Gawker: megayachts

It's So Awkward Being Rich These Days

Owen Thomas — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:34:35 EST

Unconspicuous consumption is the hot new thing. That $300 million megayacht? Tacky, what with the layoffs. Private jet? Forget about it, after Detroit's debacle. Even the celebrity goodie-bag business is endangered.

Dick Fuld, the Lehman Brothers CEO who oversaw the Wall Street bank's crash into bankruptcy, has been spotted flying commercial twice in the past month, even though he's still worth an estimated $100 million. (He took JetBlue, the preferred airline of parsimonious rich people.)

Billionaire Ron Perelman, who was wise enough not to get caught up in the Madoff Ponzi scheme, is nevertheless selling the $67 million yacht whose jacuzzi once bathed the loins of actress Gina Gershon.

Former Self editor and sex-book author Alexandra Penney, who did lose a fortune to Madoff, has taken to blogging about her encounters with Popeye's Chicken.

And actors attending afterparties at next week's Golden Globes will find less swag in their giveaway bags. The goodie-bag scheme, in which marketers shower Hollywood types, with free stuff in the hopes that they'll later be photographed using it in celebrity weeklies, is meeting resistance from marketers who are slashing budgets and celebrities who worry that the sight of millionaires getting freebies will rub fans the wrong way.

All in all, it's hard to be wealthy these days. No, scratch that — it's hard to look wealthy. The obvious solution: a growth industry of downwardly mobile image consultants, who can advise these unfortunates on how best to feign poverty. (Penney, the author bankrupted by Bernie Madoff, has been doing a terrible job faking it on her own.) It's the least the rich can do for the economy.

(Photo via Variety)

Tom Perkins picked a bad time to sell the Maltese Falcon

Nicholas Carlson — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:20:00 EDT

Why is VC Tom Perkins already selling the Maltese Falcon, his 289-foot sailing yacht he finished building in 2006? For a quick profit, ostensibly. But he has likely botched the timing. In 2007, used yachts cost more than new ones because wealthy buyers wanted them immediately. That demand led to profitable yacht-flipping, similar to the condo-flipping of the late real-estate bubble. But that was 2007. In 2008, sales for yachts priced between $200,000 to $800,000 are down 50 percent, a broker told Fortune. Likewise, another recent megayacht sale didn't happen until the owner slashed the price by $7 million. Still, the market might be different if Perkins sails his $233 million ship through the Suez Canal, where petrodollar fortunes abound.

5 best videos of the $233 million megayacht Tom Perkins no longer wants

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:00:00 EDT

At 289 feet, the Maltese Falcon, is the world's largest sailing yacht. Its owner, venture capitalist Tom Perkins, is over it. He's looking for a buyer to take the Falcon off his hands for about $233 million, according to The Wealth Report blog. Of the Falcon, Perkins once told Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes: "I just wanted the biggest boat." It was a beautiful sentiment, people, and we're here to honor it. So below, the five best videos on the Web catching the Maltese Falcon in all its glory.

The Falcon at sunset.
The Falcon turning, chased by a smaller boat.
Perkins built this yacht to wake one morning off the coast of France and hear, amid the puttering noises of the dock, a man with a thick accent say: "This is the Maltese Falcon, the biggest sailing yacht."
Ha ha. Your Rolex boat looks tiny.
"I just wanted the biggest boat. Do I have an ego? Yes. Is it big? Yes."

(Photo by antiguan_life)

Larry Ellison and fellow billionaire trade accusations of rigging the America's Cup

Jackson West — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:00:01 EDT

The America's Cup is the world's premier opportunity for the ultrariches to prove whose is bigger. But if you think the race has anything to do with sailing, you'd be mistaken — it's about who can muster the most capital. This year the victor could be rigged by lawyers, not sailors, thanks to a spat between billionaire software tycoon Larry Ellison and billionaire biotech tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli.

Last July, the Golden Gate Yacht Club sued Cup defenders Société Nautique de Genève [PDF], accusing the Swiss of hand-picking an unqualified challenger, the newly formed Club Náutico Español de Vela. The Deed of Gift, which outlines the terms and rules of the race, requires that a challenging club hold an annual regatta — CNEV held a regatta, with boats crewed by children, only after being selected as challenger.

Now it's SNG's turn to accuse the GGYC of trying to tilt the field. GGYC wants the race to be held in October, giving the Alinghi team only seven months to build their boat. The BMW Oracle team, meanwhile, started building their multi-hulled vessel three months ago. SNG wants the race held in 2009, and says that the GGYC originally agreed that any race would be held ten months after the legal decision had been handed down [PDF].

We are disappointed that GGYC is backtracking on this agreement and launching a new legal campaign seeking to undo what GGYC previously agreed to. Why not simply meet us on the water and settle this there?

Probably because Ellison figures that if the case goes back to mediation, New York State Supreme Court Justice Herman Cahn will likely rule in the home team's favor. Us Yankees have a saying — "If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying." (AP/Fernando Bustamante)

Tom Perkins is richer, more successful than you — and has a big yacht

Jordan Golson — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:23:47 EST

Tom Perkins, bazillionaire venture capitalist and owner of the Maltese Falcon, was interviewed on 60 Minutes last night. Humility is not his strong suit. Why build the biggest sailboat in the world? "I just wanted the biggest." I can relate. In his spare time, Perkins also fake blogs.

Tom Perkins "embarrassed" by megayacht

Jordan Golson — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:05:05 EDT

"I am embarrassed by [the price] ... There's the homeless and charity and there are lots of things you could do with that money that would improve the world, right? So you know, 'How selfish is this guy?' ... is the criticism. So the answer is pretty selfish, but I am not going to put a number on it." — Tom Perkins, to CBS's 60 Minutes, on the price tag for his ubermegasuperyacht Maltese Falcon. We bet he'll feel better after he goes for a quick sail — and would be happy to take it off his hands if he's still feeling guilty.

NBC Makes Oprah, Paul Allen Very Slightly Richer

Maggie — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:00:45 EDT

NBC Universal announced today that it has bought Oxygen Media, that home for the has-been (see: "Tori & Dean," "Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty," and "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency,") for the bargain basement price of $925 million. The deal for the seven-year-old Lifetime-rival network will ensure that the founders of Oxygen will finally be able to feed their children and rest easy at night, knowing their financial worries are behind them. You know: Oxygen co-founder? Oprah Winfrey. Oxygen investor? Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. We're sure they're totally pissed that they didn't get to pocket that $3 billion "BET money" they were hoping for. Because now how will they buy more megayachts and/or Maui?

"A Megayacht Is Indispensable"

Choire — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:20:03 EDT

From the Times, on how yachts must have helicopters and minisubs now: "'Today, a megayacht is indispensable,' said Olivier Milliex, head of yacht finance at the Dutch bank ING. 'It's not like 15 years ago, when a yacht was a luxury item.'" You know, I'm not sure if I really have anything to add! It's just not like 15 years ago, is it!

For the Yachting Class, the Latest Amenity Can Take Flight [NYT]