhabi tycoon, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Germany and launched in 2012.

The exterior was designed by Tim Heywood and Terrance Disdale Design did the interior.

It has a large jacuzzi on the main deck, a swimming pool, double helicopter landing pads and a state-of-the-art gym, cinema and conference room.

4. Azzam – $600 Million

This 590-foot megayacht is the world’s largest yacht to date.

Its owned by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nayan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Emir of Abu Dhabi.

Lürssen Yachts are the ones behind this mega build. Azzam has its very own missile defence system, a bullet-proof master suite and can reach speeds of more than 30 knots, or 35mph, making it one of the fastest yachts on the planet!

3. Streets of Monaco – $1 Billion

The first billion-dollar yacht on our list is the “Streets of Monaco”.

By far one of the most impressive and expensive yachts in the world, once finished, the Streets of Monaco is going to be a 509-foot mega yacht, designed to feature miniature versions of some of Monaco’s and Monte Carlos most renowned landmarks.

The finished superyacht will include a go-kart circuit, three swimming pools, a mini-submarine a helipad, seven guest suites, a mini waterfall and a restaurant that with a fabulous underwater view.

2. Eclipse – $1.5 Billion 

The second most expensive yacht in the world, Eclipse, is owned by Roman Abramovich.

The Russian billionaire has spared no expense when it comes to his superyacht.

He’s installed a private defence system, including missile detection sensors, intruder alarms and armour plating and bulletproof windows in his master bedroom. 

On top of that, Eclipse has two helipads, two swimming pools, 24 guest bedrooms, a disco hall and a mini-submarine.

It’s unclear how much Eclipse actually cost, but it is believed to be in the region of $1.5 billion!

1. History Supreme – $4.8 Billion

Topping the list of the most expensive superyachts in the world at an eye-watering $4.8 billion is History Supreme.

This magnificent accomplishment is built from 10,000 kilograms of solid gold and platinum and is 100-foot long.

It was designed by Stuart Huges, a world-renowned luxury designer, for Malaysia’s richest man, Robert Knok. The History Supreme took roughly three years to build and features an array of luxury items.

The master bedroom includes a genuine Tyrannosaurus Rex bone statue and a wall made entirely of meteorite rocks!

If that wasn’t enough, the master suite also has a 24-carat gold Aquavista Panoramic Wall Aquarium.

We hope you enjoyed our list of the 20 most expensive yachts in the world.

How cool would it be to spend a few months a year cruising the world on one of these bad boys!

Here’s a quick recap of the 20 most expensive yachts in the world!

• History Supreme – $4.8 Billion
• Eclipse – $1.5 Billion
• Streets of Monaco – $1 Billion
• Azzam – $600 Million
• Topaz – $527 Million
• Motor Yacht A – $440 Million 
• Dubai – $400 Million
• Radiant – $320 Million
• Al Said – $300 Million
• Serene – $300 Million
• Pelorus – $300 Million
• Dilbar – $256 Million
• Al Mirqab – $250 Million
• Lady Moura – $210 Million
• Octopus – $200 Million 
• The Rising Sun – $200 Million
• Exstasea – $200 Million
• Solandge – $180 Million
• Aviva – $150 Million
• Lionheart – $150 Million

What’s your favourite most expensive yacht? Leave a comment below.

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The 10 Most Expensive Guitars in the World

Matt McIntyre is a digital marketing consultant and certified marketing strategist. When he's not talking about business or marketing, you'll find him in the gym.

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The 20 Most Expensive Tequilas in the World

What are the most expensive tequilas in the world?

Tequila is one of the most popular liquors in the world and, in the United States alone, nearly 20 million 9-liter cases are consumed every year!

Whether you’re drinking it neat or mixing it into a margarita, you probably have a favorite brand that you know tastes great.

However, some brands can get incredibly expensive, and it is these tequilas that we are counting down today.

How did we select this list of tequilas?

We’ve put over 10 hours of research into re-writing and updating this list for 2024.

The tequilas on this list were selected by taking the current average sale price, at the time of writing.

Prices for rare tequila can vary depending on where they’re listed for sale; so for each tequila on this list, we checked the price across multiple websites and settled on the average.

Next comes the question, when does tequila stop being tequila, and start being artwork?

If you’re a fan of tequila you can probably think of at least one brand that treats their bottles as artwork.

These bottles can often be worth thousands, but is it all just similar tequila in a fancy and unique bottle?

We’ve decided we’re not going to be the judge of what’s tequila and what’s artwork, so what you see on this list reflects a true order, based on price per bottle.

The 2 Most Expensive Tequilas in the World

Tequila is a very versatile liquor and there is no shortage of varieties you can find at your local store.

That said, some of these tequilas are reserved for only the most wealthy buyers, and you certainly won’t want to drink them on a casual night out.

Without further ado, here’s our list of the 20 most expensive tequilas money can buy:

20. 1800 Coleccion Tequila

Price/Bottle: $2,000

This unique expensive tequila gets its name from the year that distillers started using oak barrels for aging, and it is owned by the insanely wealthy Beckmann family.

Distilled twice during its 10-year aging process, this tequila has a flavor reminiscent of Amaretto, but with a bolder kick that reminds you that it’s tequila.

For $2,000, this tequila comes in its own crystal decanter trimmed with pewter and securely placed in a lavish case lined with suede to protect its precious contents.

It doesn’t get much more high-end than that!

19. Barrique de Ponciano Porfidio

Price/Bottle: $2,200

Made from 100% agave, Barrique de Ponciano Porfidio is a luxury tequila that has been aged for 10 years in French oak barrels and it is limited to special batches of only 2,000 bottles per year.

While its purity does impact this tequila’s price, the bottle that it comes in also makes it more expensive.

Each bottle comes with lettering and images engraved with one of the most expensive precious metals in the world, 21-karat gold.

It definitely looks and tastes every bit worth its hefty price tag.

18. Clase Azul Extra Añejo Ultra

Price/Bottle: $2,500

The first Clase Azul product to appear on this list is the only one in regular production and not a limited edition.

Clase Azul’s extra anejo ultra is aged for 5 years in American whiskey and sherry casks.

The bottle is decorated in platinum, silver, and 24-karat gold.

You can expect to pay around $2,500 a bottle for this tequila.

17. AsomBroso Reserva del Porto Extra Anejo

Price/Bottle: $2800

This brandy-like tequila is the type of drink that you break out during life’s greatest milestones.

Aged for 10 years in port wine barrels from Portugal, it is mixed with a small portion of white oak-aged tequila before being bottled.

Stored in a bottle shaped like a historical decanter found in an eighteenth-century Portuguese castle, it even comes secured in its own cedar humidor.

Although this tequila usually costs $2,800, you can sometimes get lucky and find it on sale for $1,499, which is honestly a great price, all things considered.

16. AsomBroso The Collaboration 12 Year Extra Anejo

Price/Bottle: $3,000

AsomBroso’s The Collaboration is an extra anejo tequila, aged 12 years in Silver Oak Cellar’s American casks.

The tequila is bottled inside a crystal decanter hand-made by Luciano Gambaro, a famous Italian artist.

The decanter is then packaged in a custom-polished humidor with laser engraving.

A single bottle might set you back $3,000, but there are places where you might be able to get your hands on one for cheaper.

15. Tesla Tequila Limited Edition Anejo

Price/Bottle: $4,000

It does seem that Elon Musk can do no wrong. 

Tesla Tequila started as an April Fool’s joke but quickly became a physical product that sold out immediately.

For the limited edition variant, only 420 bottles were produced, a number that jokingly references a time when Musk said he was going to take Tesla private at $420 a share.

The numbered limited edition variant with matching shot glass is currently selling for around $4,000, whilst the regular variant can fetch up to $1,500.

14. Codigo 1530 14 Year Extra Anejo

Price/Bottle: $4,500

Codigo’s 1530 extra Añejo has been aged inside French White Oak Napa Valley Cabernet wine barrels for 14 years and then finished in French Cognac casks.

This is Codigo’s most expensive tequila they’ve ever produced.

A single bottle is now worth $4,500.

13. Clase Azul Pink Limited Edition Reposado

Price/Bottle: $6,000

This isn’t the first Clase Azul tequila featured on this list, and it definitely won’t be the last.

The ‘Pink’ limited edition reposado was originally released in 2016 for breast cancer awareness, with a percentage of the proceeds being donated to charity.

Just 3000 bottles of the original 2016 version were produced, featuring a white bottle hand-painted with pink artwork.

There have since been one or two other ‘Pink’ breast cancer awareness releases from Clase Azul.

12. Patron Limited Edition En Lalique Serie 3

Price/Bottle: $7,500

Patron’s En Lalique Serie line the creme de la creme of their tequila. 

Whatever we have here is the Serie 3, their latest release, but it’s the least expensive of the three.

The Serie 3 contains a blend of 14 different extra anejo tequilas, aged in 6 different barrel types.

Held in a crystal hand-carved decanter, with decoration inspired by the Weber Blue Agave.

The decanter is stored inside a luxurious wooden box.

Each decanter is numbered, and given the fact that this is Patron’s latest release, you can expect the Serie 3’s price to rise over the next few years.

11. Patron Limited Edition En Lalique Serie 1 Extra Anejo

Price/Bottle: $8000

Patron’s En Lalique Serie 1 uses some of their oldest tequila, presented in a hand-made decanter inspired by Mexico’s Weber Blue Agave plant, topped off with an amber stopper.

Although this bottle cost $8,000, it’s not their most expensive tequila. 

Patron went one step further for their next tequila, but more on that shortly.

10. Dos Armadillos Extra Anejo Sterling Silver

Price/Bottle: $10,000

The Dos Armadillos Extra Anejo uses only an 8-year mature Blue Weber Agave.

The tequila is bottled in their signature armadillo-armored bottle, however, the armor for this edition is made entirely out of sterling silver.

$10,000 is the current price to pick up one of these bottles, a number that’s far more expensive than any other product in their range.

9. Clase Azul Puebla Limited Edition

The Clase Azul Puebla limited edition tequila was released on the 5th of May 2021, to commemorate Cinco de Mayo, or the Battle of Puebla.

Cinco de Mayo is a yearly celebration held on the 5th of May to celebrate Mexico’s victory over the Second French Empire in 1862.

Just 300 bottles were produced and sold with a price tag of $400.

If you wished to purchase a bottle of Puebla Limited Edition today, the price would be more along the lines of $10,000.

8. Clase Azul Dia de Muertos Limited Edition

The Dia de Los Muertos collection from Clase Azul features several individual releases, but with most of them fetching similar prices, we’ve decided to include them in one single entry.

Dia de Muertos, or ‘The Day of the Dead’ as it’s otherwise known, is a traditional Mexican holiday celebrated during November. 

Clase Azul has released a new edition within the Dia de Muertos line annually for the past several years.

Some of the bottle designs for the Dia de Muertos range are spectacular and tend to rise in value once they are no longer produced.

7. Patron Limited Edition En Lalique Serie 2 Extra Anejo

Price/Bottle: $10,500

Patron’s En Lalique Serie 2 is aged and made slowly in small batches to ensure perfect quality.

The bottle is carved crystal, featuring a crystal bee stopper with hand-painted gold accents.

It’s then placed inside a wooden box that spins to open, creating a rather luxurious effect.

We’ve seen prices ranging from $8,000 to $12,000 for this bottle, so if you’re patient you might be able to get it at a good price.

6. Clase Azul Master Artisans

Price/Bottle: $20,000

Clase Azul’s most popular and iconic tequila is their resposado tequila, housed in a blue and white bottle.

In 2021, the brand collaborated with the award-winning artist, Ángel Santos to create a hand-crafted, limited edition resposado.

The ‘Master Artisans’ line aims to highlight the work of Mexico’s most talented artists.

The Ángel Santos edition, which at launch sold for $5,000 a bottle , can now reach up to $20,000.

5. Clase Azul Jalisco 200 Limited Edition

Price/Bottle: $25,000

The Clase Azul Jalisco is an extra anejo tequila, named after Jalisco, a state in Mexico.

As the name might also suggest, only 200 bottles of this limited-edition tequila were distilled.

The tequila comes packaged inside a custom-built wooden box, which opens to reveal a drinking glass on either side.

With just 200 bottles released, getting your hands on one of these bottles isn’t cheap.

4. Clase Azul 15th Anniversary Edition

Price/bottle: $30,000.

The Clase Azul celebrated its 15th anniversary by releasing 15 limited edition bottles priced at $30,000 each.

Each of the unique bottles was handcrafted to convey the story of Mexico and all proceeds from the sale of these bottles were donated to the Fundacion con Causa Azul A.C, which supports the work of craftsmen and artisans in Mexico.

Although this tequila is no longer available for sale, we imagine that Clase Azul will release another special edition for a future anniversary, so if you want to grab a bottle, be sure to keep your eyes peeled.

3. Jose Cuervo 250 Aniversario The Rolling Stones Special Edition

Price/Bottle: $75,000

Jose Cuervo was the very first legal tequila company to be established, with the company’s history dating back to 1795 .

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Case Cuervo, Jose Cuervo released the 250 Anniversario tequila.

They also released a limited edition of the tequila, in collaboration with the Rolling Stones rock band.

The Jose Cuervo brand played a leading role in the Rolling Stones’ 1972 North American tour, ‘Tequila Sunrise’.

For the Rolling Stones special edition, the tequila bottle is embossed with the famous ‘Hot Lips’ logo in 14-carat gold, and spikes along the sides.

It also comes packaged in a leather guitar-shaped case, including seven shot glasses.

The tequila was initially released with a price tag of just $4,000, but prices have skyrocketed to almost $75,000 since then.

2. Tequila Ley .925 Ultra-Premium

Price/Bottle: $225,000

In 2006, the artists at Tequila Ley designed three unique bottles to contain the tequila designed by Mexican artist Alejandro Gomez.

Each bottle was only created 33 times, for a total of 99 bottles, each more expensive than the last.

While this tequila in a glass bottle retails for $3,500, the gold and silver bottle goes for $25,000, and the gold and platinum for $150,000.

The most expensive of all was the white gold and platinum, which carried the insane price tag of $225,000!

Although the tequila itself is delectable, the real stars are the bottles that collectors and tequila enthusiasts scrambled to try and grab while they lasted.

1. Tequila Ley .925 Diamante

Price/Bottle: $3.5 Million

Recorded as the most expensive tequila ever sold by a mile, the .925 Diamante is a true work of art.

The Ley .925 Diamante tequila is made from 100% Blue Weber agave, which is grown in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico.

The tequila is then aged for 7 years inside French Oak barrels before being poured into a platinum and white gold version of Tequila Ley’s signature-shaped bottle.

However, none of these things truly account for the Diamante’s insane price tag.

As the name might suggest, the bottle is encrusted with 4000 diamonds, amounting to a total of 18.5 carats.

Now that we’ve come to the end of the list, you might have noticed a common theme.

Clase Azul had the most entries on this list, holding seven positions in the top 20.

This is largely due to the fact they treat their bottles as artwork, often showcasing hand-painted art in limited edition releases.

That’s not to take away from their tequila, but to say that their unique approach is very popular among collectors and tequila enthusiasts alike.

Here’s a quick recap of the 20 most expensive tequilas in the world:

• Tequila Ley .925 Diamante
• Tequila Ley .925 Ultra-Premium
• Jose Cuervo 250 Aniversario The Rolling Stones Special Edition
• Clase Azul 15th Anniversary Edition
• Clase Azul Jalisco 200 Limited Edition
• Clase Azul Tequila Master Artisans
• Patron Limited Edition En Lalique Serie 2 Extra Anejo
• Clase Azul Dia de Los Muertos Limited Edition
• Clase Azul Puebla Limited Edition Tequila
• Dos Armadillos Sterling Silver Extra Anejo
• Patron Limited Edition En Lalique Serie 1 Extra Anejo
• Patron Limited Edition En Lalique Serie 3
• Clase Azul Pink Limited Edition Reposado
• Codigo 1530 Fourteen Years Extra Anejo
• Tesla Tequila Anejo
• Asombroso The Collaboration 12 Year Extra Anejo
• AsomBroso Reserva del Porto Extra Anejo
• Clase Azul Extra Añejo Ultra
• Barrique de Ponciano Porfidio
• 1800 Coleccion Tequila

Are there any tequilas we missed out from the list? Leave a comment below.

The 25 most expensive cigars in the world.

What are the most expensive cigars in the world?

Cigars have risen in price rapidly over the past two decades.

They’re associated with luxury and wealth more than ever before, and cigar aficionados are constantly looking for rare and exclusive cigars to add to their collections.

This begs the question: how expensive can cigars be, and how difficult could it be to get your hands on the rarest of the rare?

Today we’re bringing you our updated list of the most expensive cigars in the world.

How did we select this list of cigars?

One of the issues with many expensive cigar lists on the internet, including the original version of our own, is how the cigar values are calculated.

For instance, there was once an auction for a very rare box of cigars that sold for more than half a million dollars, but the box consisted of almost 800 cigars. More details on that are below.

We’ve decided to thoroughly calculate the price/stick for each of the entries on this list, so you can have a clearer understanding of exactly which cigars are the most expensive in the world.

Whilst it may be difficult to obtain some of these cigars individually, assuming you’d want to obtain them of course, we think this is the best way of ranking the list.

Another thing we decided to take into account is limited edition releases which are packaged in custom humidors instead of regular boxes.

These humidors can often cost thousands of dollars alone, and end up distorting the price of the cigar.

Can people still buy these cigars?

Most of the cigars featured on this list can still be bought and smoked to this day. 

Many of them are limited edition lines and are likely harder to find than most cigars.

What exactly makes some cigars more expensive than others?

Typically, there are a few things that can factor into cigar price:

• Limited edition productions
• Aged tobacco
• Brand recognition

Limited edition productions can often limit the total number of cigars produced, and as time passes the number of those remaining drops.

A lot of rare cigar releases also use aged tobacco leaves, and you’ll see several brands on this list that age their tobacco for at least 10 years before the cigar is rolled.

Brand recognition also plays a part as particular brands such as Cohiba are always sought after.

Finally, if none of the above results in a cigar being expensive, there are a select few who will cover cigars in gold leaf, and diamonds, and infuse them with expensive cognac.

But more on that later.

The 25 Most Expensive Cigars

We’ve done countless hours of research to ensure that our updated version of this list is the best resource available.

Without further ado, let’s get into this list of the 25 most expensive cigars in the world:

25. El Septimo The Zaya Collection (Mirifico Sapphire)

Price/Stick: $100

The Zaya Collection, produced by El Septimo, contains 8 different varieties of cigars.

Each variety contains five different filler tobaccos, with the tobacco leaves aged up to 15 years.

Typically, each cigar features are larger ring gauge of around 60, due to the variety of filler leaves used.

Whilst the cigars within this collection have very different flavor profiles from one another, the prices/stick are relatively similar.

At the time of researching this article, we’ve included the variety selling for the most, which is Mirifico Sapphire, at $100/stick.

Other varieties within the collection include:

• Bomba Orange
• Short Dream Topaz
• Kolosso Amethyst
• Fabuloso Dark Ruby
• Excepcion Esmerelda
• Double Shot White
• Bullet Black

24. Arturo Fuente Opus X 20th Anniversary

Price/Stick: $115

Arturo Fuente has long been known for their high-quality cigars, and their Opus X range contains some of the most sought-after cigars in the brand’s history.

The Opus X line was created in 1995 and in 2016 Fuente released the ‘Opus X 20th Anniversary’ edition to commemorate 20 years of the Opus X.

The ’20th Anniversary’ line contained four cigars:

• Father & Son
• God’s Whisper
• Power of A Dream

The prices do vary between each variety, however, because the ‘God’s Whisper’ variety comes in a ‘Perfecto’ size it tends to be sold for higher prices than the rest of the line.

23. Cohiba Spectre 2023

Price/Stick: $130

The Spectre line from Cohiba was initially introduced in 2018 and cost $90 per stick.

Separate versions of the Cohiba Spectre have since been released annually, with the most expensive being the Spectre 2023.

The 2023 Spectre is limited to 600 boxes of 10 cigars, featuring a 52 ring gauge and 6 1/2 inches in length.

What’s most interesting about the release is the packaging, which differs somewhat from most cigars, including that of Cohiba.

The cigars are stored in a box that opens vertically, featuring a hydraulic system that elevates the tubed cigars when you press the ‘O’ button inside the Cohiba logo.

22. Davidoff Royal Release Salamones

Price/Stick: $150

To be qualified enough to roll the Royal Release Salamones, Davidoff makes sure you have more than 15 years of experience rolling cigars.

This cigar is only rolled by 8 different people who together have rolled over 7 million cigars.

The Royal Release Salmones takes 10 years to grow from tobacco seed to finished product and is sold in boxes of 10 for $1,500.

21. Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 Reserva Cosecha 2012

Price/Stick: $181

The Epicure No. 2 is one of Hoyo de Monterrey’s signature cigars.

In 2016, Habanos SA announced the release of the No. 2 Reserva Cosecha 2012.

This blend only uses tobacco leaves from 2012, aged for a minimum of three years.

With just 5000 boxes of 20 cigars produced, this cigar is bound to increase in value with time.

20. Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas Gran Reserva Cosecha 2013

Price/Stick: $200

Here we have another Hoyo de Monterrey ‘Reserva’ release, the Double Coronas Gran Reserva Cosecha 2013.

Typically, Gran Reserva lines are more sought after than regular Reserva series, due to the difference in tobacco aging.

Reserva cigar blends use tobacco leaves that are aged for a minimum of three years.

Whereas Gran Reserva blends use tobacco leaves aged for a minimum of 5 years.

Gran Reservas are also produced with only 15 sticks per box, instead of the usual 20.

19. Cohiba Siglo De Oro (Year of the Rabbit)

Price/Stick: $250

In 2023, Cohiba announced the release of the Siglo De Oro, to commemorate both the Chinese ‘Year of the Rabbit’, and also the 30th anniversary of the Siglo series.

Naturally, people across China, Hong Kong, and various other countries in Asia were the first to see these cigars unveiled.

Only 18,888 boxes of the Siglo De Oro will be produced.

That number might sound oddly specific, and it is indeed no coincidence, as the number 8 is lucky in Chinese culture.

The Siglo De Oro is a 54 ring gauge, 4 1/2 inch long cigar, sold in boxes of 18.

  18. H. Upmann Sir Winston Gran Reserva Cosecha 2011

Price/Stick: $260

H. Upmann is one of the oldest cigar brands in the world, with history going all the way back to 1843.

The Sir Winston Gran Reserva Cosecha is of course named after the legendary Sir Winston Churchill , who was known not only for being one of the most important prime ministers in British history; but also for his love of cigars.

The Gran Reserve line was launched by H. Upmann in 2009, and in 2011 the Sir Winston edition was released.

Just 5000 boxes of 15 cigars were produced, for a total of 75,000 cigars.

17. Partagas Serie E No.1 Colección Habanos 2013

Price/stick: $280.

The Serie E No. 1 Colección Habanos 2013 from Partagas appears 18th on our list of the most expensive cigars.

With this particular cigar now being over 10 years old, its price has risen heavily.

You can still find this cigar for sale in the USA for roughly $280 per stick, however, prices do vary.

16. Hoyo De Monterrey Maravillas Collection 2015

Price/stick: $290.

The most expensive Hoyo de Monterrey cigar is the Maravillas Collection 2015.

There were just 2000 boxes of 20 cigars produced, amounting to a total of 40,000 cigars.

Given the smaller production number in comparison to the other Hoyo de Monterrey’s featured on this list, you can expect to pay $290/stick for this cigar.

15. Cohiba Behike Series

Price/Stick $300

Cohiba Behikes are one of the most popular and sought-after cigars in the world.

Behike cigars are known for their full-strength flavor and quality, provided you can get your hands on the authentic product.

They’re sold in three different ring gauges: 52, 54, and 56.

These sizes are represented in their names respectively: Behike 52, Behike 54, and Behike 56.

The Cohiba Behike cigars are sold in 10-count boxes and increase in price depending on their size.

14. Oliva Serie V Roaring Twenties Super Limited Edition

Oliva Cigar Co. are well known for producing cigars that provide a great smoking experience for a great value.

However, in 2023 they decided to do something a little different.

The most popular line of Oliva cigars is the ‘Series V’, and last year they announced a new Series V Roaring Twenties Super Limited Edition.

When we take a look at the average price of an Oliva cigar, we can see a price of around $10, so what’s different?

The packaging is the most notable difference, with the Roaring Twenties SLE cigars being placed in boxes produced by Daniel Marshall.

Half of the cigars (the top layer) are also covered in gold foil.

In addition, there will only ever be 300 boxes created, for a total of 3000 cigars.

13. Trinidad Casilda Coleccion Habanos 2019

Price/stick: $370.

As you may have already noticed, Habanos limited edition collections can become incredibly expensive.

The Trinidad Casilda 2019 is another edition within the Coleccion Habanos with only 3000 boxes being produced.

This cigar once again features the traditional book-shaped box packaging as with any ‘Coleccion Habanos’ release.

Getting your hands on a single stick could cost up to $370.

12. Daniel Marshall 24KT Golden Gigante

Price/Stick: $395

Continuing both the obsession with gold and also the story of Daniel Marshall brings us to the next cigar on our list.

For those who are unaware of Daniel Marshall ; he’s a well-known figure within the cigar industry for his work with manufacturing custom humidors.

In 2011, Marshall decided to create a 24KT gold cigar for his friend’s 64th birthday. 

Marshall then produced a limited run of the cigar which would be packaged in a custom-signed travel humidor.

The 24kt cigar comes in two sizes, Torpedo and Gigante, with the Gigante size being the more expensive of the two.

Its base is that of the DM2 cigar, also sold by Daniel Marshall, which is rolled and sold to him by the Plasencia factory.

Daniel then covers the cigar with a thin layer of gold leaf from Italy.

  11. Montecristo Gran Piramides Limited Edition 2017

Price/Stick: $400 

Montecristo is one of the most popular cigar brands in the world, and one of their most expensive cigars is the Gran Piramides Limited Edition from 2017.

The Gran Piramides are part of the ‘Coleccion Habanos’, which come packaged in a box that’s shaped to look like a book.

At its core, the Gran Piramides are a Montecristo No. 2 that has been increased in size for this limited collection.

This cigar has a length of 6.25 inches and a ring gauge of 57, while Montecristo No. 2’s are a 52 ring gauge, and slightly shorter in length.

Only 2000 boxes of the Gran Piramides 2017 were produced by Habanos SA.

10. Partagas Lusitanias Gran Reserva Cosecha 2007

Price/Stick: $430

Continuing with another Habanos SA-produced cigar, the 2007 Gran Reserva Lusitanias from Partagas is our 11th most expensive cigar.

Just 5000 boxes of 15 cigars were produced, resulting in a total count of 75,000 cigars.

The Gran Reserve Cosecha 2007 can still be found for sale, but given its age, you might have to shell out more than you wish to.

9. Cohiba Talisman Edicion Limitada 2017

Price/Stick: $450

When it was originally released, the Cohiba Talisman EL 2017 cost just $547 for a box of 10.

Since their release, the price has risen rapidly year over year.

The cigars were produced at the world-famous El Laguito factory in Havana, Cuba.

At the time of writing this article, you’d be lucky to find a single stick for under $450.

8. Cohiba 55 Aniversario Edicion Limitada 2021

Price/Stick: $500

While not the most expensive release from Cohiba in the year 2021, the next entry on this list was certainly an important one.

The 55 Anniversario Edicion Limitada 2021 marked the 55th anniversary of Cohiba.

As the name suggests, the cigar was indeed a limited edition, and difficult to get a hold of.

The cigar was released in 10-count boxes, costing roughly $5000/box.

7. Davidoff Oro Blanco

Price/Stick: $600

Davidoff claims that the Oro Blanco is the most exceptional cigar they’ve ever created.

The Oro Blanco is a 6-inch, 54 ring gauge, toro-shaped cigar, with an all-Dominican wrapper, binder, and filler

So why does it cost $600 per cigar?

One of the main reasons for its high cost is due to Davidoff’s aging process.

The Oro Blanco, which translates to “White Gold”, is made with tobacco leaves grown in areas with some of the richest soil across the entire Dominican Republic.

The leaves are then aged for 12 years before the cigar is rolled; a task completed only by Davidoff’s most experienced rollers (15+ years of experience).

After one additional year of aging, the single cigar is then reviewed, approved, and placed into a custom box.

6. Mayan Sicars

Price/stick: $633.

At the beginning of this article, we mentioned a specific auction involving a box of 800 cigars.

In 2012, a large crate of Mayan cigars, expected to be more than 600 years old, was discovered in Guatemala.

It’s important to mention that the most reliable source of this information mentions the sale of all 800 cigars for a total of $507,000, which would put the price/stick at $633.

The cigars were buried deep below the surface in sealed clay pots, and discovered by an archeologist team from Tampa University.

Who paid the $507,000? A man named Gary Liotta, owner of the Santiago Cigar Factory in New York.

5. Gurkha His Majesty’s Reserve

Price/Stick: $750

On the sixth spot, we have Gurkha His Majesty’s Reserve cigar.

It’s made each year, and if you’re a cigar enthusiast, you will need to preorder them a few years beforehand. 

The total size of each cigar is 7-5 x 52 inches. The Connecticut Maduro wrapper comes with a Dominican binder and filler that is aged for 12 years.

The filler is infused with Louis XIII cognac, which gives it an amazing aroma.

This cigar is very rare and special, and the cognac has been known for selling only to dignitaries worldwide. 

A total of 75 boxes are being made every year. The incredible aroma, as well as the taste of the cigar, will be something that you will be so impressed with that you will never forget. 

4. Cohiba Ideales Coleccion 2021

Price/Stick: $1100

As the name suggests, this Cohiba cigar was released in 2021, measuring almost 7 inches in length, with a 56 ring gauge.

The Ideales Coleccion 2021 is limited to just 3000 boxes of 20 cigars, totaling 60,000 sticks.

The box is manufactured to look like a book.

Cohiba’s Ideales Coleccion 2021 is the last cigar to feature on this list that isn’t either covered in gold leaf and crystals or nearly 20 years old.

Which makes it the most expensive plain cigar that can still be purchased today.

3. Gurkha Black Dragon (2006 Edition)

Price/stick: $1,150.

The Gurkha Black Dragon is a cigar that you can still buy and smoke newer versions of to this day, but the original 2006 edition is a rare find.

The OG boxes were handmade using camel bone and were limited to just 5 boxes of 100 cigars.

Those who have smoked the original Black Dragon from 2006, and the newer editions seem to conclude that the taste is more or less the same.

Although the 2006 first edition of the Gurkha Black Dragon cost around $1,150, given how limited it was at the time; the current version of this cigar can be added to your collection for just $40/stick.

2. King of Denmark Cigar

Price/stick: $4,500.

The King of Denmark cigar is produced by Royal Danish and only 30 sticks are rolled per day.

Buyers can customize the cigar with both 24KT gold leaf and Swarovski crystals. 

They’re also able to have their name inscribed on the cigar.

Whilst this cigar doesn’t have to cost you thousands, it can reach up to $4,500/stick depending on the customization.

1. Gurkha Royal Courtesan

Price/Stick: $1.36 Million

The most expensive cigar in the world is the Gurkha Royal Courtesan cigar.

The Royal Courtesan is worth a ridiculous $1.36 million per stick.

One of the most interesting things here is that Gurkha are not known for their quality. 

In fact, Gurkha’s quality control is often a common problem reported by fellow cigar aficionados.

This begs the question: why does this cigar cost so much more money than anything else on the list before it?

Let’s get into the details of the Royal Courtesan:

• The cigar’s filler is infused with Remy Martin’s Louis XIII cognac.
• It’s hand-rolled by a select few skilled rollers, who are blindfolded.
• The band of the cigar is covered in 5-carat diamonds.
• Rare Himalayan tobacco leaves are used for the wrapper.
• The wrapper is also covered in a layer of 24KT gold leaf.
• Personal delivery to the owner by a messenger

Notable Mentions

That concludes our main list of the 25 most expensive cigars in the world.

There are, however, a few entries we’d like to mention.

Although these weren’t included in the main list, they’re worth mentioning to any fellow cigar aficionado.

Regius Double Corona Cigar

Price: $52,000.

We decided to leave out the Regius Double Corona from our main list as the cigar itself is not the main reason for the high price.

In 2013, Regius Cigars developed their Double Corona cigar, which is produced in Nicaragua.

However, the main attraction was not actually the cigar itself, but what was included with the purchase.

The buyer of the cigar would be flown first class out to Regius headquarters in Nicaragua, where they would be given a private tour of the factory.

They would also be allowed to create their own cigar blend, and be given 1000 sticks of said blend to take home with them.

Gran Habano #5 El Gigante

Price: $185,000.

Technically this cigar does have a clear price/stick, selling for $185,000 in 2013.

However, it’s probably worth mentioning that the cigar is 19 feet long, 3 feet thick, and weighs over 600 pounds.

Here are some interesting facts about the Gran Habano #5 El Gigante:

• Despite its size, it can be smoked by multiple people at the same time.
• Made with 1,600 pounds of tobacco.
• Equivalent to smoking 25,000 cigars
• Contains 15,000 wrapper leaves
• Has a ring gauge of 1920
• Weighs 2,500 pounds with the wooden case

We decided to separate the El Gigante from our main list of expensive cigars, but the story itself is worth mentioning.

If you enjoyed this list, don’t forget to check out our other most expensive lists:

• The Most Expensive Vodkas
• The Most Expensive Alcoholic Drinks
• The Most Expensive Cigarettes
• The Most Expensive Bourbons
• The Most Expensive Tequila

Here’s a quick recap of the 25 most expensive cigars in the world, per stick:

• Gurkha Royal Courtesan
• King of Denmark
• Gurkha Black Dragon (2006 Edition)
• Cohiba Ideales Coleccion 2021
• Gurkha His Majesty’s Reserve
• Mayan Sicars
• Davidoff Oro Blanco
• Cohiba 55 Aniversario Edicion Limitada 2021
• Cohiba Talisman Edicion Limitada 2017
• Partagas Lusitanias Gran Reserva Cosecha 2007
• Montecristo Gran Piramides Limited Edition 2017
• Daniel Marshall 24KT Golden Gigante
• Trinidad Casilda Coleccion Habanos 2019
• Oliva Serie V Roaring Twenties Super Limited Edition
• Cohiba Behike Series
• Hoyo De Monterrey Maravillas Collection 2015
• Partagas Serie E No.1 Colección Habanos 2013
• H. Upmann Sir Winston Gran Reserva Cosecha 2011
• Cohiba Siglo De Oro (Year of the Rabbit)
• Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas Gran Reserva Cosecha 2013
• Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 Reserva Cosecha 2012
• Davidoff Royal Release Salamones
• Cohiba Spectre 2023
• Arturo Fuente Opus X 20th Anniversary
• El Septimo The Zaya Collection (Mirifico Sapphire)

Are there any cigars we’ve missed from this list? Leave a comment below.

The 10 most expensive countries to live in worldwide.

Which are the most expensive countries to live in worldwide? Hold tight, as you’re about to find out.

If you’ve dreamed about moving abroad and starting life afresh in a new country, then read through this list before you do, as you might be shocked to find out just how expensive some of these lesser-known countries are. 

We’ve put together this list based on accommodation and living expenses for a single person living in the capital city of each country, and according to population. 

Here’s a list of the 10 most expensive countries to live in worldwide…

The list of countries and figures mentioned below have been compiled from various sources around the web, such as World Population Review & Nomad List .

These are the 10 most expensive countries to live in worldwide:

10. Barbados – $2,061

Kicking off our list of the 10 most expensive countries to live in worldwide, is Barbados. 

Barbados is a sovereign island nation in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, which is the Caribbean region of North America. 

It covers approximately 349km² and is 23 kilometres wide and 34 kilometres long, with a total population of 285,719 people. 

Barbados is the fourth-most densely populated country in the Americas and, it’s capital city, Bridgetown, has approximately 110,000 people living in it. 

To rent a one-bedroom studio apartment in Bridgetown, you’re looking at spending around $500 a month, or $100 a night in an Airbnb. 

A basic meal out will cost you no less than $13. A beer is around $6.50 and coffee is approximately $5.00 depending on where you go. 

9. Japan – $2,612

The ninth most expensive country to live in worldwide is Japan. 

Japan is an archipelago island nation in South-East Asia, made up of 6,852 islands, with a current total population of 126.8 million people. 

Of the 6,582 islands, the four largest islands account for the majority of inhabitants, as roughly 97% Japans population live on the four islands. 

Japan has many major cities, like Osaka, Yokohoma, Nagoya and Sapporo, which are all populated by more than 2 million people. 

However, Tokyo, Japans Capital City and the largest city in Japan, has an approximate population of 37 million people. 

To rent a one-bedroom studio apartment in Tokyo, you’re looking at spending in the region of $1,370 a month, or $111 a night in an Airbnb. 

Eating out varies in price, but as an average for one person, you should be looking at spending around $15.00 for a basic meal and around $6.00 for a beer.

Coffee is also pretty reasonable, considering how expensive Tokyo is, at $2.81 a cup. 

8. Norway – $2,659

Located in Northern Europe, Norway is a Scandinavian country with a total population of 5.3 million people. 

Norway shares its borders with Sweden, Russia and Finland, and has a total landmass of 385,203 km².

It’s only the 171st most densely populated country on earth, with roughly 14 people for every square kilometre. 

Rent is expensive in Norway’s capital, so renting a one-bedroom studio apartment in Oslo, will set you back around $1,193 a month, or $85 a night in an Airbnb. 

You won’t have much change left from $15 when buying a meal out, and a beer will set you back around $9.11.

7. The Bahamas – $2,704

The next most expensive country in the world to live in is The Bahamas. 

Made up of over 700 islands, the Bahamas has an approximate population of 389,482 million people living across its 13,943km² landmass. 

The largest city in the Bahamas is Nassau, with a total population of 255,000. 

If you’re thinking about visiting the Bahamas, then you should budget approximately $950 a month for a one-bedroom studio apartment in the city, or $149 a night for an Airbnb. 

You’ll need to take at least $50-$100 with you when you go out for a meal and some drinks, as a basic meal costs around $15-$20 and a beer will cost you around $2.50. 

Coffee is a little on the expensive side, at around $5 each. 

6. Luxembourg – $2,751

One of the smallest countries on our list, Luxembourg, is also one of the smallest sovereign nations on the planet, and it won’t leave you with a lot of wiggle room when it comes to your monthly expenses. 

Luxembourg is a landlocked country, located in western Europe, and has an estimated population of 620,319 people. 

Its population is small compared to other countries on the list, however, it has roughly 207 people per square kilometre, making it the 67th most densely populated country on earth. 

When you arrive in Luxembourg City, you can expect to pay around $1,322 per month for a one-bedroom studio apartment, or $80 a night in an Airbnb. 

Luxembourg seems like it’s slightly more expensive than the Bahamas when it comes to luxuries like beer and coffee, as one beer will cost you around $9 and coffee will set you back $6. 

Eating a basic meal out will cost between $17-$25 for one person depending on what you order. 

5. Iceland – $2,802

Coming in at number five on our list of the most expensive countries in the world is Iceland. 

Iceland is located between the North and Atlantic Oceans and has a total surface area of 103,001 square kilometres. 

However, Iceland’s population of 339,949 people, remains relatively low in comparison to others on our list as its harsh geographical landscape proves difficult to live in for many, at times. 

As a result, Iceland has the lowest population density of any European country, at just 3 people per kilometre. 

Staying in Iceland will cost you approximately $1,236 a month for a one-bedroom studio apartment in the capital city of Reykjavik, or $128 a night in an Airbnb.  

Whilst you’re there, eating out will cost you around $12 for a basic meal, $8 for a beer and $2.15 for a cup of coffee. 

4. Denmark – $3,312

The southernmost Nordic country in Northern Europe, Denmark, is the fourth most expensive country to live in worldwide. 

Denmark, bordered by Germany, Sweden and Norway has a total current population of 5.7 million people. 

The Scandinavian countries capital city is Copenhagen, which has an urban population of 1.2 million people, and a metropolitan population of 1.99 million.  

Known as one of the happiest places to live on earth, Copenhagen is also a very expensive city to live in.

For a one-bedroom studio apartment, you’re looking at $1,917 a month, or $96 a night in an Airbnb. 

Eating out will cost you approximately $18 per person and beers and coffee are anyway between $5.50-$6.50 a pop!

3. Switzerland – $3,162

Switzerland is the third most expensive country to live in worldwide. 

With more than 8.6 million people living across, 41,285 square kilometres, Switzerland is the 95th most populated country in the world, and the 135th largest country in terms of the total landmass. 

Switzerland has a number of beautiful cities to live in, like it’s capital, Bern, and it’s the largest city, Zurich. 

Bern has approximately 133,000 people living there and accommodation for a month in Bern, for one person, will cost in the region of $1,366, or $86 a night in an Airbnb. 

A meal out will cost you approximately $15-$20, with an additional beer costing around $6.00 and coffee costing around $5.00 a cup. 

2. Cayman Islands – $3,387

The Cayman Islands is the second most populated British overseas territory in the world, just behind Bermuda.

It is located in the western end of the Caribbean sea and has a total current population of approximately 63,000 people. 

It’s made up of a number of islands like Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. 

The Cayman Islands are well known for housing offshore companies, and it’s believed that there are over 100,000 companies registered in the Cayman Islands. 

If you’re considering doing business in George Town, the capital city of the Cayman Islands, then a one-bedroom studio apartment will cost you around $1,924 a month or $83 a night in an Airbnb. 

Food and drink on the island are where you might spend a lot of your money.

A basic meal out will cost you at least $20-$30, with beer costing around $8.00 and coffee costing around $7 a cup. 

1. Bermuda – $5,011  

At over $5,000 a month for accommodation and living expenses, Bermuda is the most expensive place to live in worldwide.

Similar to the Cayman Islands, Bermuda is another British territory located in the North Atlantic. 

Bermuda has a total population of approximately 65,000 people living across a total landmass of 20.5 square miles. 

Its capital city, Hamilton, is also Bermudas only incorporated city and has a current population of just over 1,000 people. 

When looking for accommodation in the city, you’re going to need some deep pockets, as a one-bedroom studio apartment will cost you around $2,675 a month, or $212 a night in an Airbnb. 

If you’re a drinker, then get prepared to spend some cash, as one glass of beer will cost you a minimum of $10, and dinner will be around $20-$30 per person. 

Bermuda is the most expensive country to live in worldwide. 

We hope you enjoyed our list of the 10 most expensive countries to live in worldwide.

Well, there you have it, those were some super expensive countries to live in.

Living in those countries might make you think twice about drinking alcohol , on a regular occasion, and make you sharpen the purse strings a bit more.

However, it’s all relative and depends on your disposable income and expenses.

So, if you’re still planning on moving to, or even visiting one of these countries long term, then at least you know what to expect. 

Here’s a quick recap of the 10 most expensive countries to live in worldwide:

• Bermuda – $5,011
• Cayman Islands – $3,387
• Switzerland – $3,162
• Denmark – $3,312
• Iceland – $2,802
• Luxembourg – $2,751
• The Bahamas – $2,704
• Japan – $2,612
• Norway – $2,291
• Barbados – $2,061

What’s your favourite most expensive country? Leave a comment below.

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Joining the Gucci-loafer set for a glimpse of superyacht life in Monaco

Sanctions imposed on russian oligarchs don’t seem to have hurt the big-flashy-boat industry.

MONTE CARLO — Welcome aboard at the Monaco Yacht Show, where the world’s superyachts are bought and sold. Warning: If you find the excesses of the 0.01 percent triggering, avert your eyes.

The scene here is like a parking lot crammed with water toys that cost a cool collective $4.3 billion.

The technical term for the size of these pleasure craft is “enormous.” The top class — the megayachts — are now 100 meters in length — that’s 328 feet, more than a football field from goal line to goal line. There are dozens of these boats on order.

There’s also talk of gigayachts to come. Asked what a giga might be, a top broker joked: “That would be a repurposed aircraft carrier.”

Have one helipad? Sad. Why not have two?

Jet Skis? The new must-have toy is a submersible.

There are onboard elevators, naturally, to get between the four, five and six decks. Surfaces are clad in lost forests of teak and mahogany with gleaming stainless steel accents. The deckhands are constantly polishing, rubbing, squeegeeing.

You might think superyacht sales would be super down, what with global inflation, a real estate bust in China, threats of recession, trench warfare in Europe and — dare we say it here? — a planetary climate crisis. Surprise. You would be wrong.

Italy impounds $700 million megayacht linked to Putin

Russian oligarchs have traditionally been big buyers of showy yachts, accounting for an estimated 10 percent of sales. Sanctions and the U.S. Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture have taken a bite. A lot of the Russian boats — including the $700 million megayacht Scheherazade, allegedly owned by Vladimir Putin himself — have been seized.

But the world is bigger than Russia — and there are more billionaires than ever.

“The sanctions didn’t affect the industry as much as you might think,” said Bob Denison , a top American broker with new offices in Monaco. He said the orders for “new builds” in European shipyards that were canceled because the buyers were placed on sanction lists were quickly snapped up by others who weren’t.

Russian oligarchs loved luxe Sardinia. Now they’re frozen out of paradise.

The problem with the superyacht market today?

“There’s not enough superyachts,” said Jeremy Roche, one of Denison’s directors.

It costs 600 euros ($635) for a day pass to the Monaco Yacht Show. Many well-heeled lookie-loos have come this week to stroll along the blue-carpeted docks and bump into a champagne tent.

And by well-heeled, we mean it. You must take off your shoes to board boats at the show — even if you are the prince of Monaco. So high-end footwear is strewn in front of the gangways, the ubiquitous Gucci loafers jumbled together with sneakers from Dior and Balenciaga that will set you back about $1,000 per pair.

The number of real buyers — the whales — is harder to calculate. A sales rep estimated there might be one buyer for every 100 staff — that’s exhibitors, brokers, deckhands, hostesses, marketers, cleaners, security.

We got an invitation from a friendly publicist to take a tour of Phoenix 2, built by Lürssen shipyard in northern Germany. She’s 90 meters, or 295 feet, with room for 14 guests in seven cabins, attended by a crew of 28 — and on sale for $132 million.

The boat was designed for the “richest man in Poland,” the late Jan Kulczyk, who wanted the interior to resemble an art deco Manhattan penthouse. There’s an Empire State Building vibe, with a lot of black and white — plus a bourbon bar, lap pool, steam sauna, screening room, gym, wine cave, Steinway piano and duplex owners’ cabin.

Henry Smith, a partner at Cecil Wright brokerage, was showing the boat and happy to discuss the evolving market for superyachts — generally, boats more than 24 meters.

Yacht justice: A new front in the war drags Russia’s oligarchs into the spotlight

Three decades ago, a 40-meter yacht would have been gigantic, he said. Today, those are considered midsize. Of the roughly 1,200 superyachts on order in boatyards, about two dozen are more than 100 meters.

“Boats just get bigger and bigger, with prices going up and up,” he said. “The future looks bright.”

The pace of sales is down a bit from the records of the pandemic years, when the ultrarich sought out superyachts as safe havens. But Smith said this year is still good.

He and his brokerage recently oversaw the sale of superyacht Kismet , originally built for Pakistani American billionaire Shahid Khan , owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The boat was on the market for just three months and sold for 149 million euros ($157 million).

Jaguars owner Shahid Khan proves to be the exception in more ways than one among NFL owners

The buyers keep coming, but they are changing, the brokers say.

Traditionally, they have been multimillionaires — 99 percent male — who sell their businesses in their mid-60s and want some high-end downtime with family and friends. The trend now is younger, with younger families, who struck it rich, or as Smith called it, experienced “a big liquidity event.”

He said, “I took on a chap who made several billion very quickly,” who wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted, except that he really wanted … something big.

At the boat show, we learned that sometimes it’s impossible to accommodate everything you need on your superyacht.

Tenders — used to ferry owners and guests from ship to shore — have a low profile and can be stored aboard in what the yachting community calls “the garage.” Robert Oakley of Falcon Tenders will sell you Miss Wonderly for $2.19 million. It’s powered by a hybrid diesel-electric engine, which gives you one hour on electric in port. “Think limousine,” he said.

But where do you put the sub?

Ian Sheard, the engineering director of Seamagine , maker of private submarines, explained it to us.

“You got the big white boat, the superyacht, right?” Sheard said. “Then you need the toy hauler.”

“The ‘shadow ship’ that follows the superyacht that has all the stuff you can’t fit on the superyacht.”

Richer than the royals: Win puts Rishi Sunak’s wealth in the spotlight

His submarines cost $4 million to $7 million and can carry two to seven passengers, with over 12,000 drama-free dives so far.

On our tours of superyachts, the guides often spoke of the boats’ “understated glamour.” But the glamour seemed bluntly stated, which was kind of the point?

Some interiors had a look and feel of a neutral-color Four Seasons. Others brought to mind a Vegas suite for a high-roller.

Aboard the $110 million Kensho, the publicist said that the owner (Udo Müller, chief executive of Ströer Media), wanted “a villa at sea.”

She described it as “more Zen, more calm.”

The kind of calm that three onboard bars might provide.

An older, smaller superyacht can be had for as little as $10 million — the price of an upscale home in Los Angeles or London. But if you are not ready to buy, many of the boats are used by their owners for only a few weeks in the high season and are otherwise available for charter.

To rent the Phoenix 2 costs a base price of $1.22 million per week. That doesn’t include fuel, food, drink, taxes, mooring and dock fees or tips — so call it $1.6 million. We had to ask a couple of times about the bill and were told to keep adding zeros.

It’s the fuel that gets you. A 50-meter yacht making a fast run between Monaco and St. Tropez might burn through $35,000 of diesel.

And even if you don’t go anywhere, a mooring ball or a slip at a primo port can cost thousands of dollars a night.

There was some talk at the Monaco Yacht Show about sustainability — about new green fuels, more gentle anchoring — but it was a sideshow.

Smith, the super broker, put it this way. “Green yachting is mostly a fallacy,” he said, adding, “no illusion, these things pollute.” Though you can mitigate the damage a bit.

He suggested anyone chartering a superyacht for a week “go out and plant a lot of trees.”

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Billionaires and Their Superyachts Are Flocking to This Caribbean Island

By Jordan Hoffman

Dashing away in quiet snowy seclusion is how some celebrities do it for the holidays. Others can make like Succession 's Roy family and embark on enormous and, if you know where to look, trackable ships.

Superyachts, as they are called, are finite in number. Only 2,374 are floating around out there according to SuperYachtNews.com , and if anyone should know, it seems like it would be them. (The actual definition of what makes a superyacht remains slippery , suffice to say that the best way to know if you are on a superyacht is not having to ask.) When there is an uptick in superyacht movement, as there is from November to December, it becomes easier to assess which island is more enticing for a billionaire holiday retreat.

Shipspotters have returned with data and, as reported by Bloomberg , we have a clear champion this season in Sint Maarten, the Dutch bottom half of the island of Saint Martin. (The French have Saint-Martin on the top; jot that down, this may be on the pop quiz.)

Sint Maarten clocked a jump from 16 to 52 superyachts, including Eclipse owned by Roman Abramovich , head of Millhouse Capital and owner of the British Premiere League’s Chelsea F.C. They came in 3rd place last year, which is fitting in that Eclipse is the third-largest superyacht out there on the seas. Hey, Roman, bubi, come on, let’s try for some silver medals next year, huh? We believe in you!

For comparison, Eclipse is 533 feet and Solandge , the actual, rentable boat at the end of last season’s Succession , is a mere 279. (That charter will cost you €1 million for a week plus expenses, which converts to dollars as boatloads .)

After Sint Maarten the other big changes in superyacht appearances were off the coast of St. Barts, Antigua and Turkey. The ships were departing in largest numbers from Spain, The United States and Italy.

If any of you aqua-snoops would like to spend an entire afternoon looking for yachts owned by celebrities, check out the very addictive interactive map on MarineTraffic.com . Once you get familiar with who owns which vessel you might actually catch someone en route to a vacation destination. After a little poking around it appears that Seven Seas , owned by Steven Spielberg , is staying put off the coast of Florida, but Tiger Woods's ship is en route to a port in the Bahamas. We won't get into more detail than that, as the name of the ship is Privacy .

By Julie Miller

By Eve Batey

By Jack McCordick

Jordan Hoffman

Contributing editor, royal watch.

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• The Woodlands

The 242-foot 'Cloud 9' is priced at $95,709,000 and is also available for charter.

Delivered in 2017, Cloud 9 sleeps 16 in eight cabins

The Cloud 9 VIP cabin.

The Cloud 9 Owner's Cabin features an office, private outdoor deck and an outdoor cinema.

The 213-foot yacht 'Eternity' is available for charter in the Bahamas, priced at $392,000 per week.

'Eternity' boasts seven guests cabins, an elevator, gym and more.

Natural light floods into 'Eternity's' main and bridge deck salons through oversize picture windows.

A covered back deck on 'Eternity.'

Burgess Yachts director Richard Lambert, based in Monaco.

The yacht 'Flag' sails the western Mediterranean in summer and the Caribbean in winter.

Contemporary elements of the 'Flag' combine with beautiful traditional wood for a classic appeal.

Charters for the 'Flag' begin at 378,000 Euros for summer sailing on the Med.

The 'Flag' sleeps seven and has a crew of 17.

Traditional guest rooms aboard the 'Flag'

The upper deck of 'Flag'

The 'Flag' is outfitted with all manner of water toys including the slide.

The 190-foot Lady Sheridan is offered for sale and charter beginning at $315,000 per week in the Med.

Dramatic interior design of the 'Lady Sheridan' was executed by the owner's talented wife.

Indoor dinning is an elegant affair aboard the 'Lady Sheridan.'

The master suite aboard the 'Lady Sheridan'

The VIP cabin aboard the 'Lady Sheridan'

The asking price for the 170-foot yacht 'Lazy Z' is $16.9 million.

Living aboard the 'Lazy Z' is comfy and cozy.

The massive main deck master cabin on the 'Lazy Z' features a dedicated raised lounge with expansive 180 degree views.

A bath aboard the 'Lazy Z'

The 'Lazy Z' sleeps 12 in richly appointed cabins.

Inside the World of Mega Yachts — How the Super Rich Find Their Dream Boats

Why giga-yachts are the next big thing in the billionaires' playground.

S uper-yachts, mega-yachts, giga-yachts — the billionaires’ play toys keep getting bigger and bigger, not to mention more costly.  Just ask Burgess Yachts head of sales director Richard Lambert. The dashing businessman, based in Monaco, made a swift visit through Houston on his way to the Miami Yacht Show  and shared his insights on the surprisingly burgeoning world of private yachting.

He noted that yacht charters already booked for the coming year, exceed 2018 bookings by 20 percent. With a stable of 750 yachts available for charter and 35 offered for sale, Burgess, which was founded in 1975, is one of, in not the, largest company of its kind worldwide. Count 13 offices globally and 200 employees.

Lambert allows that the United States is the firm’s largest market and that Dallas and Houston are strong. In fact, chartering and sale of the Houston-owned 190-foot   Lady Sheridan is handled through Burgess.

Just how do the mega rich distinguish between these hyperbolic yacht descriptions, we asked. While there are no rules for describing these floating palaces, Lambert says that, generally speaking, a super-yacht measures in at nothing less than 100 feet, while mega-yachts stretch to 250 feet and the largest private vessels afloat, or the recently-coined giga-yachts , push the limits at 300 feet and well beyond.

Among those earning the Olympian status are the 593-foot Azzam , owned by the Emir of Abu Dhabi, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s 533-foot Eclipse,  and the Sultan of Oman’s 509-foot Al Said .

Of these immense yachts, Burgess recently sold the 361-foot Jubilee , originally built for the Emir of Qatar, which had an asking price of $310 million. This beauty boasts 16 guest cabins and a crew of 45. It was the most expensive vessel in Burgess’ portfolio which has offerings for lesser yachts that begin at $5 million.

Set your Easter Table with Bering's

For those not interested in the pleasures of ownership but want to live large for a while, Burgess’ charters  range from $250,000 to $300,000 a week plus APA (or advance provisioning allowance) which includes fuel, food and drink, mooring and harbor fees as well as the recommended 10 percent tip.

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Superyachts and the Super Rich

• Back Issues

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Superyachts, like the billionaire class, shouldn’t exist. We need to institute a global wealth tax, shut down tax havens, and, yes, take their boats.

The superyacht Lady Lau in the port of Bonifacio, Southern Corsica, France. Myrabella / Wikimedia Commons

Hedge fund billionaire Daniel Loeb recently found himself in hot water after it was discovered that his superyacht had damaged Belize’s fragile barrier reef. Operators of the Samadhi — Buddhist for “a state of meditative consciousness and enlightenment” — had anchored the superyacht to live corals at the Lighthouse Reef Atoll, a Unesco World Heritage site.

Loeb was apologetic and promised to help fix the damaged reef. But the incident speaks volumes about the global billionaire class, whose fortunes grew by 25 percent last year. Today, the twenty-six richest people have more wealth than the world’s poorest 3.8 billion. What are the super-rich doing with all this money? For one thing, they’re buying boats.

Here are four things we can learn about the super-rich from their superyachts.

1. They Live in Their Own World

There are nearly five thousand superyachts (boats longer than thirty meters) sailing the world’s seas. But unless you’re a billionaire, a friend of a billionaire, or a pirate, you’ve probably never even seen a superyacht, let alone stepped foot on one.

On board these floating palaces are the uber-rich — the high-net-worth individuals who run the world. These individuals pull the levers of the global economy, but they are, for the most part, hidden from ordinary people, moving from their luxury high-rises to their private planes to their enormous boats.

This closed and relatively small network of elites is demonstrated and solidified through the consumption and display of luxury goods. The billionaires — from Saudi oil tycoons to Russian oligarchs to Silicon Valley tech royalty — meet at the Monaco Yacht Show to compare mast size, trade tips on how to protect a Picasso from saltwater damage, and form business partnerships.

2. They Are Above the Business Cycle

Manufacturing output is declining in a growing number of countries around the world, but yacht production is going strong. Superyacht orders have grown year over year for the past five years, and yacht builders in Britain, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands expect to see 20 percent growth in the coming decade. The .01 percent aren’t blown off course by economic headwinds.

In fact, when the business cycle goes south, and ordinary people are sucked into its maw, the super-rich often benefit. While the UK’s British Home Stores chain tanked, and 20,000 pensioners were set adrift, Topshop tycoon Philip Green was at his leisure on his £100 million superyacht Lionheart .

Superyacht owners have also proven themselves worthy pirates. Jho Low — the financier who siphoned $4.5 billion from the Malaysian government — bought himself at $250 million boat that he called “Tranquility.”

3. They Don’t Care About the Planet

As the planet alternates between burning and flooding, more and more wealthy people have expressed their concern. They sign up for the Giving Pledge. They start foundations. They donate money to save the polar bears. They also buy bigger and bigger boats. The number of boats longer than 60 meters — 364 — has doubled in the past decade. Russian oligarch Farkhad Akhmedov’s £350 million superyacht (which he has been desperately trying to keep out of the hands of his ex-wife, Tatiana) has two helipads, a swimming pool, a mini submarine, and nine decks.

Ever attuned to changing tastes, however, yacht designers are now touting “sustainable yacht design.” The world’s first environmentally friendly superyacht is being built — a $644 million hydrogen-powered yacht complete with infinity pool, helipad, and gym. For the millennials who purportedly care about experiences more than things, yacht designers are building solar-powered “explorer” yachts that can break through arctic ice and travel for weeks without a refuel.

4. They Should Pay a Lot More in Taxes

The superyachts at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show alone were worth a combined $2.7 billion. Superyacht owners spend upward of $750 million for their boats. They hire dozens of people to crew them, spending between $5 and $10 million a year to cruise from one hotspot to the next.  But money is no object for these billionaires. Indeed, it seems to fall into their laps through windfalls like the Trump tax cuts , which fueled a number of fresh superyacht purchases.

Superyachts also serve as handy floating tax havens. As the Paradise Papers investigation showed, elites go to great lengths to avoid paying taxes on their luxury purchases. Superyachts have the advantage of being mobile, making it much easier to evade the tax man. Big boats are also a good place to hide other, smaller luxury purchases, like artwork and jewelry.

Superyachts encapsulate everything wrong with our for-profit system — as billions struggle to survive, and the planet tumbles toward ecological catastrophe, the world’s richest people sail away, sheltered from the rough seas of capitalism.

These superyachts, like the billionaire class, shouldn’t exist. We need to institute a global wealth tax, shut down tax havens, and, yes, take their boats.

Private planes, mansions and superyachts: What gives billionaires like Musk and Abramovich such a massive carbon footprint

Distinguished Professor and Provost's Professor of Anthropology; Director of the Open Anthropology Institute, Indiana University

Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, Indiana University

Disclosure statement

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Indiana University provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.

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• Bahasa Indonesia

Tesla’s Elon Musk and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos have been vying for the world’s richest person ranking all year after the former’s wealth soared a staggering US$160 billion in 2020, putting him briefly in the top spot .

Musk isn’t alone in seeing a significant increase in wealth during a year of pandemic, recession and death. Altogether, the world’s billionaires saw their wealth surge over $1.9 trillion in 2020, according to Forbes.

Those are astronomical numbers, and it’s hard to get one’s head around them without some context. As anthropologists who study energy and consumer culture, we wanted to examine how all that wealth translated into consumption and the resulting carbon footprint.

Walking in a billionaire’s shoes

We found that billionaires have carbon footprints that can be thousands of times higher than those of average Americans.

The wealthy own yachts, planes and multiple mansions, all of which contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. For example, a superyacht with a permanent crew, helicopter pad, submarines and pools emits about 7,020 tons of CO2 a year, according to our calculations, making it by the far worst asset to own from an environmental standpoint. Transportation and real estate make up the lion’s share of most people’s carbon footprint, so we focused on calculating those categories for each billionaire.

To pick a sample of billionaires, we started with the 2020 Forbes List of 2,095 billionaires. A random or representatives sample of billionaire carbon footprints is impossible because most wealthy people shy away from publicity , so we had to focus on those whose consumption is public knowledge. This excluded most of the superrich in Asia and the Middle East .

We combed 82 databases of public records to document billionaires’ houses, vehicles, aircraft and yachts. After an exhaustive search, we started with 20 well-known billionaires whose possessions we were able to ascertain, while trying to include some diversity in gender and geography. We have submitted our paper for peer review but plan to continue adding to our list.

We then used a wide range of sources, such as the U.S. Energy Information Administration and Carbon Footprint , to estimate the annual CO2 emissions of each house, aircraft, vehicle and yacht. In some cases we had to estimate the size of houses from satellite images or photos and the use of private aircraft and yachts by searching the popular press and drawing on other studies . Our results are based on analyzing typical use of each asset given its size and everything else we could learn.

We did not try to calculate each asset’s “ embodied carbon ” emissions – that is, how much CO2 is burned throughout the supply chain in making the product – or the emissions produced by their family, household employees or entourage. We also didn’t include the emissions of companies of which they own part or all, because that would have added another significant degree of complexity. For example, we didn’t calculate the emissions of Tesla or Amazon when calculating Musk’s or Bezos’ footprints.

In other words, these are all likely conservative estimates of how much they emit.

Your carbon footprint

To get a sense of perspective, let’s start with the carbon footprint of the average person.

Residents of the U.S., including billionaires, emitted about 15 tons of CO2 per person in 2018. The global average footprint is smaller, at just about 5 tons per person.

In contrast, the 20 people in our sample contributed an average of about 8,190 tons of CO2 in 2018. But some produced far more greenhouse gases than others.

The jet-setting billionaire

Roman Abramovich, who made most of his $19 billion fortune trading oil and gas, was the biggest polluter on our list. Outside of Russia, he is probably best known as the headline-grabbing owner of London’s Chelsea Football Club.

Abramovich cruises the Mediterranean in his superyacht, named the Eclipse , which at 162.5 meters bow to stern is the second-biggest in the world, rivaling some cruise ships. And he hops the globe on a custom-designed Boeing 767 , which boasts a 30-seat dining room. He takes shorter trips in his Gulfstream G650 jet, one of his two helicopters or the submarine on his yacht.

He maintains homes in many countries, including a mansion in London’s Kensington Park Gardens, a chateau in Cap D’Antibes in France and a 28-hectare estate in St. Barts that once belonged to David Rockefeller . In 2018, he left the U.K. and settled in Israel , where he became a dual citizen and bought a home in 2020 for $64.5 million.

We estimate that he was responsible for at least 33,859 metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2018 – more than two-thirds from his yacht, which is always ready to use at a moment’s notice year-round.

Massive mansions and private jets

Bill Gates, currently the world’s fourth-richest person with $124 billion, is a “modest” polluter – by billionaire standards – and is typical of those who may not own a giant yacht but make up for it with private jets.

Co-founder of Microsoft, he retired in 2020 to manage the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charity, with an endowment of $50 billion.

In the 1990s, Gates built Xanadu – named after the vast fictional estate in Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” – at a cost of $127 million in Medina, Washington. The giant home covers 6,131 square meters, with a 23-car garage, a 20-person cinema and 24 bathrooms. He also owns at least five other dwellings in Southern California, the San Juan Islands in Washington state, North Salem, New York, and New York City, as well as a horse farm , four private jets, a seaplane and “a collection” of helicopters .

We estimated his annual footprint at 7,493 metric tons of carbon, mostly from a lot of flying.

The environmentally minded tech CEO

South African-born Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, has a surprisingly low carbon footprint despite being the world’s second-richest person, with $177 billion – and he seems intent on setting an example for other billionaires .

He doesn’t own a superyacht and says he doesn’t even take vacations .

We calculated a relatively modest carbon footprint for him in 2018, thanks to his eight houses and one private jet. This year, his carbon footprint would be even lower because in 2020 he sold all of his houses and promised to divest the rest of his worldly possessions .

While his personal carbon footprint is still hundreds of times higher than that of an average person, he demonstrates that the superrich still have choices to make and can indeed lower their environmental impact if they so choose.

His estimated footprint from the assets we looked at was 2,084 tons in 2018.

The value of naming and shaming

The aim of our ongoing research is to get people to think about the environmental burden of wealth.

While plenty of research has shown that rich countries and wealthy people produce far more than their share of greenhouse gas emissions, these studies can feel abstract and academic, making it harder to change this behavior.

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We believe “shaming” – for lack of a better word – superrich people for their energy-intensive spending habits can have an important impact, revealing them as models of overconsumption that people shouldn’t emulate.

Newspapers, cities and local residents made an impact during the California droughts of 2014 and 2015 by “drought shaming” celebrities and others who were wasting water, seen in their continually green lawns . And the Swedes came up with a new term – “ flygskam ” or flying shame – to raise awareness about the climate impact of air travel.

Climate experts say that to have any hope of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, countries must cut their emissions in half by 2030 and eliminate them by 2050.

Asking average Americans to adopt less carbon-intensive lifestyles to achieve this goal can be galling and ineffective when it would take about 550 of their lifetimes to equal the carbon footprint of the average billionaire on our list.

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It is hard to think of a more visible manifestation of great wealth and excessive consumption than a superyacht, as Russian oligarchs have discovered to their cost, following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

As western governments began detaining these very obvious luxury assets at harbours and shipyards around the world in successive rounds of economic sanctions aimed at Moscow, the targeted billionaires directed crews to steer the vessels to safe havens such as the Maldives in the Indian Ocean or Turkey in the Mediterranean. Roman Abramovich’s 163-metre Eclipse, one of the world’s largest superyachts and estimated to cost more than $1bn, found refuge in the Turkish port of Marmaris.

Long before the latest Ukraine war, however, the superyacht industry faced a problem unrelated to any support the ships’ wealthy owners may have provided to warmongering authoritarian regimes: their impact on the environment and the impression they gave that the rich could not care less about climate change.

Most superyachts — typically defined as a leisure vessel more than 30 metres or 100ft in length — are essentially motor vessels like small cruise liners, catering to proprietors or charterers and a few pampered guests. The biggest have helicopter pads, swimming pools and gyms as well as luxury suites. Some even have mini-submarines.

Very few are sailing yachts, and most of them consume vast quantities of diesel. Only now are manufacturers starting to develop new technologies such as hydrogen-powered electric propulsion that will cut emissions.

In the meantime, building the boats, operating them and, eventually, scrapping them all have a damaging effect on the environment. The same is true of aircraft and cars, but the very visibility of superyachts in tourist hotspots, makes their ecological footprint an increasingly sensitive topic. The global fleet has grown more than sixfold since 1985 to reach more than 5,200, according to Superyacht Times . And the fleet cruises the world’s vulnerable oceans.

“For sure, now it’s really high up the agenda — there’s been a fundamental shift,” says Monaco-based superyacht designer Espen Oeino, who reckons it is only in the past few years that most proprietors have really started to pay attention to yacht emissions. Clients ask him what can be done to reduce energy consumption onboard, both for propulsion and for the so-called “hotel load” of air-conditioning and other services, and even how to build the boat in the first place in a responsible way.

Rob Doyle, another naval architect who designs superyachts and is based in Kinsale in Ireland, agrees that more owners are beginning to take notice of the need to reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment, though many are still concerned about the cost. “There is still a huge amount of greenwashing,” he says. “You look at the magazines and you’ll never see a bad superyacht.”

And bad they often are. Research by anthropologists Beatriz Barros and Richard Wilk of Indiana University into the carbon footprints of the super-rich found that yachts contributed an outsized share of the carbon emissions of the billionaires who own them — far more than their private jets or mansions.

For former Chelsea Football Club owner Abramovich, for example, of the 31,200 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent he is calculated to have emitted in 2018, no less than 22,400 tonnes came from his yachts. Yacht emissions for Bernard Arnault, owner of LVMH and France’s richest man, accounted for nearly 9,000 tonnes of his total of 10,400 tonnes.

There are other ways for the wealthy to be embarrassed by their superyachts. Dutch shipyard Oceanco is facing resistance from angry locals after asking the city of Rotterdam to temporarily dismantle the old Koningshaven Bridge so that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s new three-masted vessel — this one is a sailing yacht costing hundreds of millions of dollars — can reach the port and the open sea.

But the impact on the climate is still the environmental whale in the room for yacht owners, builders and designers: Bill Gates and Elon Musk are both big carbon emitters, but their 2018 numbers were much lower than those of their fellow billionaires because they did not have yachts, the Barros-Wilk paper showed.

The accelerating effort to green superyachts reflects similar moves in the aircraft and vehicle industries to adopt new technologies and systems that help to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions and other pollution.

For superyacht designers and builders, the process starts with the shape of the hull or hulls, because there are few things so wasteful of energy as pushing a heavy metal or composite vessel through a fluid as dense as water. For both Oeino and Doyle, this search for what Oeino calls the “geometry of an easily driven hull” means looking at multihulls (catamarans or trimarans) for the next generation of big yachts, because they are designed to skim along the surface of the sea rather than laboriously plough through it, even if there are obvious constraints on weight and what you can do with the interior space.

Next, propulsion. There are already diesel-electric boats in service, which use diesel generators running at optimum revolutions (more economical, less polluting) to power electric motors, and, in future, the idea is to run the electric motors with the output from hydrogen fuel cells.

Then there is the electricity needed for the yacht’s hotel load, principally air-conditioning and the making of fresh water from seawater, but also lights and other electrical systems. Solar panels can produce some power but rarely enough even to run a present-day superyacht at anchor, so to charge batteries and run the boat, some other form of carbon-free electricity generation is needed to replace the diesel generators widely in use today.

For Barros and Wilk, none of this can justify owning any kind of superyacht. They write: “While many billionaires have taken pro-environmental actions in their personal lives or their corporate connections or donate money to climate change organisations and purchase carbon offsets, none of these actions actually ‘cancels out’ their total emissions. A 90-metre yacht can be touted as energy efficient or environmentally friendly but, as critics of ‘eco-chic’ point out, it is still a huge waste of resources, a frivolous luxury in a warming world.”

But the industry is trying. Doyle’s answer, developed by his own firm and Van Geest Design, is Domus (“home” in Latin), a project for a 40-metre sailing trimaran described as “the first truly zero-emission yacht” over 750 gross tonnes, which would generate electricity to charge its batteries from solar panels, hydrogen fuel cells and its own propellers acting as dynamos when the boat is sailing.

“It came out of a conversation we had with a client,” says Doyle. “We proposed this project with fuel cells, and regenerative sailing. It’s silent . . . people just want to listen to the water and the wind coming across and not have the hum of generators or the whiff of diesel.”

People just want to listen to the water and the wind coming across and not have the hum of generators or the whiff of diesel Rob Doyle, yacht designer

Hydrogen propulsion is in its infancy for mass transport. The gas is difficult to store, though it can be made from methanol, and there is, as yet, no distribution network for the fuel. But the interest in hydrogen is just one sign of how the yacht industry is hunting for ways to lower emissions in the years ahead as the pressure from regulators — and public opinion — increases.

Oeino notes that in some places, including the World Heritage Site fjords such as Geirangerfjord in his native Norway, rules limiting emissions are already in place and becoming stricter, and will help to force the pace of the greening of ships and yachts.

The first systems for big yachts to be fully powered by renewables are likely to be the tenders, the smaller boats that ferry people to and from the shore, which are already starting to shift to electric propulsion, and the equipment that contributes to the hotel load when the ship is stationary. Hotel loads can, in any case, be reduced by sensible design and operation, given that indoor superyacht spaces are heavily air-conditioned all the time despite owners and guests spending a huge amount of their time outside, on deck.

Transocean travel with zero emissions is a much bigger ask, says Oeino. “A lot of stuff is already being implemented, but the full electric big yacht with zero emissions is still not a reality,” he explains, because it is impossible to store or produce enough energy onboard.

“It will be a combination of things that will bring us all to lower emissions and eventually zero emissions.” 

‘Yachts for science’ can be a breakthrough for explorers

For yacht owners who feel guilty not only about their environmental footprint but also about how little they use their expensive boats, Rosie O’Donnell has the perfect solution: Yachts for Science .

YFS, which its co-ordinator O’Donnell describes as “a dating agency, almost like a Tinder for the sea”, is a platform to match idle yachts and their crews with scientists in search of a vessel that can reach remote areas and allow them to research everything from coral reefs and manta rays to great white sharks. In some cases, the owners and their families like to be on board for the ride.

“It’s for people who want to be a bit philanthropic so they have got something more to talk about than sitting on the back of their boat in St Tropez drinking cocktails,” says O’Donnell. “It’s about making the ownership more worthwhile.”

The idea of YFS fits with the trend among yachtowners to commission robust so-called expedition or explorer yachts that can travel long distances, to the Antarctic for example, rather than being satisfied with something that will buzz at high speeds around the resorts of the Mediterranean or the Caribbean.

“The yachting industry is always looking for ways to reinvent itself,” says Dominic Byrne of Arksen Marine , a builder that backs YFS and is building a new range of high-tech motor yachts. “People are looking to go further afield, and they are looking to do it in an eco-friendly way as much as possible.”

This article is part of FT Wealth , a section providing in-depth coverage of philanthropy, entrepreneurs, family offices, as well as alternative and impact investment

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International Edition

Inside the Outsized Carbon Footprints of the Superrich

Big yachts are in the news these days, and they have the biggest footprints.

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Here's yet another study, "The outsized carbon footprints of the super-rich," that looks at the lifestyles of people that most North Americans would recognize the names of.

The study, released in September 2021, is already out of date. Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's wealth and emissions are considerably reduced since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos built a boat that doesn't show up on this list yet. But it is still interesting because of the scale of their emissions and their sources. I have referred to this study in passing in discussions of carbon inequality before but it seemed particularly relevant now, as all these big yachts are in the news these days because of the Ukraine crisis and the attention being paid to Russian oligarchs.

I have previously not been too concerned about the emissions from the richest 1%—or, what we have here, the 0.01%—because while their emissions are high, there are not that many of them compared to the 10%, who on their own account for enough carbon to put us over the carbon budget target to stay under 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius). It's why I was kind of blasé about Bezos' rocket trips : A conventional long-haul airplane flight carrying the masses puts out much more.

I noted, "It looks even less dramatic when you compare it to the average footprint of the billionaire who could afford a $250,000 ticket; he probably already has a carbon footprint of 60 to 80 metric tons per year flying private between multiple residences."

Lloyd Alter / Data: Beatriz Barros & Richard Wilk

However, we learn from this study that 60 to 80 metric tons was a gross underestimate. Of the billionaires on the list, the one with the lowest emissions, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, came in at 1,171 metric tons—100 times the emissions of the average American at 17 metric tons. (Data are from Table 1 in the study.)

The total estimated annual emissions for the 20 billionaires on the list are 163,885 metric tons, equivalent to the emissions of 9,640 average Americans. As for the source of emissions, 105,264 of the emissions come from their yachts, 54,836 from their transportation, and a surprisingly small 3,785 from their multiple homes.

David Ramos / Getty Images

Abramovich topped the list with 31,198 metric tons—2,400 times the average Briton's 13 metric tons. But like all of the big emitters here, the vast majority (22,440 metric tons) of it is from his yachts.

Study authors Beatriz Barros and Richard Wilk note it is difficult to really pin down the carbon footprints of the ultra-rich. They state: "Most billionaires keep their possessions and consumption private and often hidden by vesting ownership in family members or trusts. The super-rich in the Middle East and Asia are particularly secretive, and we were not able to audit anyone in these regions."

There is no reliable data; much of it is hidden. And the study doesn't take into account investments that are less obvious: Owning a baseball team, for example, might have a bigger footprint than owning a boat. The study only looks at the lifestyles—"the part of their carbon footprint that is directly associated with their consumption and travel."

Barros and Wilk write:

"It is important to remember that the carbon footprints presented in this study are therefore only a small portion of reality, the tip of the iceberg. It is evident that privacy laws and the limitations of public data protect the super-rich and help hide a considerable amount of their consumption. Nevertheless, we think our calculations are illustrative and reflect on fundamental issues of climate justice by contributing to ongoing debates over who is responsible for climate change."

Dwelling footprints were based on floor areas, but the authors don't know the energy mix. They are not corrected for the climate, though the estimates were adjusted for the energy mix in the location of the building. They don't know what the houses are made of "wooden dwellings may be seen as forms of carbon storage or sequestration, while bricks and concrete are carbon-intensive." So it is all an educated guess.

Transportation emissions are high. The authors write: "Travel is a prominent element in the carbon footprint of the super-rich, enabled by an array of ground vehicles, private aircraft (including jets of different sizes, light planes, and helicopters), and yachts with their many tenders and recreational vehicles like jet skis, submarines, ski boats, and hovercraft."  

Emissions from ground transport were based on two cars running at once: one for passengers and one for security. "We could not include estimates for Brin, Musk, or Page, who drive electric vehicles because we do not know the source of the electricity," said the authors.

Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

And then there are the yachts. According to the study: "Three-quarters of the billionaires in our sample owned a yacht with an average length of 276 feet (84 meters), and their average carbon equivalent emissions were 7,018 tons per year." The world's largest, owned by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, is twice that length, although it may not be his for long .

Barros and Wilk note that many— like me —"argue that while the overconsumption of billionaires is thousands of times that of an average citizen, their wealth is greater by a far larger proportion, so that highly concentrated wealth is less harmful to the environment than the same wealth widely distributed." This is why I have been much more concerned about the top 10%. They do not concur.

"Consumption by billionaires is problematic not only because it is carbon-intensive but also because it ultimately undermines public consensus that could support public policies to reduce emissions and avert climate catastrophe."

Barros and Wilk suggest "public shaming may be an effective strategy to pressure the wealthy to reduce their consumption, as it has in many cultures throughout history." They claim it has been effective discipline on Wall Street, "where a number of prominent figures have fallen following accusations of infractions ranging from sexual harassment to insider trading," adding that "research shows that an effective shaming campaign requires a legitimate platform, good background research, careful targeting, and an offer of a remedy or goal, such as cutting an individual footprint by half or divesting particular investments."

I am not convinced. The billionaires on this list are very public; there are many more that lay low and are more discreet. After the shocking seizure of Abramovich's and other Russian oligarch's assets, it is likely they all will be more discreet. Who knew governments could move to grab assets so quickly and change so much? The answer to this problem isn't shaming—it's a big honking carbon tax.

Barros, Beatriz, and Richard Wilk. " The Outsized Carbon Footprints of The Super-Rich ."  Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy , vol. 17, no. 1, 2021, pp. 316-322., doi:10.1080/15487733.2021.1949847

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The Top 20 Celebrity Yachts in The World

When you think of a luxury yacht, you probably think of a celebrity on it, because after all, luxury yachts are for the rich and famous, and they are both. Yachts come in different sizes and styles, but when you spend the kind of money that a luxury costs, you can pretty much guarantee, it is going to be luxurious.

Many celebrities love to get out and sail the open seas to get away from the every day hustle and bustle of Hollywood to spend time with their family and friends. It has become customary to see celebrities playing with their big, expensive toys, from cars, to motorcycles, air planes and yes, super yachts.

These luxurious sailing vessels are worth millions and are the epitome of sumptuous. Some of the most well-known celebrities own super yachts and travel the world on them, from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. The following are the top 20 celebrity yachts in the world. Take a look at what some of your favorite people in the public eye get to climb aboard.

1. Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton's 47.8 meter super yacht, the Va Bene , is a beautiful sailing vessel that can host up to 12 guests and allows for 13 crew members. Clapton is an American singer, song writer that has won 17 Grammies over his career.

Clapton not only still tours with the band and performs concerts, but he also takes time to do some touring on his super yacht. Kees Cornelissen is the ship builder and Clapton had the yacht refitted to exhibit his style and taste, which it now does with its open and spacious living areas, donned with comfortable furniture pieces, warm colors and movie lounge.

2. Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is one of the most well-known film director and screen writer and when he's not working doing either of those, he can usually be found sailing on the seven seas, literally.

Spielberg is the owner of the 86-meter Seven Seas built by Oceanco, and it is the epitome of luxury, from bow to stern. The luxury yacht is said to feature a beautiful infinity pool with a 15-foot glass wall that transforms into a large, outdoor cinema screen for watching all of his hit movies on with his guests - maybe.

Bono has had many hit songs in his singing career. He is best known for singing with the band, U2, a highly popular band from the 1980's. He has made millions during his years spent recording and touring with the band, as well as his time spent after, on his own singing as, Bono.

With Bono's millions, it probably doesn't surprise you that he owns his own super yacht, a 49 - meter luxury vessel he's named Cyan , built by the prestigious shipyard, Codecasa.

The super yacht can be chartered and will comfortably host up to 12 guests in 6 cabins. It has a timeless look with the exaggerated, angled bow and is full of luxuries throughout, including a pool and spa on the aft deck and plenty of water toys for fun-in-the-sun.

4. Tiger Woods

The famous golfer who has also been in the news for his gone-public, extra-marital affairs, owns the Privacy , a $25  million super yacht. It was a gift to his ex-wife for their wedding, however, after the divorce, his ex-wife no longer wanted the yacht due to the expense of keeping it up.

 The 164-foot mega yacht, Privacy has 5 bedrooms for entertaining guests and is full of amazing luxuries, such as a 50-inch plasma screen TV that pops up from a built-in cabinet and swivels to face either the dining area or saloon.

The mingling areas are all spacious and open, with lots of natural light and the galley was equipped with a non-standard feature, a Miele Espresso machine.

5. Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp is an American actor who is best known for his unusual characters he plays in movies; Edward Scissorhands, Who's Eating Gilbert Grape? And The Pirates of the Caribbean , series.

He has always been in the news over the years for one reason or another, whether good news or bad, but despite what the tabloids say about Depp, one thing they can't say is that he hasn't been successful in his career.

His movies have made him millions and one way he has spent some of it, was to buy a super yacht, Amphitrite . The 156-foot yacht isn't the average sailing vessel, it looks more like something out of one of his Pirates of the Caribbean , movies. Surrounded by wood and Teak, cool amenities, however, there is no swimming pool or even a helicopter pad. He just loves to sail.

6. Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman is one of the most sought after actresses in Hollywood. She is from Australia and is now married to the legendary country singer, Keith Urban, whom she has two daughters with.

When the pair aren't out filming or traveling the country performing concerts, you may find them on the Super yacht, Houkalani . This beautiful yacht boasts of lots of space for moving about inside and out on the decks. There is a beautiful swim platform and a centralized and integrated entertainment system on board as well.

7. Leonardo DiCaprio

One of the biggest stars in Hollywood that has become a household name, is Leonardo DiCaprio. With all of his box office hits, it's no wonder he can afford a beautiful super yacht like Rising Sun. 

It has been reported that the mega yacht cost $200 to build and it is ranked the 11th largest yacht in the world. It can accommodate up to 14 guests, 45 crewmembers, and is loaded with luxuries from one end to the other, including a wine cellar and cinema. It also has a built-in helipad that transforms to a basketball court when not in use.

8. Nicolas Cage

Sarita is the name of the super yacht owned by Nicolas Cage. The famous actor has been seen indulging himself on the Sarita many times, with its impressive amenities, such as the amazing decks that are loaded with things to do, swim, sunbathe, dine, relax, whatever your heart desires.

It can host up to 12 guests in the cabins. There are also plenty of water toys on the Sarita , for his guests to play with out in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean; wherever the sail off to.

Galactica Star is the name of the super yacht owned by Beyoncé. This beautiful, 213-foot liner was built by Heesen Shipyard in the Netherlands. Singer, songwriter Beyoncé has been an icon in the music industry and has sold millions of albums during her career.

She is always recording, touring or taking a little vaca with her husband and daughter, Blue Ivy. Beyoncé has been seen with her family, aboard the luxurious super yacht that is loaded with amenities to fit a queen including a beautiful swimming pool at the aft deck, spa, touch and go helipad, and spacious cabins for hosting up to 12 guests.

10.  Giorgio Armani

Famous Italian, fashion designer Giorgio Armani doesn't just design fabulous clothes, but he also sails the world on his luxury mega yacht,  Main . This is a classy designed super yacht built by Codecasa ship builders and is so stylish, in fact, that the yacht has drawn plenty of attention with its black, almost aggressive look, since he's owned it, and has had photographers searching it out for photo shoots. Armani also had a second yacht that he named, Maria, after his mother. His second yacht is 163 feet in length, while Main, is 65 meters long.

11. Sean "Diddy" Combs

Rapper, record producer, actor and entrepreneur, Sean "Diddy" Combs , is also known as "Puff Daddy, Diddy," or P. Diddy. He's a native from Harlem and has become a fixture in the rapper world and has taken away two Grammys during his career, as well as two MTV music video awards. His success is seen when you see his 54-foot super yacht.

Some of the features the yacht exhibits are a projector screen and stage, a party floor and built-in bar on the top deck of the yacht. The yacht is equipped to handle and requires 10 members on board to run it.

12. David and Victoria Beckham

The Beckhams are each famous in their own right,  but together, they have become a sensation. Famous pro-soccer player, David Beckham , and his famous Spice-girl, Victoria, have several sons together and they have quite the net worth between the two, too. It's not really surprising that the two have invested into a mega yacht, the Seafair . This a gorgeous super yacht with a unique body style, full and robut and looks commanding on the sea.

13. Calvin Klein

His ads are everywhere. Calvin Klein is a super famous fashion designer and the owner of a luxurious super yacht. With a net worth of $700 million, it's fitting that this is one toy he would own. He sails the seas in luxury on a 4.57 meter super yacht built by Palmer Johnson. Klein re-designed the decks in order to be able to host parties better. His yacht includes an on-board Jacuzzi, relaxation pads, BBQ, and bar. There are six cabins to host up to 12 guests.

14. Kendall Jenner

She's a celebrity and one of the most popular names in pop culture. The Jenner's have enough money for a super yacht, and that's exactly what they own. Kendall Jenner is one of the Kardashian's from the realty TV show, The Kardashian's and her and her then, husband, Harry Styles love the 236 foot Axioma and were often seen cruising the Caribbean on the beautifully designed luxury liner.

They were known for hosting sailing parties with such people like Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres. The super yacht sports a Jacuzzi and below-deck cinema and swimming, among other breathtaking luxuries. It has been said that Kendall loves to call on the crew to answer to her every whim and get spoiled well while out at sea on the Axioma .

15. J.K.Rowling

In Jauray of 2016, J.K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter and subsequent books, bought Vajoliroja . It was once owned by another famous name, Johnny Depp, who named it using the initials of several people he loved in his life; his ex-wife, and his children. When J.K. Rowling took ownership, she changed the name to Amphitrite. It is a less aggressive and more sedate looking yacht, compared to the newer, more modern vessels that sail on the seas.

16. Steve Jobs

The late Apple founder was swimming in money, which is why he could afford a super yacht like Venus. This is a 78 metre mega yacht that was constructed by the infamous ship builder, Feadship. The Venus is a very private super yacht with more inside amenities than out, extremely high-tech an covered in glass for the ultimate privacy. 

She sports a computer-packed bridge and probably a host of other cool technology amenities, all over the vessel. Although Jobs passed away, Venus is till owned by the family.  As a matter-of-fact, the yacht was seen cruising around the Greek Isles last summer.

17. Richard Branson

Richard Branson, a famous entrepreneur, does a lot of sailing on his 32-metre catamaran superyacht, Necker Belle , which he named after his famous island hideaway. The superyacht was constructed and launched by CMN in 2003 and has been used for charter while he owned it.

This is a yacht that was truly designed for partying, in luxury. It has a big sundeck that is used for entertaining, along with a wide range of water toys to play with, along the voyage, as well as plenty of space for bringing friends and family. This is the ultimate relaxation super yacht, for those who want to get away from the hustles and bustles of life, and relax.

18. Billy Joel

Billy Joel is a famous singer and song writer from the 1980's who not only is well-known for his music, but is also remembered for his marriage to the famous super model, Christi Brinkley. Joel owns the Vendetta , the modern classic super yacht that measures 17 metres and was designed to be a replica of the old, classic commuter that was launched and popular back in the late 1920's.

They were used for their speed to run down the Long Island Sound and into New York City. Joel has actually used his super "commuter" yacht to run from his home in Long Island, into the city for a concert performance. There was a time that Joel actually owned 5 yachts, one of which was a 29 metre Inace explrer yacht, named Audacious.

19. David Geffen

David Geffen is not only an American film producer and record executive. He's a very successful business man and co-created from Asylum Records, to Dream Works SKG with Steven Spielberg, as well as Geffen Records.

He is the owner of a Jon Bannenberg super yacht and it is one of the largest ships on record. The Rising Sun has an amazing, 82 rooms on board, Jacuzzi tubs in every cabin bathroom, a basketball court, heli-pad, wine cellar and a movie theatre for entertaining guests. The cost of the super yacht was $200 million to build.

20. Paul Allen

Paul Allen is the co-founder of Microsoft ad is one rich guy who can obviously afford some expensive toys, with this 414-foot super yacht being one of them.

The $200 million yacht named, Octopus, and it is loaded with luxurious features, including a movie theater, basketball court, recording studio, two helicopters, a pool, and it can accommodate up to 26 guests in the 41 cabin suites it has, as well there are 26 cabins set-up for the 64 crewman Allen keeps hired to run the vessel.

The super yacht takes Paul Allen $384,000 a week to maintain it. The Octopus also carries two submarines below, for state-of-the-art exploration. The Octopus has been said to be more of a Range Rover rather than a Bentley as far as what it is designed with for exploration with the subs and the two heli-pads set up on the upper deck.

You can also read:

• The 10 Largest Yachts in the World
• 10 Different Types of Yachts

17 Most Expensive Yachts in the World

Written by  Maria McCutchen

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Palm Beach International Boat Show returns to West Palm Beach waterfront

The Palm Beach International Boat Show returns this week with more nearly 1,000 vessels on display, including super yachts from around the world.

Tickets are on sale now for the show that runs March 21-24 along the West Palm Beach waterfront.

The show, which started in 1982, has grown to a major economic engine for the community, with last year's impact estimated at $1.05 billion statewide — nearly as much as the $1.3 billion Miami International Boat Show, said Alyssa Freeman, executive director of the Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County, which owns the boat show.

More: Cool front for South Florida won't be its last even with the first day of spring here

"Palm Beach is really not that far behind Miami, and Miami is the biggest in the world," Freeman said. "That was really exciting."

This year's boat show features an expanded Super Yacht Show at Palm Harbor Marina, showcasing yachts that typically stretch longer than 80 feet and have a variety of luxurious amenities that include hot tubs, crew quarters, dance floors and sun decks.

"We have more super yachts there than we ever have before, and they're even bigger," Freeman said, noting that at 236 feet, the vessel Casino Royale takes the title of largest yacht at this year's show. The title of "most expensive yacht" goes to Come Together, a 196-foot vessel priced at $59.95 million.

"Everybody, when they think about super yachts, they think about Monaco and Miami, but Palm Beach is a real player in these boat shows and the yachting world," Freeman said.

Exhibitors continue to be drawn to the Palm Beach International Boat Show by the opportunity for high sales year after year when compared with other South Florida boat shows, she said.

"I've heard from several of them, this is their favorite show to attend," Freeman said, "And that's why, because their sales are higher at Palm Beach."

The show continues to make headway in improving its sustainability efforts, she said. After reducing single-use plastics, a major change this year is the addition of water bottle refilling stations throughout the show, Freeman said.

"I think that's exciting because everybody's talking about sustainability and how we can be more sustainable," she said. "Every year, we take little steps to be more sustainable."

Freeman said she is excited for this year's AquaZone presented by Nautical Ventures. The attraction showcases some of the "yacht toys" that are new or popular on the market.

"It's so cool, because there are people actually in the water demoing yacht toys, and it's usually the latest and greatest," she said. "There's always something new every year that we've never seen before."

The Palm Beach International Boat Show also features a range of seminars, demonstrations and discussions throughout the weekend, including mental health in yachting, tips to boat to the Bahamas, safe boating to protect sea turtles and how to address active threats and piracy.

Freeman, who has children, said she loves the Kids Fishing Clinics scheduled for noon and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with captain Don Dingman.

"Captain Don has been doing this for years, and he does a fantastic job," Freeman said. "The kids actually get to go home with a free rod and reel once the clinic is over."

The association produces the Palm Beach International Boat Show with Informa Markets' U.S. Boat Shows division.

"As we gear up for the 2024 Palm Beach International Boat Show, we are excited for our return to Downtown West Palm Beach to celebrate the rich history of this esteemed event," Andrew Doole, president of U.S. Boat Shows at Informa Markets, said in a news release. "Each year, we’re grateful for the warm welcome and support from the community, which truly makes this event a highlight on the calendar for both residents and visitors alike."

Informa also produces the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary art show happening March 21-24, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. A Windward VIP ticket to the boat show includes admission to the art show as well.

In addition to serving as a cornerstone festival of spring in West Palm Beach, the boat show launched the Palm Beach International Boat Show Gives Back program to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to local nonprofits, Freeman said.

The grant program had a soft launch last year and formalized the boat show's four-decade practice of giving back to the community, Freeman said.

"We're really excited about it," said Freeman, who added that the boat show team is working with the Community Foundation to manage the grant program, which they hope to grow. "That's something that's a super high priority for us."

Money raised through a portion of the boat show's ticket sales, optional add-ons and some related activities goes toward the fund.

The boat show in February announced that the first round of grants totaling $500,000 would go to 25 nonprofits that have marine-related programs or projects, including Florida Fishing Academy, Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Florida Atlantic University, Inlet Grove High School, Palm Beach State College, Sea Turtle Adventures and Friends of Manatee Lagoon.

"We're hoping one day we'll be able to say that it's a million dollars," she said. "So fingers crossed. It relies on the success of the boat show and the support of the community. With that, we will continue to grow."

What: Palm Beach International Boat Show.

When: Noon to 7 p.m. March 21, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 22 and 23, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 24.

Where: West Palm Beach waterfront.

Cost: General admission is free for ages 6 and younger with purchase of an adult ticket, $17 for a one-day ticket for ages 6-15, $33 for a one-day ticket for ages 16 and older, and $60 for a two-day adult ticket. VIP experiences start at $390 for a Windward single-day ticket.

Information: pbboatshow.com

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at  [email protected] .  Subscribe today  to support our journalism.

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See Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's brand new 287-foot superyacht

The 287-foot yacht, called 'launchpad' cost $300m.

SEE IT: Mark Zuckerberg’s $300 million new superyacht

Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook parent Meta, gifted himself a $300 million superyacht named ‘Launchpad’ as his net worth nears $200 billion. Credit: Dutch Yachting

Mark Zuckerberg reportedly rewarded himself with a luxurious gift: a $300 million super yacht.

The billionaire Meta Platforms CEO reportedly purchased the 287-foot vessel with the name Launchpad, according to The Sun and New York Post. 

FOX Business reached out to Meta Platforms and a Zuckerberg personal spokesperson for comment on the vessel.

Mark Zuckerberg's 387-foot long superyacht, Launchpad, sits at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, this week. (Romain Maurice/MEGA / Mega)

The vessel reached America a few days ago, cruising into Fort Lauderdale’s port in the Sunshine State, according to Business Insider. Prior to that, it had recently completed its first-ever official sailing.

MARK ZUCKERBERG RAISING CATTLE WITH DIET OF BEER AND NUTS

In photos, the dark blue-hulled Launchpad appeared to have multiple decks.

Superyacht Times pegged its gross tonnage at about 5,000. It can reportedly sail as fast as 24 knots.

A view of the side of the Launchpad superyacht. (Dutch Yachting)

Feadship, a well-known yacht builder headquartered in the Netherlands, constructed the superyacht.

Only 70 motor yachts measuring over 100 meters currently exist, according to BOAT International. Some are believed to belong to other members of the three-comma club.

JEFF BEZOS, LAUREN SANCHEZ ENJOY SUN, SUPERYACHT

The Sun reported the 118-meter Launchpad came at a nine-figure cost.

The Launchpad superyacht sailing. Credit: Dutch Yachting

Zuckerberg has amassed a personal fortune that, according to Forbes, sat around $178 billion as of Thursday evening.

He has Meta Platforms, the corporate parent of Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Threads, to thank for that. He co-founded Facebook about 20 years ago.

MARK ZUCKERBERG'S HAWAII PROPERTY TO FEATURE GIANT UNDERGROUND BUNKER, TREEHOUSES: REPORT

"20 years ago I launched a thing," he wrote on the platform in early February. "Along the way, lots of amazing people joined and we built some more awesome things. We’re still at it and the best is yet to come."

He has identified artificial intelligence and the metaverse as long-term focuses of Meta Platforms.

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From ancient castles to mega-yachts: what history teaches us about the super-rich

Our fascination and frustration with this era’s wealthy 1% is nothing new. They have always been with us. How do they think, operate and make their money?

I n 1774, one of Britain’s wealthiest traders was summoned to parliament to account for profligacy and corruption. Frustrated by the MPs’ persistent questioning, he told them: “I walked through vaults which were thrown open to me alone, piled on either hand with gold and jewels. Mr Chairman, at this moment I stand astonished at my own moderation.” Nearly two and a half centuries later, another rich and confident man was equally affronted: “There was a period of remorse and apology for banks. I think that period needs to be over.”

Lord Clive of India and Bob Diamond of Barclays share many characteristics. They both claimed to be self-made (the truth was less romantic). They displayed skill, guile and tenacity to get to the top, and they could not understand why anybody might resent their success.

Ever since a tiny slew of Russians made silly money by expropriating their country’s natural resources in the early 1990s, the psychology of the super-rich has fascinated us. The people who are blamed for the economic crisis and for widening inequality are still living in their parallel worlds , raking in the bonuses, taking their private jets to their private islands, while dolling out the odd scrap known as philanthropy.

This is the topography of the global nomads – they mix with a narrow group of similar-minded people, sparring with each other at the same auctions, fraternising on each other’s yachts. They compare themselves only against each other, leading them often to be dissatisfied with their lot, believing themselves to be not wealthy or powerful enough. They pay as little back to the state in tax as they can get away with. They reinforce each other in their certainties, convinced that their acquisition of wealth, and spending of it through charitable enterprise, has earned them their place at the apex of global decision-making and moral supremacy. Lloyd Blankfein , the chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, spoke for many of his group when he famously quipped that he was “doing God’s work”.

Everyone is exercised by the richest 1% – or rather the 0.1 or 0.01% – but it is impossible to understand the phenomenon, let alone address it, without learning the lessons of history. We think we are living through a uniquely divisive and unequal era . But everything we are living through now is, sadly, consistent with history.

From the Roman property scammer turned general Marcus Licinius Crassus, to the Malian king Mansa Musa (possibly the richest man in history), via Cosimo de’ Medici and the bankrolling of Renaissance Florence , to the conquistadores and the great American tycoons, the same impulses emerge. Cast forward from them to the contemporary elite – the sheikhs, the geeks, the oligarchs, and the bankers, they follow a familiar path.

First, how do people become rich? They do so by fair means and foul, by entrepreneurship, appropriation and inheritance. They make markets and they manipulate them. They defeat the competition; they buy up the opposition or they eliminate it. That is how the robber barons in the mid-late 19th century carved up the steel mills, the railroads and the banks. That is one of the reasons why some have made it in Silicon Valley, while others haven’t.

At an early stage, the laws of gravity intervene. The richer you are, the richer you become. Equally, the poorer you are, the easier it is to fall further. Investment advisers say that making the first 10 million is the hard part. Once you’ve achieved that, beneficent tax regimes, lawyers and regulators will do the rest.

In order to consolidate your wealth, you need to buy influence among the political leadership. Identify the power brokers and ensure they are on your side. The German industrialist Alfred Krupp, who would sell anything to anyone, ensured that not just the Kaiser, but also the Shah of Persia and the Emperor of Brazil were impressed by the entertainment on offer at his Villa Hügel. Medici extended a solemn invitation to popes, dukes and rival businessmen to share mass with him in his intimate private chapel at the palazzo that bears his name. The modern-day fundraiser for the president or game of tennis with the prime minister might be seen as tame.

The super-rich are compulsively competitive – in the making of money and spending of it. Opulence has been manifested differently over the ages, but the psychology underlying it has rarely changed. For slaves, concubines, gold and castles of ancient and medieval times, read private jets, holiday islands and football and baseball clubs of the contemporary era.

Some are obsessive. The mansion owned by Bill Gates, now restored to his place at No 1 in the global rich list , is called Xanadu 2.0. It contains the must-have Olympic-sized pool and underwater music system, 20-seat art–deco cinema and library with domed ceiling. Guests are given a special pin to wear, which connects them to the home’s tech devices, adapting to their pre-declared tastes in music, art, temperature and lighting. Others are gauche. The Lords of the Rings-themed wedding party for Napster founder Sean Parker required construction of a stone castle, two Roman columns and a pen of bunnies “for anyone who wants a cuddle”. And we haven’t even got to the oligarchs and their many tales of excess in Mayfair, Courchevel and on the Côte d’Azur.

The more extravagant the individual, the angrier is their response to criticism – from parliament, press or public. Parker lamented the “angry invective normally reserved for genocidal dictators” . Perhaps he had in mind Zaire’s President Mobutu Sese Seko , his marble folly in the jungle and his runway for his chartered Concordes to take him and wife shopping in Paris. In the height of the protests by the Occupy movement, Tom Perkins, a Californian tech venture capitalist, described the treatment of the 1% as akin to the Nazis’ treatment of the Jews .

Yet, as in centuries past, for most of the super-rich, status symbols are not enough. They become bored and anxious to be remembered for more than making a fortune. What matters most is reputation. They employ a well-paid army to look after their brand, to wash away inconvenient facts about their past. Lawyers are hired to slap libel writs; public relations agents massage the message. Crisis PR is a booming business , helping to divert attention from the antics of offspring and gold-diggers. The shadier the road to wealth that is taken, the more determined is the billionaire to become a pillar of the new establishment, emulating the manners and the lifestyles of those who became rich before them.

In ancient times, it was important to fund an army. During the Roman republic, Crassus made his money by dubious means (training his slaves to become fire fighters just as fires were mysteriously taking place across Rome. He then built new properties, providing cheap accommodation to senators who would be beholden to him.) His rise to the ruling triumvirate was effortless, but in order to leave his mark, he needed to finance Rome’s ventures to the east – and ultimately to lead them. He came to a sticky end (molten gold poured down his throat, so the myth went) on the Parthian fields.

In medieval Europe, the papacy was the key route up the social ladder. One of the surest routes to profit for the Medici Bank was the Vatican account. Trouble was that, according to the scriptures, lending was a sin. A deal was done whereby the transactions were redesignated. Yet the older he became, the more exercised did Cosimo become at the fate that might meet him on death. The pope was happy to absolve him of any financial impropriety. Yet Medici wanted to leave a tangible mark, funding churches, hospitals, monasteries and orphanages. He is now remembered almost exclusively for his munificence, rather than the route he took to attaining wealth: reputation management (or laundering) par excellence.

They have been at it ever since; they are at it now. Anyone who is anyone is at Davos , or the secretive Bilderberg conferences , or at a society wedding in the English countryside, preferably with a junior royal in tow. Social success is all but guaranteed. The new elite merges with the established one. Old money was new money once.

In some societies, particularly Islamic ones, the wealthy bestow their largesse on religious foundations. It is said that Mansa Musa bestowed so much gold on his Hajj that the price remained depressed for a decade. On that pilgrimage to Mecca, he ordered a mosque built wherever his procession stopped en route. Centuries later, Suleiman the Magnificent funded religious schools. Present day rulers in the Gulf follow in that line. In the US, many a wealthy individual will fund a church. Education philanthropy is another sure route to respectability. Russians and Chinese are dispensing their largesse to British private boarding schools . Harvard is spoilt for choice for opportunities to name its buildings.

Most of the action, however, is in art. Nothing beats a gallery opening for the wealthy to feel wanted. From John Paul Getty to Roman Abramovich , for decades they are have been scouring the auction houses to snap up any old master or contemporary work of note. Once that is secured, they need to build their own galleries to house them. The market leader is Qatar. The woman at the heart of its giant acquisitions programme, Sheikha al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (the sister of the Emir), has a brief to purchase, sponsor and create new palaces of culture in the sand. Just as wealth moves east so inexorably is hard power – and soft power. Status and reputation have always followed money.

In the complex psychology of the super-rich, victimhood is a natural concomitant to entitlement. By the same token, a sense of innate superiority is the flip side to the desperate yearning for reputation. Like the robber barons, billionaire philanthropists such as Warren Buffett and Gates have come to believe that they are best placed to spend the money that might otherwise have gone into state budgets from taxation. These titans believe that the same brainpower that produced technological invention can be transferred to solving some of the world’s most intractable problems in health and poverty. “If you take innovation and smart people,” declares Gates, reciting a Microsoft mantra, “you can pull together some pretty smart things.”

It is no coincides that Buffett gave his buddy Gates the copy of a small book. It is less a book, more a long essay, but to the super-rich of the modern day it is the bible. The Gospel of Wealth helps to explain why some great men become rich, and why most rich men become great. It is written in 1889, at the height of the Gilded Age, by Andrew Carnegie, who made his fortune by carving up the steel mills, railroads and banks with the likes of John D Rockefeller. Having made his money, Carnegie set his sights elsewhere, endowing libraries and other education institutions across the US and in his native Scotland.

Carnegie sets out the standard mantra for wealth creation of flexible labour markets, low taxation and soft regulation. So far, so predictable: what matters is what comes next. The richest man in America when he sold his company (to Morgan), Carnegie became a disciple of Herbert Spencer, an English thinker of the Darwin school who wrote copiously about man’s drive for perfection. There must, Carnegie believed, be a reason why he and his friends had become so rich; and there must be a purpose for their wealth. Carnegie’s Gospel spelt out in details the obligation of great man to perform philanthropic deeds. Giving money away in your will is not good enough; it has to be dispensed with during your lifetime. “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced,” Carnegie wrote.

The genius of Carnegie is that he provides the philosophical underpinning for the 1% – or so they hope. According to this logic, it matters not a jot how you make your money. Once you have reached the pinnacle, you can carve your reputation. Only the most foolish members of this club fail in this endeavour.

The Rich, From Slaves to Super-Yachts, a 2000-Year History, is published by Little Brown.

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UK only G7 country with wider inequality than at turn of century

Grotesque inequality is not a natural part of being human

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The superyacht world is speculating that Mark Zuckerberg just bought this 118-meter boat

• The 118-meter superyacht Launchpad made her maiden voyage last week.
• The yacht world is speculating that her owner is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
• Here's what we know about the luxury vessel.

In the world of superyachts , privacy is the most valuable asset. It can be next to impossible to discern the details of a superyacht transaction — and that's particularly true if the vessel in question is worth nine figures.

Yet some in the boat blogging world are speculating that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the new owner of Launchpad, a megayacht currently moored in Fort Lauderdale, Florida after she made her maiden voyage from Gibraltar to St Maarten last week. Launchpad clocks in at 118 meters long, about nine meters shorter than Jeff Bezos' superyacht Koru .

The transaction could not be confirmed, with yacht world insiders declining to share what they know and representatives for Zuckerberg not responding to a request for comment from Business Insider. In the past, reports about Zuckerberg owning superyacht Ulysses have proven false.

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"It is Feadship's standard policy to never divulge any information about our yachts with reference to ownership, costs, or delivery, etc," Feadship, the ship's builder, wrote to BI. "Whether it is an 18-meter Feadship from the 1960s or a 118-meter Feadship from the 21st century, we do not share private information."

But Zuckerberg's name has been connected to Launchpad for a few months now, beginning in December when reports swirled that he visited Feadship's shipyard in the Netherlands.

Then, earlier in March, yachting bloggers like eSysman SuperYachts and Autoevolution started speculating that he officially snagged the boat, originally built for a sanctioned Russian businessman, at a $300 million price tag. (While that's a seemingly huge amount, it's still less than 0.2% of Zuckerberg's $177 billion net worth.)

Another clue that might point to US ownership is that the yacht bears the flag of the Marshall Islands, a US territory and commonplace for American buyers to register their ships, according to public marine tracking.

If Zuckerberg were to have bought Launchpad, he would join a cohort of superyacht-owning tech billionaires . Along with Bezos, the likes of Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison and Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have purchased impressive boats with even more impressive amenities.

SuperYacht Times , an industry publication and intelligence platform, has some of the best images of the yacht. Photos show a swimming pool on her main deck and a large helipad.

While less is known of the interior, a vessel of her size can likely sleep dozens of guests and crew and may have amenities like an expansive gym where Zuckerberg could practice his jiu-jitsu or a spa with a massage area. We suspect there's also space for plenty of toys — which could include his viral hydrofoil foil .

Do you have any details about Launchpad or any other superyachts? Email reporter Madeline Berg at [email protected].

Watch: Walmart heiress' superyacht vandalized by activists in Ibiza

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New Lexus LY 680 Is A Super-Luxe Yacht With Up To 2,700 HP

The new luxury yacht from Lexus that's powered by twin Volvo engines has more space for relaxation and activities in the extended outdoor areas

by Thanos Pappas

Ah, luxury yachts —constantly vying for attention like competitive siblings at a family reunion. Enter Lexus with their latest creation: the LY 680 yacht. It’s like the LY 650’s cooler, more sophisticated sibling who just got back from a gap year in the Mediterranean and now boasts an expanded flybridge and swimming platform.

The design of the LY 680 closely mirrors that of the LY 650, which is far from a drawback considering the latter’s reputation as one of the most aesthetically pleasing products in the Lexus lineup . The flybridge has been extended by a substantial 1,400 mm (55 inches), providing ample space for relaxation and activities, including a spacious lounge sofa and a barbecue grill.

Additionally, the swimming platform at the rear has been elongated by 700 mm (27.6 inches), allowing for easier watercraft parking and more room for ocean plunges.

More: Bentley Can Now Furnish Your Yacht To Match Your Car’s Interior

After the redesign, the yacht’s length now stretches to 20.66 m (67 ft 9.4 inches), compared to its predecessor’s 19.94 m (65 ft 5 inches) footprint. The LY 680 is powered by twin Volvo Penta IPS engines, available in a choice of two outputs: 1,050 hp or 1,350 hp for each unit, or up to 2,700 hp combined. Lexus boasts that the LY 680 delivers ‘stable maneuverability, excellent ride comfort, and quietness,’ all par for the course for vessels of this size.

The spacious and luxurious interior remains unchanged, featuring a kitchen and comfortable seating area on the main level. We can also see the master bedroom and another living room underneath. In total, there are three rooms and up to six beds available. According to Lexus, the luxury yacht should feel like a “hideout in the middle of the sea, providing a space where discerning customers can feel free and at ease”.

The Lexus LY680 is exclusively available for order in Japan through the Toyota Marine sales offices and select dealers. Production will be handled by superyacht manufacturer Horizon Group in Asia, with the first deliveries anticipated in the spring of 2026. While Lexus has not disclosed pricing details, it’s anticipated to be in line with the previous model, which was listed at around $3.5 million before taxes and options

Interested parties can explore a 1/20 scale model of the LY 680 at the Japan International Boat Show in Yokohama. Depending on customer demand, Lexus may contemplate broadening the yacht’s availability to international markets.

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Biden Calls for Higher Taxes on Corporations and the Wealthy

The budget, which would cut the deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade, reinforces Biden’s efforts to counter Republican tax proposals that Democrats deride as giveaways to the wealthy.

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By Alan Rappeport

Reporting from Washington

• March 11, 2024

The budget that President Biden released on Monday projects to cut deficits by $3 trillion over a decade, and it does so with an approach that has become familiar: tax increases for companies and the wealthy.

The president previewed several of the proposals in his State of the Union speech last week and contrasted them with those of Republicans, who have called for extending most of the $2 trillion of tax cuts that former President Donald J. Trump signed into law in 2017. For Mr. Biden, tax policy has been at the center of his efforts to make the economy more equitable and to counter Republican tax proposals that Democrats deride as giveaways to the wealthy.

“Does anybody here think the tax code’s fair?” Mr. Biden said during remarks in New Hampshire on Monday. “I don't either.”

Biden Plan Would Raise Taxes on Corporations and the Wealthy

The proposals in president biden’s budget plan, including the tax increases, project to reduce deficits by about $3 trillion over a decade..

It’s my goal to cut the federal debt even more by making big corporations and the very wealthy begin to pay their fair share. I’m not anticorporation. I represented the state of Delaware. More corporations incorporated in Delaware than every other state in America combined. Combined. But guess what? But I’m a capitalist, man. Make all the money you want. Just begin to pay your fair share, your taxes. I had a tax code that charged them [billionaires] 25 percent. Not the highest rate — 25 percent. You know how much that would raise over the next 10 years? $400 billion. [$400] billion a year. Imagine what we could do, from cutting the deficit to providing for child care, to providing health care, to continue to provide our military with all they need. So, folks, look, this is not beyond our capacity.

Overall, Mr. Biden is proposing $5 trillion in additional taxes on corporations and high earners over the next decade. Here’s what those increases would entail:

Corporate tax increases

The budget employs a mix of approaches to make American corporations pay more in federal taxes. That includes raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent, which is the level that was set by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Mr. Biden also calls for increasing what’s known as the corporate minimum tax to 21 percent from 15 percent. That tax, which was passed by Democrats in 2022, applies to corporations that report annual income of more than $1 billion to shareholders on their financial statements but use deductions, credits and other preferential tax treatments to reduce their effective tax rates well below the statutory 21 percent . White House economists estimate increasing the tax could yield $137 billion in new tax revenue over a decade.

The president would also quadruple a 1 percent surcharge on corporate stock buybacks. That tax passed along party lines in 2022.

Corporate and private jet use also would face higher costs under the budget, which proposes raising fuel taxes “so that corporate executives and other wealthy Americans pay their fair share for the use of airspace and other public services related to air travel.” The budget also seeks to eliminate a tax break for corporate jet purchases.

And executive pay is also targeted in the budget. The White House proposes denying corporate deductions for all compensation associated with employees who earn more than $1 million. That goes beyond current tax laws, which only denies such deductions for top executives.

The budget also assumes that a global tax agreement the United States helped broker in 2021 will be enacted, despite the fact that Republicans have refused to entertain the new levy. Under that agreement, more than 130 countries pledged to enact minimum corporate tax rates of 15 percent that firms must pay on their foreign earnings. Mr. Biden wants the U.S. rate to be increased from 10.5 percent, which is not compliant with the agreement, to 21 percent.

Higher taxes for the wealthiest

Since the 2020 presidential campaign, Mr. Biden has pledged that none of his policies would increase taxes on households that earn less than $400,000. The latest budget keeps its laser focus on the wealthiest 1 percent.

Mr. Biden wants to raise the tax rate on capital gains such as stock sales for individuals who earn more than $400,000 to 39.6 percent. He also reiterated calls to close the so-called carried interest loophole that allows wealthy hedge fund managers and private equity executives to pay lower tax rates than entry-level employees.

The budget also includes another attempt at a version of a wealth tax, a complex concept that has long been an ambition of progressives.

The proposal would impose a 25 percent “billionaire tax” on individuals with wealth, defined as the total value of their assets, of more than $100 million. The goal is to prevent the wealthiest Americans from employing tax strategies that allow them to pay lower tax rates than those of middle-class households.

One of the challenges of so-called wealth taxes is figuring out how to determine the value of certain kinds of assets such as art, yachts and other holdings. A Treasury Department document outlining the mechanics of the tax proposals, said that a lot would be left to the discretion of the Treasury Secretary, who would have the authority to approve methods for assessing the value of “non-tradeable” assets. Treasury said that taxpayers would have the opportunity to appeal valuations and have their assets appraised.

Emboldening the Internal Revenue Service

One of Mr. Biden’s biggest priorities during his first term has been revamping the Internal Revenue Service, which received an $80 billion funding boost through the Inflation Reduction Act.

Republicans have been eagerly chipping away at those funds and have already succeeded in clawing back $20 billion of that money.

The White House budget restores those clawbacks and extends the tax collection agency’s modernization money with an additional $104 billion through 2034.

The Biden administration has argued that investments in the I.R.S. enable the federal government to collect more tax revenue without raising tax rates by compelling companies and wealthy tax evaders to pay what they owe. The Treasury Department has estimated that the so-called “tax gap” of revenue that goes uncollected was nearly $700 billion in 2021.

The White House estimated that the additional I.R.S. investments would create $237 billion in net savings over a decade.

Using taxes to shore up retirement programs

Mr. Biden is also calling for new efforts to improve the solvency of Social Security and Medicare, including making wealthy Americans pay more into the programs.

In the budget, he opposes benefit cuts for the programs and any additional contributions from workers earning less than $400,000 a year. On Monday, Shalanda Young, the White House budget director, implied that Mr. Biden would look to shore up Social Security in part by targeting a cap on income subject to the payroll taxes that feed the program. She said Mr. Biden would improve its solvency “by asking high-income Americans to pay their fair share. If you make a million dollars in this country, you are done paying your Social Security taxes sometime in February.”

The budget also calls for increasing the Medicare and net investment income tax rates by 1.2 percentage points for taxpayers with more than $400,000 of earnings.

Most likely dead on arrival

Many of Mr. Biden’s proposals have appeared in similar forms in his previous budgets, and administration officials acknowledged that even when Democrats controlled the House and the Senate it was not possible to pass a wealth tax.

The budget fell flat with Republicans in Congress on Monday. Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, described it as “chock-full of corner cutting to circumvent congressional spending caps” and warned that it “presents shortsighted plans to burn through Americans’ pocketbooks.”

The Trump campaign predicted, without offering an analysis, that Mr. Biden’s proposed tax increases would lead to the “immediate” loss of approximately one million jobs.

Jim Tankersley contributed reporting

Alan Rappeport is an economic policy reporter, based in Washington. He covers the Treasury Department and writes about taxes, trade and fiscal matters. More about Alan Rappeport

Our Coverage of the 2024 Elections

Presidential Race

President Biden, amping up a populist pitch in his re-election campaign, has repeatedly said he would raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations to make them pay their “fair share.” But his record so far is as a net tax cutter .

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said that she would not vote for former President Donald Trump . She also did not rule out the possibility of leaving the Republican Party.

Four years after the pandemic began, Covid-19 receives little discussion on the campaign trail. But its shadow continues to play a profound role in voters’ pessimism and distrust  amid a Biden-Trump rematch.

Other Key Races

Kari Lake, a Trump acolyte running for Senate in Arizona, is struggling to walk away from the controversial positions  that have turned off independents and alienated establishment Republicans.

Ohio will almost certainly go for Trump this November. Senator Sherrod Brown, the last Democrat holding statewide office, will need to defy the gravity of the presidential contest  to win a fourth term.

March 19 was the biggest primary night since Super Tuesday, and there were few surprises in the results. Here are the key takeaways .

Vietnam travel agency's experience of serving super-rich tourists

V IP tourists who come on private tours spend US$15,000 a day, demand unique experiences and prefer to see Vietnam's sidewalk culture rather than be cocooned, a travel operator says.

Nguyen Duc Hanh, CEO of All Asia Vacation, which recently arranged a tour for American tech billionaire Bill Gates in Vietnam in early March, says his company has provided services to many well-heeled tourists from around the world including Hollywood stars, tennis legends and CEOs of leading corporations in the last 20 years.

Most of them spend an average of $500 a day, though some spend up to $15,000, he says.

However, access to billionaires and other global celebrities is extremely difficult, and Hanh's company had to find a way to contact their personal managers to introduce its tour products.

Its most time-consuming campaign, one that lasted five years, was to enter the ecosystem of a high-end travel company in the U.S.

Its clients are global celebrities and billionaires.

Hanh had to pay an initial $150,000 and then annual fees.

He then waited for five years for his partner to arrange an appointment in the U.S., opening up opportunities to reach potential customers.

He says all tour packages for that company's clients have to be designed to meet individual preferences.

The most difficult tour program he ever did was in April 2017 for one of the four richest people in Canada.

Their group of 11 people wanted to unwind for a while in Da Nang before traveling to Quang Binh to visit Son Doong, the world's largest cave.

Hanh's company had to address two issues.

Firstly, the billionaire guests did not have the time to sit in a car for six hours to go from Da Nang to Quang Binh by road.

Secondly, bookings for Son Doong tours are limited and full all year, and so arranging a tour at short notice was next to impossible.

Hanh says most super-rich clients do not have the habit of booking tours early and only make last-minute travel decisions, but are willing to spend any amount of money to get the experiences they want.

After innumerable meetings, Hanh's company came up with the solution of flying by seaplane, an hour's journey.

At first the seaplane operators refused saying "there is no such route."

But with great effort a "new route" was launched to serve a group of just 11.

The aircraft flew at low altitude, enabling the billionaire from Canada, whose identity remains a secret, and his friends to see Vietnam's beautiful coastline.

Then Hanh’s company managed to arrange a private tour of Son Doong for the guests.

Hanh says: "Nothing is impossible. Saying no also means shutting the door to your customers."

Tourist destinations in Vietnam are no longer esoteric for international travelers, and so Hanh's company has found ways to offer new travel experiences.

For example, in Ha Long Bay, a well-off customer can easily book the most expensive yacht to stay overnight in the bay.

But billionaires want their experiences to be unique.

Ha Long Bay has many beautiful beaches but are not used for many reasons, including safety. When the tide rises, some beaches are submerged.

To create a unique experience, Hanh's company obtained permission from various government agencies to use one such beach during low tide. It then threw a party there and cleaned up after it was over.

The next morning, when the billionaire woke up in his yacht, he saw that the beach where the party had been held was underwater.

"Creativity is especially important in arranging tours for the super-rich," Hanh says.

Even though trips are carefully prepared in every detail, mistakes can still occur.

Hanh once arranged a tour for a VIP couple to learn cooking at a famous chef's house in Hoi An. The guests really liked it but said later the chef's space was too large, making them feel "out of place."

On another occasion, he organized a tour for some wealthy visitors by helicopter from Hanoi to Sa Pa and Sa Pa to Ha Giang.

The Hanoi-Sa Pa trip went well, but when it was time for the second leg the weather was cloudy and the helicopter could not take off.

"You can't blame the weather," Hanh says, but adds that a trip for super-rich guests always has at least two backup plans.

In this case the tour operator told the guests to travel by car instead and added extra services as "compensation."

After many years of serving uber rich tourists, Hanh realizes that Vietnam has lots going for it, especially in terms of landscapes and culture and its people’s friendliness.

He says many billionaires prefer to experience the sidewalk culture rather than be reclusive.

"They come to Vietnam because they like the unique culture."

Nevertheless, Vietnam finds it difficult to attract VIP guests due to its lack of direct flights, unfriendly visa policies and complicated procedures for getting permissions for special services.

Super-rich people from North America who want to visit Vietnam mostly have to transit en route, a tedious task that puts many off, Hanh points out.

Gates, accompanied by his partner Paula Hurd, came on a four-day tour to the central coastal city of Da Nang from March 4.

All Asia Vacation arranged a private tour for them to learn about Vietnamese tea and meditation on Ban Co mountain peak along with tea artiste Hoang Anh Suong.

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Why Does the “Road House” Remake Pull Its Punches?

By Justin Chang

Imagine that you’re a bouncer in a scuzzy small-town bar where some of the world’s nastiest drunks go at one another with fists, knives, and broken beer bottles—and that’s on a good night. Forced to risk life and limb intervening in non-stop flareups of physical violence, what do you do? A better question: What would Patrick Swayze do? The movie is “Road House,” a critically mauled, cult-reclaimed smash-’em-up from 1989, and Swayze, as Dalton, the bar’s newly hired cooler, offers a handy crash course in the art of de-escalation. “One, never underestimate your opponent. Expect the unexpected,” he says. “Two, take it outside. Never start anything inside the bar unless it’s absolutely necessary. And, three, be nice.”

Sound advice, and, until the time comes for him to rip out an assailant’s throat, Dalton heeds it scrupulously. He minds his manners, underestimates (almost) no one, and takes to the outdoors like a Zen monk, his oil-slicked torso catching the sunlight just so during Tai Chi practice. But not every Swayze character is oily in such a desirable way. In the eerie Reaganite suburbia of “Donnie Darko” (2001), an even darker vision of the nineteen-eighties, we find Swayze as Jim Cunningham, a smooth motivational speaker with a bad case of soul rot. In lieu of self-defense tips, he offers useless self-help platitudes: “Son, violence is a product of fear. Learn to truly love yourself.” No wonder it’s so satisfying when the troubled young Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) steps up to the mike and lets this charlatan have it: “I think you’re the fucking Antichrist.”

The confrontation is over almost before it begins, but watching it again recently I couldn’t help imagining what would have happened if the two had come to blows. In a bout between Donnie Darko and Dirty Dancer, who would win? Swayze had already moved on from the action-movie glories of “Road House” and “Point Break” (1991), but could he have prevailed based on his golden-god physicality alone? Or would the young Gyllenhaal have revealed, beneath the baby fat and the gawky smile, some of the vengeful fighting spirit he would later display in the frenzied boxing drama “Southpaw” (2015)?

The energetic but dim remake of “Road House,” directed by Doug Liman, is hardly the picture to settle the question, much less inspire any new ones. The movie passes from memory as quickly as it passes on the screen. But there’s a poignancy to the sight of Gyllenhaal, now forty-three and shredded to the max, paying tribute to his late former screen partner. Gyllenhaal’s Dalton isn’t a bouncer by trade. He had been an Ultimate Fighting Championship star until he snapped and pummelled an opponent to a pulp—a career-ending trauma that still haunts his dreams. Now he lives out of his car and is trying to earn money by signing up for freelance fights. But even the toughest opponents (including one played by Austin Post, a.k.a. the rapper Post Malone) tend to forfeit in fear.

It’s at one of these aborted fights that Dalton catches the attention of Frankie (Jessica Williams), who offers him a job cooling the riffraff at her roadhouse down in the Florida Keys. After briefly weighing his options, including suicide, Dalton accepts. But why? Does he want to visit Ernest Hemingway’s house or check out the bridge that got blown up in “True Lies” (1994)? Maybe he realizes that he still has some fight in him; then again, maybe he thinks his death wish might yet be granted. In any case, Gyllenhaal is a skilled enough actor to keep you guessing. His earnest Eagle Scout grin has always possessed an animating touch of madness; you’ll even find traces of it in his good-guy roles, in “Zodiac” (2007) and “Prisoners” (2013), where his characters’ dogged pursuit of justice tilts a bit too easily into obsession. A little of this ferocity goes a long way: witness his most flamboyantly creepy turn, in the unhinged media satire “Nightcrawler” (2014). Here, his undercurrent of menace works nicely; it’s just the thing to throw an otherwise formulaic affair pleasurably off balance. In that respect, “Road House” is very much in his wheelhouse.

The first “Road House” was directed by Rowdy Herrington, presumably because Stompy McFisticuffs was unavailable. Released theatrically in May, 1989, the movie got a bit lost during a summer that brought us “Batman,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” “Lethal Weapon 2,” “Ghostbusters II,” “The Abyss,” and “Licence to Kill.” Fire “Road House” up again thirty-five years later, though, and an exploding jukebox of trashy delights awaits, along with a jolting reminder of what Hollywood action movies used to look like. The flesh comes in two forms, seductively photographed and viciously pulverized. The idiot plot is delivered with an impressively straight face: night after night, brawl after brawl, the bar becomes ground zero in a battle for a small town’s soul. On one side are a scheming tycoon and his team of regulation plug-uglies. On the other side are Dalton, his bouncers, a sexy doctor, a few salt-of-the-earth grunts, and a drawling Sam Elliott, who proves Dalton’s equal—and maybe even his superior—in pinup-worthy pulchritude.

The remake’s writers, Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, stick to the first film’s narrative blueprint, as if to signal a return to B-movie basics. The hope is that you’ll chuckle more in recognition than in derision when a doctor (Daniela Melchior) provides Dalton with more than strictly medical attention, or when the movie’s highly swattable rich-boy villain (Billy Magnussen) swans around on a yacht. A far more formidable figure is the hit man Knox, an aptly named fortress of a fellow who, as played by the professional fighter Conor McGregor, crashes through the proceedings like an Irish-accented wrecking ball. McGregor’s flamboyant line readings may be as painful to endure as his punches, but he has wild-eyed energy to burn, and he gets a hell of an entrance, striding through an open marketplace with nary a stitch of clothing or a hint of shame. It’s a good sight gag, even as it reveals a certain timidity in the movie: it’s telling that the one instance of nudity is played not for titillation but for laughs.

Everyone else stays mostly covered, frequent shots of Gyllenhaal’s slashed and battered torso notwithstanding. “Road House” itself often feels hemmed in, awkwardly suspended between modern-day genre outing and unironic eighties-movie homage. The writers have understandably discarded some of the original’s less palatable lines (“I used to fuck guys like you in prison!”), and they’ve added a little snap to the material, mainly courtesy of a hungry crocodile. Less successfully, they’ve coated dialogue in a hip sheen of self-awareness: hence the friendly bookstore worker (Hannah Lanier) who likens Dalton, rather wishfully, to a character in a Western. Which Western, exactly? “The Man Who Plowed His 4x4 Into Liberty Valance”?

In an unsurprising concession to our era of instant gratification, Gyllenhaal’s Dalton begins hurting people a lot sooner than his predecessor did. He does still endeavor to be nice, though, and it’s amusing when he brings a group of troublemakers outside, teaches them all a well-earned lesson, and then drives them to the hospital. They’re lucky, at least for now. Yet to come are wounds that no doctor can treat, some of them inflicted by boats and others by bombs. (Both “Road House” movies bear the stamp of the veteran producer Joel Silver, for whom fiery explosions are a gratifying must.) You can see why the violence, toggling between intimate, close-quarters stabbery and Looney Tunes-level absurdism, must have appealed to Liman, who’s proved a smart, versatile action director, in films as different as “The Bourne Identity” (2002) and “Edge of Tomorrow” (2014). He wisely shoots the bar brawls in mostly long, uninterrupted takes, moving the camera in synch with the actors and cutting more for clarity than sensation. But such continuity of movement has a way of spoiling its own illusion, exposing digital seams and artificial thwacks that have clearly been applied in post-production.

It may be that the uncanny-valley flaws are more glaringly apparent on the big screen. If so, most viewers will never see them, owing to some behind-the-scenes butting of heads that’s nearly as outlandish as the melees onscreen. It’s a measure of the new Hollywood economy that, despite having premièred earlier this month to a raucous and appreciative audience at the SXSW film festival, “Road House” is bypassing theatres entirely and beaming directly into your Amazon Prime Video queue. Liman has protested the decision, and it’s hard not to empathize. “Road House” is far from a great movie, but what pleasures it generates, novel or nostalgic, muscular or meagre, are surely best experienced—and possibly even magnified—in the company of a crowd. ♦

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