Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt sailed off with the superyacht abandoned within the Caribbean by its Russian oligarch owner after the invasion of Ukraine with a winning $67.6 million bid during an auction Friday.
Schmidt bought the 267-foot Alfa Nero yacht after it was left moored in Antigua by Andrey Guryev, the Russian billionaire who was slapped with sanctions by the US Treasury last yr, in accordance with Bloomberg News.
The Treasury Department claimed that Guryev, who made his fortune within the fertilizer industry and is regarded as near Russian President Vladimir Putin, initially bought the yacht for $120 million in 2014, however the Russian oligarch has denied the claim.
The previous Google boss, whose net value was valued by Bloomberg Billionaires Index at $25 billion as of Friday, “won the auction this morning in a totally transparent process,” in accordance with Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua’s ambassador to the US.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt placed a winning bid for $67.6 million at an auction on Friday for a superyacht.REUTERS
Schmidt bought the 267ft-Alfa Nero yacht that was abandoned in Antigua by Andrey Guryev, the Russian billionaire who was slapped with sanctions by the US Treasury.Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The vessel, which has been described by its manufacturer Oceanco as “one in all the world’s most iconic and highly awarded yachts,” includes amenities resembling a baby grand piano and a swimming pool that converts right into a helipad, Bloomberg News reported.
Antigua and Barbuda was wanting to sell the vessel on account of mounting maintenance costs totaling some $112,000 per thirty days that gathered while it sat in Falmouth Harbor.
Schmidt served as Google’s CEO from 2001 to 2011, a time of rapid growth for the California-based technology company.
Andrey Guryev is the Russian billionaire who was slapped with sanctions by the US Treasury last yr.
He later became executive chairman for Google, and in 2015, for its recent parent company, Alphabet, before resigning as chairman in 2018.
The US and other Western countries sanctioned several Russian oligarchs following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last yr.
An Antiguan port official told Bloomberg News that Guryev’s daughter filed a last-minute injunction claiming ownership of the yacht.
