What happens if you’re royalty, on holiday, and a superyacht takes your fancy? You buy it of course. And then you kick the yacht’s former owner off.
Sunshine, Stolichnaya and Spontaneous Purchases
The deputy crown prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman was catching some sun in the South of France when he spotted a magnificent superyacht. The prince instantly knew that he just had to have it, and made its owner an offer to purchase. The yacht was called the Serene and it belonged to Yuri Sheffler – a mysterious Russian oligarch who is solely responsible for the distribution of Stolichnaya vodka outside of Russia. Of course Sheffler said yes. Being a billionaire oligarch, getting rid of a yacht could be an excellent excuse to just go buy another one. After making billions in the booze trade, it’s not like he can’t afford it.
No Wonder the Prince fell in Love with the Serene
The 134-metre yacht boasts several swimming pools and both hot and cold Jacuzzis; it has two helipads, a helicopter hangar and a submarine hangar. It also has a cinema, a library, a health spa, a nightclub, and an underwater viewing room called the ‘Nemo Room’. The Serene was constructed by Italian master ship builder Fincantieri and bought by the Russian oligarch for around US$330 million in 2011. The Serene has proven to be popular with the rich and famous and has been chartered by people like Bill Gates, who is rumoured to have paid US$5 million for him and his family to stay on the yacht for a week. Prince Mohammed bin Salman was so smitten with the Serene, that after buying the yacht he demanded taking ownership straightaway, and asked the super-rich Russian to vacate the yacht on the day of purchase. Maybe this wasn’t a rude gesture and the prince was just really excited about his new toy…