1.2 billion dollar yacht

The World’s Largest Luxury Yacht is priced at $1 Billion

By Adrian Prisca

Updated on August 31, 2017

The world’s largest luxury yacht is Eclipse , owned by Russian billionaire and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, an amazing 536 ft-long yacht which is 5 ft longer than Dubai, the previous yacht which hold the record for the world’s largest boat. Eclipse features eleven luxurious guest cabins with 6 ft home cinema screens each and breathtaking amenities, two swimming pools, a disco hall and even two helicopter pads.

The larger swimming pool can be even turned into a dance floor when the water is drained out. Guests of the Eclipse can enjoy partying here without worrying about paparazzi because this luxury yacht has a special electronic shield which protects the yacht from unwanted attention. A maximum security system which includes a missile detector and a bullet proof glass for the master suite makes it one of the most protected yachts out there as well.

The Eclipse superyacht also features three launch boats and even a mini submarine if guests want to explore the waters around. It’s price? The largest luxury yacht in the world is probably the most expensive as well and it’s priced at $1.2 Billion.

About Adrian Prisca

Founder of Luxatic and countless other projects, Adrian has shaped this website into a go-to source for discerning readers looking for the latest in luxury products and experiences. He has over 15 years of experience in creating, managing and publishing lifestyle content across numerous platforms and he’s considered a leading voice in the luxury industry. Learn more about Luxatic's Editorial Process .

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Eclipse – The World’s Most Expensive Private Yacht

In the world of soccer, Roman Abramovich is a popular figure as he owns the leading English club, Chelsea. The Russian businessman helped the Blues become a big spender in the transfer market, bringing brilliant players like Arjen Robben, Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, etc. to offer the beautiful game to club supporters across the world.

In addition to the Chelsea football team, which is a beauty on soccer fields, Abramovich owns another marvel: a private yacht named Eclipse.

The 162.5m-long beauty Eclipse is the world’s second-largest and one of the most expensive superyachts. Its estimated cost is 590 million (€340 million), and its current owner has owned it since December 2010.

A synonym for luxury, this superyacht is best suited for all adventure and water sports activities and provides splendid trips to cultural and historical destinations.

Built by renowned German shipbuilder Blohm + Voss, the Eclipse was launched in June 2009 after five years of design, development, and testing. Before its final delivery, several sea trials were conducted starting in May 2009 at Kristiansand, Norway.

When delivered, Eclipse won the spot for the largest superyacht in the world, beating the 162m-long M/Y Dubai of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. Eclipse retained the title until the arrival of the 180m-long Azzam, UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s private yacht in 2013. Currently managed by Blue Ocean Yacht Management, Eclipse was selected as the Motor Yacht of the Year in 2011 at the World Superyacht Awards.

Specifications of Eclipse Yacht

As mentioned earlier, this tremendous superyacht measures 162.5m (533’1″ft) in length, 22.00m (72’2″ft) in width and 5.90m (19’4″ft) in the draft, offering a vast area for luxurious leisure activities. The Bermuda-flagged Lloyds Register class yacht has a Gross Tonnage of 13000 tonnes.

Eclipse is powered by a diesel-electric, dual propulsion system with four MTU 20V 1163 TB93 marine diesel engines, offering the latest propulsion technology for maximum speed performance. These engines power the rotating Azipod drives, giving the yacht a maximum speed of 25 knots and a cruise speed of 22. Featuring 1,000,000 litres of fuel tanks, Eclipse can travel up to 6,000 nautical miles at 21 knots before refuelling. The boat also can store about 150,000 litres of freshwater abroad.

Interior and Exterior Design

While Blohm + Voss provided the naval architecture, Terence Disdale Design carried out the superstructure design of the Eclipse. The UK-based award-winning firm was also responsible for interior design, deck layouts, and construction supervision.

Incidentally, the vessel’s construction was performed with great secrecy, and due to this reason, the project was named Project Luxury Yacht M 147 throughout the construction period. However, the details of the technical design and construction of the yacht have not been revealed to the public; the design and layout are available for people to marvel at.

Divided into nine decks, the top deck of Eclipse is taken up by the helicopters and garage. The swimming pool and sundeck go on level eight, while level seven features a pool, atrium and an open deck. The salon, main dining hall and a 40ft X 60ft full-beam loggia are located on the sixth level, and the fourth floor features the main entrance of the yacht. While the next level of the yacht divides the cabins and suites of the owner, guests and crew, the second deck of the vessel acts as a docking port for the submarine. Level one accommodates the engine room, machinery, and a small disco club.

The superyacht with a displacement steel hull has an aluminium superstructure, while its decks become magnificent, featuring teak woods. To offer a smooth cruising experience, the yacht features an ultra-modern stabilization system that minimises the roll motion effect and is equipped with ‘at anchor stabilisers’ to increase comfort when the boat is stationary. Featuring the Art Deco interior design, with an innovative, technology-rich environment and the use of soft metallic fabrics, Eclipse offers a splendid living experience for its owner. With diverse facilities across the decks, the yacht meets the optimum standard of offering a leisure time platform.

The entire yacht has been bejewelled with features to make it more luxurious. Spread across many decks, Eclipse facilities abroad include a gym, dance floor, underwater lights, beach club, wifi connection, beauty salon, tender, garage, deck jacuzzi, etc. Further, the Eclipse holds two helipads and a 16 m swimming pool that can be converted into a dance floor. This motor yacht can accommodate three helicopters, two on both helipads and the third one in a storage hangar below the foredeck. Moreover, Eclipse also flaunts internal lifts, six tenders and an exterior fireplace on-board. The boat also features a place for a three-person private submarine that can go up to a depth of 160ft.

Eclipse is also one of the most technologically advanced yachts around the world.  The boat boasts the latest technology safety features, including motion sensors, bulletproof glass and antiballistic missile defence.  In fact, each cabin in the yacht comes with a private 6ft home cinema screen, a Jacuzzi, a spa and specialized security systems. According to reports, Eclipse has an anti-paparazzi system that detects the use of digital cameras to click photographs of the boat. Using lasers, the system detects digital cameras and disrupts a potential picture of the yacht, as those infrared lights can make it unstable.

Accommodation

The yacht has 11 staterooms and suites, totalling 6000 square feet. With this facility, Eclipse can house 30 guests and a 92-member staff crew abroad. The master suite, located on level five of the yacht, is 5000 square feet alone. In addition, the boat also has a pilothouse on level seven.

With all these facilities incorporated, maintaining the Eclipse is not a less expensive matter. An annual expense of over $60 million is reportedly required to maintain this luxury boat. According to media reports, Abramovich charges its customers around £ 175,000 to rent the vessel for a day.

You may also like to read –

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About Author

Raunek Kantharia is a marine engineer turned maritime writer and entrepreneur. After a brief stint at the sea, he founded Marine Insight in 2010. Apart from managing Marine Insight, he also writes for a number of maritime magazines and websites.

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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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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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What the US$600M 'world's biggest yacht' will look like inside

It's set to be one of the largest private residence yachts in the world when it launches in 2024, but what does a luxury apartment on board the 728 foot (221 metres) Somnio actually look like?

Interior renderings of the US$600 million vessel have just been unveiled, offering a glimpse inside what's being described as the world's first "yacht liner."

While all 39 of the floating apartments, which come with a private balcony or terrace, are said to be "fully customizable," some of the options showcased include huge shell-shaped beds, expansive living areas with ocean views, and wall-length mirrors.

FLOATING HOMES

Prices start from around $11 million, with sizes ranging from 1,600 to 6,500 square feet -- the largest condo takes up most of the top deck.

Somnio, which means "to dream '' in Latin, was designed by Winch Design and Tillberg Design of Sweden, and will be built by Norwegian ship designer and builder VARD.

The interior renderings were devised by Winch Design, Tillberg Design of Sweden along with Luttenberger Design.

Those who snap up a condo on "the most exclusive address in the world" will get to work with one of the design teams for up to three months in order to "decide the room configurations and select the materials, furniture, lighting and artwork."

EXCLUSIVE ADDRESS

A gym, a library, inside and outside dining spaces, "distinct" dressing areas and a "vast living room space with 270-degree forward views" are among the options available, although the layout is to be based on the buyer's preferences.

The identity of the owners will be kept secret, but all residents will have access to full concierge services "for both onboard and land-based needs."

"As the only residential superyacht in the world, we are delighted to work with designers that complement our exacting standards," Captain Erik Bredhe, co-founder of Somnio, said in a statement.

"Our owners will experience only the best, as is befitting of a yacht of this nature."

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS

According to its designers, sustainability will be a key focus for Somnio, which is to be constructed with the "latest clean engine technology" along with materials and products to "create environmentally responsible interior design with a reduced impact" where possible.

Among the shared on board amenities onboard available include a 10,000-bottle capacity wine cellar and tasting room along with a lounge located in the ship's bow, a spa, a movie theater, restaurants and a beach club.

Residents will be charged an annual fee to cover expenses like maintenance and repairs, along with fuel and food.

A spokesperson for the project tells CNN Travel that Somnio has attracted exceptional interest since it was unveiled earlier this year, with some apartments already sold.

At present, The World, which measures 643 feet, is the largest private residential yacht on the globe, with a combination of studios as well as one to three-bedroom apartments on board.

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The Billion Dollar Superyacht Business Is Booming

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By Corina Pons (Reuters) – When Chinese billionaire Jack Ma took a trip to Spain’s Mallorca island last month, much was made of it being his first foreign foray since a 2020 fallout with regulators had clipped his wings.

However, Ma’s sunny sojourn on his newly-built 88-meter (289 ft) cruise boat Zen – estimated to be worth $200 million – also put a spotlight on a global trend: the return of the superyacht.

As the number of billionaires grows and COVID-19 has added to incentives for avoiding crowds, the multi-billion-dollar global luxury boat industry is rebounding fast after near-paralysis at the onset of the pandemic.

Related Book: Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht and the Millionaire Who Can’t Really Afford It by G. Bruce Knecht

“2021 is significantly outperforming any of the last 12 years,” said brokers Fraser Yachts.

Sales of luxury vessels longer than 30 meters (98 ft) rose over 8% in the first nine months of 2021 from the same period of 2019 pre-pandemic, according to industry publication the Superyacht Group.

The cost of a superyacht can range from $10 million second-hand to $600 million new, industry figures show.

Over 200 new ones hit the water for the first time this year until September, up from 165 in the same period of 2019, the Superyacht Group said.

Some 330 have been ordered to be ready before 2023.

“Some have seen that their ultra-rich friends who own yachts had a nice time during the pandemic, while they had to lock themselves at home,” said Pepe Garcia, chairman of Spanish shipyards MB92, the world’s leading superyacht refit firm.

“I think this phenomenon is going to last for a few years.”

MB92’s Barcelona shipyard is full to capacity with boats measuring up to 180 meters. Around 1,000 workers paint, fix engines and perform other maintenance for owners seeking to have them ready for the year-end Caribbean season.

The company’s commercial director Txema Rubio said as much as 10% of purchase value tends to be spent annually on maintenance and refits.

And with the number of billionaires soaring to 2,755 – 660 more than a year ago according to Forbes – there is clearly money washing around, even as campaigners decry the impact of private yachts, jets, and space travel on the environment.

‘ALL YOU NEED IS NOW’

Italian yacht builder Ferretti’s order book exceeded 900 million euros ($1.04 billion) in January-September, well above 2019’s full-year 691 million euros.

“There is a beautiful song by Duran Duran called ‘All you need is now’,” mused chief executive Alberto Galassi. “The pandemic has taught us how fragile our life is. Postponing is no longer an option for those who can afford it.”

At Azimut Benetti, another Italian yacht builder, the order book tripled to 1.2 billion euros by August from a year earlier, with U.S. clients driving the demand.

“The real boom started last spring,” said chief executive Marco Valle, adding that clients also sought larger boats.

The yacht sector is one of a few winners in the post-lockdown era. By contrast, just half of large cruise ships had returned to the seas by September under strict anti-COVID measures, the Cruise Lines International Association said.

Despite fears of contagion and extra COVID-related costs for travel, appetite remains high.

Spanish-based travel group Amadeus said cruise demand is on the rise for 2022.

Renting a super-yacht is also an option – if you can afford it.

A one-week luxury charter for up to 12 passengers in Greece or Italy can cost between 300,000 and 500,000 euros, two market sources said. On board facilities include spas, Michelin-level dining, watersports instruction and fitness classes.

In another popular destination, Croatia, around 433,000 people enjoyed a yacht charter holiday this year up to mid-October, 88% more than in 2020, according to the national tourist board.

The boom has plenty of spin-offs.

Refitter MB92 is seeking to expand to the Middle East and the Americas, while its Barcelona neighbor, Marina Port Vell, will build 23 new berths for superyachts.

European investment fund Squircle Capital has stakes in both companies, attracted by the sector’s high margins and evolution.

“We believe there is a very clear tendency of growth and transformation,” said its founder and director Jose Caireta.

($1 = 0.8678 euros) (Reporting by Corina Pons in Madrid, Joan Faus in Barcelona, Elisa Anzolin in Milan, Igor Ilic in Zagreb; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Andrew Cawthorne, Reuters)

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Quackonomics

Medical Properties Trust spent billions buying community hospitals in bewildering deals that made private equity rich and working-class towns reel.

by Maureen Tkacik

May 23, 2023

This article appears in the June 2023 issue of The American Prospect magazine. Subscribe here .

No one in the coastal farming town of Watsonville, California, was much impressed when the cash-strapped owner of their struggling hospital, Quorum Health, announced in June 2019 that it was selling them out to something called Halsen Healthcare.

Halsen was a limited liability vehicle incorporated by a guy named Dan Brothman literally the day before the press release went out. Brothman’s last hospital job had involved orchestrating a diabolical whistleblower retaliation campaign against a doctor who’d written an email to other doctors about the hospital’s precarious finances; it had later emerged in court that the hospital had paid a strip club bouncer to plant a gun in the doctor’s car and get him arrested in a phony “road rage” incident as a means of “humbling” him. It was hard to believe Brothman was allowed to work in a hospital in California, much less own one.

What worried the nurses most was the financing mechanism by which Brothman was proposing to “buy” the Watsonville Community Hospital. First, Halsen would purchase the hospital for $39 million , or $46 million , or $30 million ; the figure fluctuated depending on who was reporting it. Then , Brothman would immediately sell the hospital’s underlying real estate to an Alabama real estate investment trust named Medical Properties Trust (MPT), for $55 million , and lease it back for millions of dollars a year in rent and interest payments. The hospital had always been profitable, employees say, but not profitable enough to cough up $5 million a year in rent.

More from Maureen Tkacik

A town hall to protest the deal drew a crowd of 450. A couple of nurses gave a presentation on the history of the hospital, and how it would run out of money and be forced to sell off the land to developers to pay its debt. There would be nowhere for the community to build a new one; a million dollars was the going price of an 800-square-foot shack in Watsonville. Brothman and his two minions, one of whom he’d just hired away from the small private equity firm that had just bankrupted Philadelphia’s Hahnemann Hospital, sat in the front handicapped seats. Remembers ICU nurse Quiche Rubalcava: “We told them right to their faces how it was going to play out.”

Yet it happened much faster than anyone anticipated. Halsen immediately stopped paying vendors; they ran out of hospital gowns, printer paper, and surgical supplies almost immediately. “It just seemed like a burnout,” says Rubalcava. “Like they were going to burn through everything they could and then bounce.” By the end of 2019, none of the doctors outside the ER, which was managed separately, were getting paid. Two of the intensive care unit’s three doctors quit in early 2020 after a few months of going without paychecks, so Halsen contracted with a telemedicine service, and for most of the pandemic the six-to-ten-patient ICU was supervised by one saintly intensivist who was willing to work without pay for at least a year, and a revolving cast of Teladoc contractors, mostly retired physicians in their seventies and eighties who beamed in from out of state via iPad, when the hospital’s lousy Wi-Fi would accommodate it. “If I’d been a little fresher out of school when it happened,” says a nurse who has worked at Watsonville since the 1990s, “I would have left the profession.”

Medical Properties Trust funneled preposterous quantities of cash into Steward in exchange for increasingly dubious assets.

Halsen had stopped paying the nurses’ health insurance premiums, and frozen their employee savings accounts. Brothman made the rounds every day, asking nurses about their families, ribbing them about when they were going to get married, and promising he would never stiff them . “He always said, our priority is to pay our nurses and to pay our doctors,” remembers Rubalcava. “Period, like he didn’t pretend it was his intention to pay anyone else.” There were whispers that all the money the hospital brought in was going to an address in Los Angeles, that a guy had been overheard bragging to a country club bartender about making $20 million off a hospital deal in Watsonville.

By the end of 2021, the hospital was in bankruptcy protection , where the nurses learned MPT had served Brothman—by that point long gone—with his first default notice 20 months earlier . By then, the hospital owed $40 million in unpaid rent and loans, on top of the value of its real estate. In its first conference call after the bankruptcy, MPT founder Edward Aldag said the firm would be writing off $31 million on the transaction, a hefty sum for an investment with a 2022 book value of just $34.2 million. It seemed obvious to anyone paying attention that Halsen had fleeced the hospital. But why had MPT, which owned some 20 California hospitals and 444 medical properties across 30 other states and nine countries, signed up to be fleeced?

The short answer is that it was all a massive Ponzi scheme. Of course it was: In the age of zero interest rates and private equity rollups, some entire industries devolved into pyramid schemes, and health care companies, with their high barriers to entry and Medicare billing privileges, were particularly vulnerable. It wasn’t even particularly illegal.

The longer answer is that MPT’s Ponzi scheme was not necessarily the legal kind.

THE PLOT THICKENED LESS THAN TWO WEEKS after the earnings call, when The Wall Street Journal revealed that MPT had suspiciously overpaid for another Quorum hospital in Big Spring, Texas, right before the original Watsonville sale, coughing up $26 million to a company called Steward Health Care for the underlying real estate of a facility it had purchased for $11.7 million. The deal was part of a larger, more alarming pattern of MPT funneling preposterous quantities of cash—$5.5 billion over six years—into Steward in exchange for increasingly dubious assets.

Steward is a chain of more than three dozen hospitals that once touted itself as “the ultimate business model for the age of Obamacare.” Unlike Dan Brothman, its cardiac surgeon founder Ralph de la Torre was widely regarded as a genius. He’d hosted a million-dollar Democratic fundraiser featuring Barack Obama at his house after ditching his Republican registration; his own father boasted that “we could drop you into a tribe of cannibals [and] you’d become king of the cannibals.” In 2010, de la Torre had wooed SEIU health care division chairman Dennis Rivera into backing the buyout of Steward by the ruthless private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus had contributed $245.9 million cash to buy the hospitals, which proceeded to hemorrhage cash for four years straight. But when the system swung to a profit in 2015 by reaching a settlement involving its long-underfunded employee pension plan, Cerberus saw in MPT a chance to cash out.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo

Cerberus Capital Management’s sale-leaseback schemes were behind the bankruptcies of retailers like Shopko and Mervyn’s.

Initially conceived in 1960 as a way of “ democratizing ” the financial gains associated with property investment, real estate investment trusts (REITs) are specialized funds that receive tremendous tax advantages in exchange for agreeing to adopt rigid, low-overhead structures and pay out 90 percent of the profits to investors, who in turn are allowed to write off a portion of those dividends as business expenses. Almost by definition, REITs give off Ponzi vibes: Their rich dividends attract investors with very little interest in underlying fundamentals; certain accounting practices can easily obscure the financial impact of delinquencies; and their tax breaks are a magnet for private equity firms, which began during the 2000s to see REITs as a fail-safe method of extracting cash from companies no one wanted to buy.

In 2007, for example, a department store chain named Mervyn’s that Cerberus had acquired from Target in 2004 began to wobble under its lack of resources. So Cerberus raked in $430 million selling the underlying real estate of 43 stores to a California REIT and ended up booking a profit, even after Mervyn’s was forced to liquidate and lay off 18,000 employees a year later. This kind of decriminalized Ponzi scheme wasn’t 100 percent kosher: It’s ostensibly illegal to extract dividends from an insolvent company. After four years of litigation, a group of Mervyn’s creditors won $166 million from Cerberus and its co-investors. But the penalties were usually laughable if they existed at all, and private equity firms would deploy what became known as sale-leasebacks to profitably bankrupt countless companies, from Shopko to Friendly’s restaurants to the HCR ManorCare nursing home chain.

Hospitals were not particularly conducive to plunder via REIT, however. Hospitals are enormous revenue generators, but their low operating profit margins vary wildly depending on the whims of insurance companies, state and federal lawmakers, and regulators. REITs are supposed to be passive landlords, legally forbidden (with a couple of exceptions) from managing the properties they own and in many cases even investing in their upkeep. It was virtually impossible to find an operator capable of turning around the finances of a bankrupt mall or nursing home while making steep rent payments, much less a hospital. And so no one really bought hospital real estate, except for MPT, a niche outfit out of Birmingham, Alabama, founded in 2003 by a tax credit expert named Edward K. Aldag and a former shopping mall REIT CFO named R. Steven Hamner.

IN ITS FIRST DEAL, MPT PAID STEWARD $1.2 billion to buy five of Steward’s hospitals outright and lease them back, then extend mortgages on another four. The hospitals’ real estate had been assessed in 2012 at $599 million , so the price tag raised a few eyebrows, especially given that it involved Steward signing up to pay MPT a $121 million rent check in the first year of the deal, and expanding each year thereafter. To sweeten the deal, Cerberus bought $150 million in MPT stock and MPT bought $50 million in Steward stock. Then Cerberus used the proceeds of the deal to issue itself a $484 million dividend .

Steward was arguably insolvent before this first transaction with MPT, but it was definitely insolvent afterward, say multiple analysts who have spent most of the past year poring over MPT’s financials. The Steward chain burned more than a billion dollars between 2017 and 2021. Given Cerberus’s track record of sending half its portfolio companies into default , that wasn’t much of a surprise. But between 2015 and 2021, the private equity firms GTCR, TPG Capital, Leonard Green & Partners, Apollo Advisors, and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe would also tap MPT to extract nine- and ten-figure payouts from their flailing hospital chains. To a degree, every one of those transactions crippled hospitals and the broader communities they served.

But no one did more deals with MPT than Cerberus’s Steward. Just five months after the initial $1.2 billion sale-leaseback, MPT pitched in another $301 million for Steward’s $304 million buyout of eight hospitals from Community Health Systems. Three months later, MPT put $1.4 billion toward Steward’s $1.9 billion acquisition of IASIS, a hospital chain owned by the private equity firm TPG. The following year, MPT disclosed investing another $764.4 million to buy five hospitals, including four in Massachusetts it had already paid Steward $600 million to mortgage and one in Texas it had acquired in the IASIS deal, then sold back to Steward a few months later, then bought back at a $15 million loss a few months after that. One analysis suggests the transactions represented a gratuitous $57 million giveaway to Steward from MPT.

The Securities and Exchange Commission was confused enough to write to the company demanding an explanation, zeroing in on a unique feature of its original mortgage agreement with Steward that gave MPT the “right ” to buy back the properties it had lent against for “110 percent of fair market value.” These financial gymnastics looked almost like an admission that MPT would promise to keep the scheme going indefinitely.

Steward had earned a reputation of blowing off its bills, with its own twist: preemptively suing those to whom it owed money.

And it did. MPT funneled a steady stream of cash toward Steward in seemingly fanciful quantities over the following years: $26 million for the $11 million Big Spring hospital and a mysterious $44 million promissory note in 2019; $205 million for a 49 percent stake in an international joint venture with a book value of $27 million in 2020; a $200 million “ fair value increase ” bonus to convert a $700 million mortgage it had supplied on another two IASIS hospitals in Salt Lake City into a sale-leaseback (that deal, which valued the two Utah hospitals at $2.4 million per bed , was a particular head-scratcher); $900 million followed by an extra $200 million for five Florida hospitals acquired from Tenet in 2021; $335 million to de la Torre in 2021 to pay back funds Cerberus had lent him to buy out its majority stake in Steward’s equity; and $169 million in capital expenses to build a new Steward hospital in Texarkana, Texas.

REITs like MPT that rented out properties on “triple net” leases are not supposed to spend investor funds on capital expenditures, period. But even if it could, why would Steward, whose venerable teaching hospitals in Houston and San Antonio were rotting from disinvestment, spend $169 million to build a new facility in Texarkana , of all places? Rob Simone, the REIT analyst at the financial research service Hedgeye Risk Management, suspected the deal was fake, and after MPT claimed in a May 2022 SEC filing that Steward had already spent $57 million of the budget, he contracted a photographer to drive to Texarkana to inspect the progress of the construction. At the site of the future hospital, which had “broken ground” nine months earlier , the photographer found a desolate field with no office or construction equipment, just a capsized blue port-a-potty in a vast expanse of weeds.

Like Brothman, Steward had cultivated a reputation of blowing off its bills, with its own twist: It attempted to intimidate those to whom it owed money by preemptively suing them. The hospital chain owed the state of Massachusetts hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for failing to file basic financial disclosures since 2014, so in 2017 it sued the state’s health information department . By 2021, Steward owed the travel nurse staffing agency Aya Healthcare $40 million, so it sued the staffing agency for price-gouging. It owed Tenet Healthcare $18 million for backend information technology services, so last summer Steward sued Tenet , claiming it was the one who was actually owed money. Then earlier this year, Steward successfully won a temporary restraining order requiring a franchisee of the kidney dialysis firm Fresenius to continue providing services to its Massachusetts hospitals despite not having been paid in months (though the judge ruled with the Fresenius affiliate after a hearing).

The Tenet lawsuit gave Simone and many short-sellers particular pause, because Tenet claimed in a countersuit that Steward was insolvent and had applied in October for an extension on its repayment of certain CARES Act loans on the grounds of “extreme financial hardship.” In itself, that wasn’t surprising: A 2020 Bloomberg story reported that Steward owed millions of dollars to ad agencies, a linens provider, power companies, and other vendors, and that its Brockton hospital had been cut off by a local pizza shop whose co-owner said the hospital would refuse to pay its multi-thousand-dollar pizza tab until at least six months had passed. But MPT had insisted as recently as August, when it announced it had loaned Steward yet another $150 million, that the hospital chain’s patient volume was up, labor costs were down, and it was on track to achieve positive free cash flow by the fourth quarter of 2022. (It didn’t; MPT ended up lending Steward another $28 million in late 2022 and another $50 million secured by insurance claims so far in 2023, it finally disclosed for the first time in late April.)

Theoretically, any money Steward hoarded by refusing to pay all those vendors should have flowed back to MPT, in the form of wildly inflated rent and interest payments that totaled roughly half a billion dollars in 2022. But Simone doubted that de la Torre’s professional austerity crossed over into his personal life, and on a lark one night he found himself googling “ralph de la torre yacht.”

RAPHAËL BELLY

Above: The $40 million yacht purchased by Steward founder Ralph de la Torre; Below: An empty field in Texarkana, Texas, where Steward was supposed to be building a hospital

Lo and behold, the hospital boss had spent $40 million in May 2021 on a 190-foot vessel named Amaral . To call Amaral a “yacht” is a bit misleading; four stories high, it looks more like an intimate cruise ship, or a floating boutique hotel. Poring over MPT’s disclosures, Simone soon discovered how de la Torre could afford it. Right after MPT loaned Steward’s founders the $335 million to buy out Cerberus in early 2021, the REIT had booked an $11 million one-time gain “pursuant to our existing 9.9 percent equity interest in Steward.” That meant that Steward’s new ownership—primarily de la Torre—had paid themselves a dividend totaling $100 million, perhaps reasoning that if Cerberus was paying itself another nine-figure dividend on the woebegone hospital chain, they deserved one, too. MPT apparently agreed.

For months, Simone had been exceedingly careful to cast MPT’s predicament as a product of poor risk management, perverse incentives, and the relatable desire to paper over bad decisions—anything but “the F-word.” But the images of de la Torre’s mega-yacht juxtaposed against the overgrown field in Texarkana did not leave much room for alternative interpretations. And soon a small band of professional short-sellers was adding to Simone’s body of work. Most notable was Fraser Perring , a British former social worker famous for his work on the crime-infested German payments company Wirecard, whose Viceroy Research beginning in January produced 15 reports on what he described as the “ den of thieves ” comprising MPT and its biggest tenants. In March, MPT sued Viceroy for defamation , conspiracy, tortious interference, and unjust enrichment over the dossiers he’d published, many of which explored Steward’s forays in Europe.

ARMIN ERNST WAS A BOSTON-AREA PULMONOLOGIST and an executive of Steward when, shortly before the 2016 sale-leaseback that rendered Steward insolvent, he uprooted his life to take a job in Malta. Ernst had been recruited to lead a dubious shell company that had come under local press scrutiny for having acquired a lucrative contract to manage the archipelago’s three hospitals, despite no apparent expertise or capacity for doing the job. In 2017, Steward bought the shell company —and Ernst returned to Steward —after investigative journalists revealed that the original contractor was a serial fraudster named Ram Tumuluri who had recently fled Canada after bilking some hotel investors.

The hospital deal was one of a handful of privatization contracts fast-tracked by a Maltese official named Keith Schembri amid a frenzy of mysterious payments to dubious shell companies that had been revealed or referenced in the 2016 “Panama Papers” leak of documents from the offshore tax haven services firm Mossack Fonseca. In Malta, the Panama Papers had been most obsessively scrutinized by an investigative journalist named Daphne Galizia , whose son Matthew worked as a web developer for the nonprofit foundation that had archived the leaks, and who blogged on the brazenly corrupt no-bid process by which the hospital contracts had been awarded weekly, and sometimes daily, until she was suddenly murdered in a gruesome car bombing in 2017.

Schembri's erstwhile close friend Yorgen Fenech, the cocaine-binging casino tycoon, paid Galizia’s assassins and was arrested while trying to escape on his own (much smaller) yacht. Schembri and others were implicated in Fenech’s testimony. Steward had transferred at least 3.6 million euros into a bribery network that Schembri helped cultivate. A few months after the assassination, Ernst characterized the hospital ordeal in an email to Schembri as “the messiest situation I have seen in my professional lifetime.”

But while Schembri was later indicted on unrelated money laundering charges, he was never charged in conjunction with Galizia’s murder. Tumuluri, however, claims in an SEC whistleblower complaint obtained by the Maltese investigative journalism outlet Shift News that Schembri not only spoke openly of wanting to have Galizia killed, he invoked the murder to expedite his transfer of the contract to Steward. “You know what happened to Daphne and you don’t want to end up in that position,” Schembri allegedly told Tumuluri two months after her assassination, convincing him to back away from the contract. Tumuluri also claims that Ralph de la Torre personally wooed Maltese officials away from their original hospital contractor by “boast[ing] that he could issue ‘brown bags’ to government officials if necessary to close transactions,” according to the complaint.

Nobody in a position of power has connected the dots on the looting of these hospitals; it’s been left to short-sellers to do the legwork.

But Steward stuck it out in Malta, perhaps because Tumuluri and a partner had used the contract as a showcase for selling Steward ’s hospital operation services to the governments of Montenegro , Albania , Oman, Slovakia, and Georgia. In 2020, MPT bought a 49 percent stake in this thriving international business for $200 million, even as its book value was just $27 million and nurses were complaining that Steward was funneling money into a “black hole,” while hundreds of patients languished in “camping site conditions” without basic equipment or real bathrooms. Ultimately, leaders calculated that Steward had stolen a combined 400 million euros from the government during its five years managing the three hospitals. The gravy train finally came to a halt months ago, when a judge annulled its management contract in a 140-page ruling ordering the hospitals to be renationalized. The Maltese parliament summarily kicked Steward—and MPT, which owns half of Steward’s international business—out of the country. In late 2021, the State Department even banned Keith Schembri from entering the United States due to “involvement in significant corruption.”

Back home, the government has demonstrated little interest in evicting hospital looters. When MPT agrees to overpay for a struggling community hospital, the hospital is the thing that tends to get kicked out of town. It happened to Youngstown’s Northside Regional Medical Center in 2018; the Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling, West Virginia, and East Ohio Regional Hospital of Martins Ferry, Ohio, in 2019; Houston’s First Texas Hospital Cy-Fair in 2020; Los Angeles’s Olympia Medical Center in 2021; the Philadelphia exurbs’ Delaware County Memorial and Springfield Hospitals in 2022; and most recently, San Antonio’s Texas Vista Medical Center .

During the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, Steward threatened to close the only hospital in Easton, Pennsylvania, if the governor did not agree to cough up $40 million merely to keep it alive; the ploy worked. Countless MPT hospitals have slashed services to pay the rent, with maternity wards typically the first to go. The sole acute-care hospital in Dodge City, Kansas, where the two biggest employers are industrial slaughterhouses, was downgraded to a freestanding ER and regional referral center after its private equity owners sold off its real estate to MPT; now residents of Dodge City, which is home to nearly 30,000, travel to Minneola , population 750, for medical care.

IN WATSONVILLE, MPT COMMANDEERED CONTROL of the hospital’s bankruptcy reorganization in the way of the modern insolvency masters. It volunteered to provide debtor-in-possession financing, which along with its status as the biggest creditor entitled MPT to appoint a chief restructuring officer, a job for which it tapped the same man it had hired a year earlier to oust Halsen, while insisting to the hospital staff that “no negligence or malfeasance” had been found in Halsen’s books. Though the U.S. bankruptcy trustee objected to these measures , the community coalition organized by the nurses union did not have the ability to play hardball: “We were told bankruptcy lawyers billed $1,400 an hour,” explains a local physician.

The newly formed nonprofit hospital authority agreed to pay MPT a reduced monthly rent of $250,000, all too conscious of the humanitarian crisis that could materialize if a town with thousands of near-destitute farmworkers lost its hospital. Watsonville’s century-old hospital had been threatened before; after a 1989 earthquake, they were ultimately forced to sell the hospital to the for-profit Community Health Systems after sustaining steep losses rebuilding the hospital to code “It’s like the cost of having health care in California,” one local activist told me, “living with these … marauders.”

MPT’s roots run deep in California, where Aldag bought his first community hospitals shortly after co-founding the REIT in late 2003 . The first term of the Bush administration was a time of transition and opportunity for many health care entrepreneurs, as white-collar crime enforcers who’d spent the late 1990s working multibillion-dollar Medicare fraud cases channeled their energies almost exclusively to the war on terror. In California, as the big health care giants of the 1990s shed hospitals to pay their legal bills, two former business partners turned archrivals, Prem Reddy and Kali P. Chaudhuri, both found profitable second acts as professional hospital bosses.

Aldag backed Reddy, a cardiologist with a newly expunged criminal record , in his 2004 buyout of a troubled HCA hospital; Chaudhuri teamed up with a medical payday lender called Medical Capital Holdings to buy four Tenet hospitals in Orange County, including the Western Medical Center of Santa Ana, California, where Dan Brothman was CEO.

Despite Reddy’s reputation for drinking at work and allegedly pressuring employees to illegally “dump” unprofitable patients, his venture, Prime Healthcare, was an overnight success. By 2007, the team controlled eight hospitals in California, and the Los Angeles Times ran a front-page story about the financial success the company had achieved through surprise-billing patients whose insurer it deemed too stingy. In 2011, the Center for Investigative Reporting ran an investigation on the apparent epidemic of kwashiorkor , a Ghanaian term denoting a rare form of malnutrition almost exclusively observed in famine-starved children, in Prime hospitals, especially one newly acquired Northern California facility that had billed Medicare for kwashiorkor treatment in 16 percent of its elderly patients. The story revealed that Prime hospitals in the state of California had diagnosed fully a quarter of their Medicare patients with malnutrition, more than triple the state average.

Workers at the community hospital in Watsonville, California, which Halsen Healthcare had purchased and summarily bankrupted

A federal whistleblower investigation soon followed , as did a letter to MPT from the SEC asking for more information on its exposure to Prime, which managed 40 hospitals and comprised 20 percent of its revenue in 2014. In 2015, then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris took the unusual move of imposing a ten-year moratorium on closures or service cuts on Prime’s proposed acquisition of six former Catholic hospitals in the state. Reddy dropped the deal, sued Harris, and eased up on Prime’s expansionary aims. The following year, Aldag did his first fateful deal with Cerberus, while his son served as an intern there.

By that point, there were plenty of aggressive new hospital upstarts ready to push the envelope to pay the rent, as Reddy’s longtime competitor Jack Terner had predicted in 2007 to an L.A. Times journalist writing about Prime: “In many ways what he’s doing is obvious, but no one ever thought they could pull it off.” Terner’s own company, Prospect Medical, acquired by Leonard Green & Partners in 2010, would soon give Reddy a run for his hospital profiteering money, with $1.55 billion in backing from MPT.

Reddy’s old archrival Chaudhuri pushed the envelope even further. One of Chaudhuri’s previous ventures had collapsed in spectacular fashion in 2000, and a hospital chief of staff at Western Medical Center named Michael Fitzgibbons led a campaign to minimize Chaudhuri ’s involvement in facility operations. Chaudhuri dispatched Brothman to solve the problem, and Brothman in turn masterminded a campaign of psychological terror on Fitzgibbons, filing a bogus defamation lawsuit against him, recruiting a rival infectious disease specialist and warning physicians not to refer patients to him, and later spreading rumors among staff that “everyone knew” Fitzgibbons kept a gun in his car.

Concerned those actions had not sufficiently “humbled” Fitzgibbons, another Chaudhuri deputy dialed it up a notch, using hospital funds in 2006 to pay a strip club bouncer $10,000 to plant a gun in his car and call in a report of a “road rage” incident featuring a man in a white coat and black gloves waving a gun around, which quickly resulted in Fitzgibbons’s arrest in the medical center cafeteria. The physician ultimately won $5.7 million in damages , though not before his office was burglarized and flooded, his daughter and two Japanese exchange students she was hosting nearly died in a horrific car accident after her tires were slashed on the treads, and the once-beloved hospital, unable to afford basic supplies or routine maintenance under the pressure of 20 percent interest rates, was reduced to the kind of medical hellhole where the CT scanner catches fire with a patient inside . Medical Capital, the lender, was naturally exposed as a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme that diverted millions to, inter alia , a pornography business and a “party yacht.”

Somehow, no one involved in the looting of the Santa Ana hospital or the terror campaign on Fitzgibbons was ever charged with anything illegal. (To the contrary, the same year they spent framing the infectious disease physician, Chaudhuri and Brothman invited a camera crew to film a reality show about travel nurses inside the facility.) Nor, needless to say, was the mastermind of Reddy’s kwashiorkor scam, or the cop who all but admitted under oath to having planted a bag of drugs in Fitzgibbons’s car. Medical Properties Trust is still listed on the New York Stock Exchange , and though its stock has lost nearly three-quarters of its value since the beginning of 2022, CEO Aldag made $16 million last year, just a 6 percent drop from the year earlier, bringing his post-COVID compensation to a cool $50 million. Steward remains the largest for-profit hospital network in the country, and Cerberus remains a fearsome private equity titan, on the verge of booking an astonishing $16 billion profit if and when regulators approve the acquisition of its portfolio company Albertsons by the supermarket giant Kroger. And last year, Dan Brothman landed a new CEO gig back home in Orange County working for Prem Reddy at Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center, which MPT has owned since 2008 .

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) recently wrote to MPT demanding information about its $57 million sale-leaseback of a rural hospital in his state where a nurse practitioner recently died of an overdose while on shift, after which it emerged that he had sexually assaulted numerous patients. But outside of that, nobody in a position of power has connected the dots; it’s been left to short-sellers to do the legwork.

“What’s so abhorrent about these schemes to loot hospitals is that they’re basically picking the pockets of people who’ve had cancer and trauma and heart attacks and strokes,” says Fitzgibbons, who drove up to Watsonville to informally counsel the community group back when the Halsen sale was first announced. He’s still in litigation with one of Chaudhuri’s companies, so he did not address the crowd, but he sat in one of the front rows just so Brothman could see him, would understand that they knew . Spotting the doctor, his old boss at first looked startled. “And then he smiled, and came up and tried to shake my hand like we were old pals,” Fitzgibbons remembers with a laugh. “These guys are nothing if not shameless.”

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The Best Yacht Concepts From Around The World

The Stunning Ritz Carlton EVRIMA Yacht

Gliding Across Tokyo’s Sumida River: The Mesmerizing Zipper Boat

CROCUS Yacht: An 48 Meter Beauty by Admiral

• Zuretti Interior Design
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• Superyachts

ECLIPSE Yacht – Epic $600M Superyacht

The ECLIPSE yacht was once the largest yacht in the world at an impressive length of 162.5 metres (533 ft) but currently ranks in second place after AZZAM.

Though she is known as the billion-dollar yacht, it is estimated that her true value lies between US $500 – $700 million.

The vessel can host 36 guests and is even rumored to feature a state-of-the-art anti-paparazzi system to protect the privacy of those on board.

ECLIPSE yacht interior

The interior (and the exterior) was designed by Terence Disdale , who has become one of the top names in the industry despite having no formal design education.

ECLIPSE was his largest project to date, and he also worked on prominent vessels such as A+ and AL SALAMAH. The interior of ECLIPSE is classically designed in a style that is to be expected from one of the largest yachts in the world.

The upholstery and furniture follow a beige and crème color palette with wooden accents.

The yacht’s 18 cabins can welcome 36 guests as well as 70 crew members, which is an unusually large number even for a vessel of this size.

A large dance floor, several fireplaces, two swimming pools, and two helipads are also included onboard.

The ECLIPSE yacht interior is so large that there is even a cinema dedicated exclusively to crew members. In 2015 the interior of ECLIPSE was refitted by Blohm and Voss in Hamburg.

Specifications

The ECLIPSE yacht is the second-largest yacht in the world with a length of 162.5 meters (533 ft), a beam of 22 meters (72.2 ft), and a draft of 5.9 meters (19.4 ft).

She was built by the German shipyard Blohm & Voss and delivered to her owner in 2010.

Four MTU engines power ECLIPSE and allow her to reach top speeds of 25 knots, although her average cruising speed lies at 22 knots.

Her total volume lies at 13564 tons making her not only one of the longest but also the heaviest yachts in the world.

Like the interior of ECLIPSE, the interior was designed by Terence Disdale. According to rumors, Abramovich fitted her with an anti-paparazzi system that detects electronic light sensors from digital cameras.

However, there is no proof of this, although many newspapers report its existence.

On deck are several swimming pools and jacuzzis, and the aft of the vessel features a sizeable beach club. The yacht has a sleek design that attests to Terence Disdale’s classical style.

ECLIPSE came to fame as being the most expensive yacht ever built at the time for an approximate price of US $500 million.

She has seen further improvements since her purchase by Abramovich in 2010 and it is often widely reported that she is worth US $1.2 – $1.5 billion.

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Corina is a Madrid-based business reporter focusing on coverage of retail, infrastructure and tourism including some of Spain's biggest companies like Inditex and Ferrovial. She was previously a senior correspondent in Venezuela, where she reported the Chavez and later Maduro government's efforts to retain power and the effects on the economy.

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The World’s Most Outrageous Megayachts

We all live the boating lifestyle and cruising around on a 25-footer is awesome. But imagine owning a 250-footer! The ultra rich take yachting to a whole different level and it is hard not to get lost day dreaming about what they must be like.

To help plant some seeds in your imagination, I’ve rounded up some of the world’s most outrageous yachts.  Enjoy!

Motor Yacht A

Value: $317 million.

A , launched in 2008 and resembles a massive naval destroyer with its shark-like, slick upside-down hull in the water. At 390 feet long, hosting a crew of 42 and the latest navigation and entertainment technology, Melnichenko should be more than comfortable aboard either of his mega yachts. This one features extensive engineering, including three pools which create their own currents to swim against. Built by Blohm + Voss at their deepwater facility in Kiel, this one is currently enroute to the Port of Gustavia in France.

Value: According to owner, Dakis Joannou, priceless

Greek billionaire Dakis Joannou is the proud owner of the flashy, extravagant  Guilty . Designed by Italian yacht builder Ivana Porfiri, this is truly a one-of-a-kind—especially considering its intricate wraparound patterned-skin. Using a WWI-style camouflage pattern in yellow, purple, blue, white and black, designer Jeff Koons wants this to be the yacht you won’t forget seeing.  Guilty  is just as lavish inside, featuring original art of various forms, which is amazing to believe considering that this is a 115-foot boat. Right now you can find it at port in Palermo, Italy.

Value: $350 million

Owned by Sheikh Mohammed, the Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the  Dubai  is 532 feet long, can host 72 guests with 44 cabins, and is maintained by a crew of 88. This yacht was designed by Platinum Yachts and released in 2006, after over 10 years of stalls, halts and trading between not only owners, but builders. Featuring multiple Jacuzzis, a mosaic swimming pool, helicopter pad and seven decks, this yacht can still reach up to 26 knots at maximum speed. Presently found in the Dubai area.

Maltese Falcon

Value: $150-$300 million.

Currently owned by the founder of IKOS Ltd., Elena Ambrosiadou, the  Maltese Falcon  is one of the largest privately owned sailing yachts in the world. But it’s not the overall length that impresses; it’s the three uniquely stunning DynaRig masts. When the 15 sails are deployed each freestanding mast acts as a single sail giving the  Maltese Falcon  a look unlike any other sailing yacht in the world. This 290-foot boat can be chartered for the mere cost of $500,000 per week. It can currently be found in the Aegean Sea.

Value: $200 million

Owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, this humongous 414-foot yacht has seen and done it all. From hosting star-studded Cannes Film Festival after-parties to searching for lost WWII-era Japanese battleships, Allen has seemingly never strayed from keeping  Octopus  out and busy on the water. Weighing in at 9,000 tons, this heavyweight not only has two helicopter pads, but also two submarines for deep sea research and a recording studio that Mick Jagger has used. Employing a permanent staff of 60, and costing $384,000 a week to operate, you can only imagine how awesome, and expensive, those Cannes after-parties must be. Currently residing in port at Kusadasi, in the Aegean Sea.

Value: $500 million (Though rumoured to be $1.5 billion with security & luxury features)

Built for Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, this massive 533-foot monster is the world’s second largest private yacht. Hosting 70 crew members, 18 cabins, two helicopter pads and a submarine,  Eclipse  first launched in 2010 out of the Blohm + Voss Shipyards in Hamburg, Germany. Outfitted with bulletproof glass on the bedroom suite windows and German missile defense system, the Chelsea Football Club owner has taken no risks when it comes to protection. Presently found in port at Gibraltar.

Value: $184 million

This 281-foot motoryacht was built by Oceanco in 2010 for none other than legendary film director Steven Spielberg.  Seven Seas  has taken Spielberg, plus his wife, seven children, and whichever celebrities he invites, all around the world from Shanghai, to Hawaii and Sri Lanka. The boat features a stabilization system, seven suites, six double cabins and one owner’s cabin, with room for a 23-person crew, plus an infinity pool, 15-foot wall for projecting movies onto, and private owner’s level. Though apparently Spielberg is going to need a bigger boat, as he’s having a 300-foot yacht built. Currently found in Genova, Italy.

Value: A lot

Originally commissioned by Italian billionaire heir, Augusto Perfetti, co-owner with his brother of Perfetti Van Melle, the brand behind Mentos, he was offered an undisclosed offer by Russian businessman Suleiman Kerimov to buy the yacht before it were finished. He accepted, and Kerimov changed the name from  Air  to  Ice . It would go on to be Superyacht of the Year at the World Superyacht Awards upon its completion by the German shipbuilders Lürssen in 2006. It is presently at port in Antigua.

Value: $50 million

Previously known as the  Mirabelle V , the  M5   has the distinction of being the world’s largest single-masted yacht. With its mast a massive 289 feet tall, and with 39,000-square-feet of sail area, of course this one has all the trimmings, from pools to a movie theatre and a gym. The previous president of Avis car rental company, Joseph Vittoria, had this ship built and received it in 2004. Rodney Lewis, the founder and CEO of Lewis Energy, is now the owner and currently has it moored in Westhaven, New Zealand.

Value: $120 million

Built for Steve Jobs, unfortunately he did not live long enough to see the project finished. But he would have loved it no doubt, as he and famous yacht designer Philippe Starck worked on it together. It’s 260 feet long and styled somewhat similar to older Apple products, with it’s sleek white and silver hues, plus its rigid shape. It is  now owned by Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, and is currently in the Panama Canal.

Value: $615 million

Another one built by Lürssen, this luxury yacht first launched in 2012 and features eight floors, aluminum superstructure and a steel displacement hull. With a theatre, gym, Jacuzzi, two helicopter pads, and many other lavish features, this one is owned by a UAE Deputy Prime Minister Sheik Mansour, and chartered out on very select occasions. And of course, to only the wealthiest of the wealthy. In 2014, Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly chartered the  Topaz  to throw an 80s-themed party in New York, inviting 100 of his friends and hiring a crew of more than 80 people. Right now, the 483-foot-long   Topaz  is in port at Abu Dhabi.

Sailing Yacht A

Value: $380 million.

The stunningly sleek sailing yacht  A  is just one of Russian businessman Andrey Melnichenko’s twin yachts, and is set to be delivered to him this year. Measuring in as the world’s largest sailing yacht, completely dwarfing the  Maltese Falcon,   this yacht is 468 feet long, 330 feet tall and weighs 12,700 tons. With state of the art bridge controls—a touch sensitive sheet of black glass—a 193-square-foot underwater observation pod, bomb proof glass and 40 CCTV cameras onboard, this is one high tech yacht. At the moment, Nobiskrug, a German shipbuilding company, still has it.

Value: $599 million

Currently the actual largest megayacht on the planet, the Azzam is a 590-foot long wonder. Launched in 2013, it’s not only the world’s biggest yacht, but Lürssen also holds the record for the building time of a ship this size: the engineering and planning took a year and the building of it took three years. Commissioned and owned by Sheikh Khalifa, the UAE president, it features a mini-submarine and its own missile defense system because, you know, why not? Currently moored in Abu Dhabi.

Triple Deuce

Estimated value: $1.1 – 1.2 billion.

Though it’s still a few years out,  Triple Deuce  is looking to make waves. Set for a spring 2018 release, this megayacht will be the world’s first billion-dollar yacht, with it’s owner and the builders hoping to make it near impossible for any other yacht to reach this size. At 728 feet, this yacht is longer than some cruise ships, but remains cloaked in much secrecy. Though not out of the norm for megayacht builders, there’s much speculation that construction hasn’t started on  Triple Deuce , especially considering a shipyard seemingly hasn’t been chosen yet.

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How Scott Rothstein rode $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme to wealth and power

Scott Rothstein pleaded guilty Wednesday to a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme that helped support a flamboyant lifestyle and powerful political connections in south Florida.

• By Warren Richey Staff writer

January 27, 2010 | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,

Among the high-flying lawyers in South Florida , Scott Rothstein always tried to fly a little higher, move a little faster, shine a little brighter.

It wasn’t enough to drive a vintage 1967 red Corvette convertible. He also had a red Ferrari F-40 coupe, red Ferrari F430 Spider , yellow Mercedes SLR McLaren , black Bugatti Veyron , blue-gray Maserati , and a 2010 white Lamborghini .

On other days, Rothstein settled for his white Bentley or one of the Rolls Royces, silver or blue.

That was before federal agents revealed last fall that one of Fort Lauderdale ’s most flamboyant residents was living a giant lie.

On Wednesday, Mr. Rothstein appeared in the federal courthouse here, a few blocks from his now-shuttered law office, and pleaded guilty to running a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme from 2005 to 2009.

He is charged with five counts of federal racketeering, money laundering, and wire fraud, and faces up to life in prison.

The attorney who appeared in the courtroom Wednesday was not the jovial, well-tailored host who partied with national politicians, sports stars, and south Florida power brokers. He shuffled into the courtroom, dressed in tan prison garb and wearing leg irons and handcuffs. When the judge asked him to raise his right hand to swear an oath to tell the truth, Rothstein had to raise both hands since they were shackled.

Ponzi scheme of fake legal settlements

Three months ago, Rothstein fled the US for Morocco in late October after wiring $16 million dollars overseas. Federal agents were closing in on his scam, and there were suggestions he might commit suicide. But he returned to south Florida soon after.

A month after he returned, he was arrested. Federal agents seized as much of his assets and property as they could locate. These included the cars, waterfront homes, an 87-foot yacht, 304 pieces of jewelry, bank accounts, and equity stakes in a long list of companies, including local restaurants. Agents even seized Rothstein’s American Express rewards points: 20,920,701 of them.

Federal agents are estimated to have found assets valued at about $100 million. That’s a long way from $1.2 billion.

“The rest of the money is in the Ponzi scheme,” said William Scherer , a local lawyer who has filed a lawsuit to recover money for Rothstein’s victims. “And he probably spent a large amount – living large and all that.”

Prosecutors say Rothstein specialized in selling investors a stake in confidential settlement agreements. The settlements were said to involve sensitive pre-litigation negotiations in embarrassing sexual harassment cases or whistle-blower cases that the parties wanted to keep quiet. The investments could be purchased at a discount and would be repaid to investors at full value over time.

But sometimes there were no settlement agreements and no real clients. Rothstein and others allegedly created false statement agreements, bank statements, assignments of settlement agreements and personal guarantees.

In one fraud, a counterfeit court order

In one instance, according to federal prosecutors, Rothstein defrauded actual clients who had hired his firm to file a lawsuit. Unbeknownst to the clients, Rothstein settled the suit, obligating the clients to pay $500,000 to the defendants.

Rothstein then created a fraudulent court order purportedly signed by a federal judge, prosecutors say. The order said that Rothstein and his clients had won the lawsuit and were owed $23 million. But it added that the defendants had transferred their funds to the Cayman Islands , making recovery difficult.

Rothstein then told his clients that to recover the funds they would need to post bonds to be held in a Rothstein-controlled trust account. The clients wired $57 million into the Rothstein account, according to court documents.

When the clients became anxious about the money, Rothstein allegedly created a false order from a federal magistrate mandating a later date for the return of the clients’ money.

Federal charges refer to “co-conspirators” who acted with Rothstein, but no one else has yet been indicted.

“We intend to pursue every lead,” US Attorney Jeffrey Sloman said, outside the courthouse. He said the government did not know where the rest of the $1.2 billion was and how much might be recovered.

Powerful political connections

Not all of Rothstein’s illicit gains went into his pocket. He had a reputation as an effective political fundraiser.

According to court documents, Rothstein paid large bonuses to employees at his law firm. Before receiving the bonuses, the employees were told to make significant contributions to political candidates in their own names. The maneuver was apparently designed to bypass campaign finance laws.

The Republican Party of Florida has turned over to federal agents at least $145,000 in prior political contributions from Rothstein, documents show. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) has turned over at least $9,600 in Rothstein contributions.

In August 2008, Governor Crist named Rothstein to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida ’s Fourth District Court of Appeals. A signed photograph with Crist was among a recent auction of some of Rothstein’s possessions. “Scott, you are Amazing,” it says.

Also on the auction block were photos of Rothstein and his wife, Kim, with John McCain ; a framed photo and thank you note from Sarah Palin ; a signed photo with Joe Lieberman ; and a photo with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) .

A shaken family

On Wednesday, after watching his son plead guilty, Harvey Rothstein walked slowly from the courtroom with tears in his eyes. “He helped a lot of people,” he said.

Rothstein donated $800,000 to the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and $1 million to Holy Cross Hospital . Those funds will be turned over to authorities.

Outside the courthouse, Rothstein’s wife, Kim, read a prepared statement. She said it was the saddest day of her life, and that she knew nothing of her husband’s illegal activities.

“I am not being investigated,” she said. “The evidence to date clearly shows that I was neither involved in – nor had knowledge of – Scott’s business activities.”

At the end of her statement, a reporter shouted out, “Did you enjoy spending the money?”

She did not reply.

US District Judge James Cohn has set sentencing for May 6.

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As the world prepares to coin its first trillionaire the $2 billion Migaloo M5 super submarine superyacht surfaces into the limelight. Longer than Jeff Bezos’ Koru it can stay underwater for 4 weeks, it has a swimming pool, cinema, helipad and its own hot air balloon.

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