Yachts may be the ultimate expression of wealth. They symbolize not only the buyer’s ability to afford the ultimate luxury but also their ability to leave the world behind to enjoy it. Out on a yacht, there’s nothing to worry about and no one to bother you (unless you invited them). It’s just sun, champagne, sea, and sky.
To achieve that, the world’s wealthiest people spend millions or even billions of dollars to take the yachting experience to the limits of luxury. As if a normal yacht wasn’t fancy enough, there are some that are like floating palaces. They defy all normal logic of expensiveness.
Here is our list of the most expensive yachts you can buy off the normal market and then the most expensive that have ever been commissioned by the wealthiest people in the world.
Most Expensive You Can Buy
- Oceanco Custom Sunrays
- Lurssen Custom KISMET
- Benetti Custom Motoryacht IJE
- Shatoosh 2022 Yacht
Length: 280 feet
Shipyard: Oceanco
photo source: Yacht World
This yacht from 2010 was built at the shipyards of Oceanco. It’s a multi-decked motor yacht that stretches 85 meters or 280 feet in length. The Dutch designer Bjorn Johansson created this ship in his Y700 series.
The interior of the Sunrays was created by Terence Disdale, the luxury designer. The ship has a salon, lounge, formal dining hall, and an incredible spa on the bridge deck. The ship’s lounge can be remade into a home (or ship) cinema at will.
To own the Oceanco Custom Sunrays will cost $149,054,544.
Did you know?
The Sunrays has a central elevator that connects its major areas. These include eight normal suites and a master suite on the upper deck, which includes a private terrace, sea balcony, and study. Jacuzzis and sunbeds are everywhere on this ship.
Length: 312 feet
Shipyard: Lurssen
photo source: Yacht World
The Lurssen shipyards built this mega yacht, which stretches 312 feet in length, back in 2014. The Moran yacht construction team collaborated with Lurssen to create this yacht, with exterior designs by Espen Oeino and interiors by Reymond Langton Design.
The yacht, called the KISMET, has 8 decadent staterooms, including a master room with a private deck, Jacuzzi, and helipad. The ship has a sundeck, swimming pool, spa, and even an outdoor fireplace that retracts from the wall.
Owning all this luxury will cost $195,239,168.
Did you know?
The Lurssen ship builders have been around since 1875, since the boatbuilding workshops of Friedrich Lürßen in Aumund, Germany. They built their reputation for the design and manufacturing of luxury rowboats before beginning to construct yachts.
Length: 354 feet
Shipyard: Benetti
photo source: Yacht World
This custom motoryacht by Benetti was built in 2019, with an exterior sculpted by the designers at RWD. Benetti took on the interior, styled after a luxury beach house to bring a vacation getaway to the yachting experience. At 354 feet, this is the longest Benetti yacht ever built, earning the title of the flagship of their fleet.
The walls of this custom motoryacht are made from sliding glass to open the rooms up. It has a salon, gym, pool, open air dining area, lounge, firepit, terrace, and a price tag of $202,170,736.
Did you know?
The size of this custom motoryacht means that it has even more features than those we already mentioned. The ship has its own cinema, elevator, and even a private nightclub on-board.
Length: 331 feet
Shipyard: Shatoosh
photo source: Yacht World
A shipyard in Germany is building the Shatoosh for sale in 2022 and is currently the most expensive on the market at $213,629,813, other than the unlabeled custom jobs out there. It’s a 331-foot-long mega yacht, based on Shatoosh’s H2 designs.
This German-built yacht has a maximum speed of 18kn and a range of 6000nm.
Did you know?
You’ll hear the term megayacht or superyacht on this list a lot so we figured we should give a little definition. There is no official designation for what makes a megayacht, but they are generally considered to be 40 meters to even 180 meters in length, built for luxury sailing or motor transport, and more often available for charter than for purchase. To buy one is the height of sailing luxury, especially in the Caribbean or Mediterranean where megayachts are most often seen.
Most Expensive Ever Sold
- Eclipse
- Azzam
- Streets of Monaco
- History Supreme
Owner: Roman Abramovich
Length: 331 feet
photo source: Wikimedia Commons
The Eclipse megayacht was constructed in Germany by Blohm+Voss and is one of the largest on this list at 533 feet long (and the fourth largest in the world, by the way). The businessman Roman Abramovich bought the yacht in 2010 for $590 million, which would be almost $650 million today.
As the yacht of a businessman, the Eclipse has many unique features, include two helipads, three launch boats, two pools, and even a disco hall.
Every year, Eclipse can be seen sailing into St. Martin in the Caribbean to pick up guests for its 24 cabins (and numerous hot tubs).
Did you know?
Eclipse even has a mini-submarine that can launch from its own bay. It can submerge up to 50 meters (or 160 feet).
Owner: Dubai Royal Family
Length: 590 feet
photo source: Wikimedia Commons
The Azzam yacht is the biggest on this entire list at a humongous 590 feet in length. It first launched in 2013, designed by Nauta Design for elegance and flow. As such, the yacht doesn’t have the imposing presence you might expect – most onlookers are surprised to learn it’s one of the world’s largest yachts because it looks so compact and elegant.
The yacht, which is owned by the UAE royal family in Dubai, can reach 30 knots on the water, which is a high speed for a ship of this size.
The yacht was bought for $600 million.
Did you know?
The Azzam yacht has an open plan saloon and rooms for 36 guests and 80 crew members. The look of the inside is a bit of a royal family secret, but we know that it was designed by the French interior designer, Christophe Leoni, who also designed the wooden veneers and marquetry in the royal family’s palace.
Owner: N/A
Length: 500 feet
photo source: Yacht Island Design
By far the strangest yacht on this list is the 500-foot long, $1.1 billion yacht called the Streets of Monaco, practically a floating island estate on top of a ship. This is what’s known as a “trophy boat,” built not for utility or speed but for pure showboating (literally).
The yacht’s residences and landscaping are designed to mirror the literal streets of Monaco in the Mediterranean, including mockups of its Monte Carlo Casino, La Rascasse, the Hotel de Paris, and even a racetrack. Yacht Design Island designed this monster floating resort, priced at $1.1 billion.
Did you know?
Since being designed in 2013, Streets of Monaco became famous as the first yacht priced at over $1 billion. It has yet to be built, however, with some designers noting questionably if it would even function in the water. But it may be built in the next few years, now that $1 billion is no longer the high watermark for luxury boats.
Owner: Robert Knok
Length: 100 feet
photo source: Money Inc
The most expensive yacht is the History Supreme. Amazingly, it is also the shortest yacht on this list at 100 feet in length, which is what most people would call a “boat.” Stuart Hughes created the History Supreme, a boat covered along its entire length with solid platinum and gold.
A Malaysian businessman who wishes to remain anonymous bought the History Supreme for $4.8 billion. It took three years to build the boat, as well as 220,462 pounds of the precious metals that coat nearly every inch of its outside and inside. Even the handrails and tables are covered in gold.
Did you know?
There’s more to the price of this boat than just the gold and platinum construction, which is valuable but not quite $4.8 billion valuable. The wall of the yacht’s master bedroom is adorned with an incredibly valuable decorative piece made from a meteor, embedded with an actual tyrannosaurus rex bone. It has been suggested that the Malaysian businessman, Robert Kuok, who is worth over $12.5 billion, is the most likely buyer of the History Supreme.
The Takeaway
These yachts are the most expensive in the world, doubling both as ships and floating resorts. They can often house dozens of guests in luxury dining areas, spas, pools, clubs, and even disco halls, catered to their owner’s decadent quirks.
From a few hundred million dollars to yachts worth billions, the wealthiest entrepreneurs on earth use yachts to show off on the open seas, get away from the world, and take their luxury spas and dining rooms with them.
