Among the exclusive owners of the world's largest superyachts, a floating villa isn't enough. Sometimes you need two: one for the family and one for the toys. This shadow yacht carries jet skis, helicopters and submarines. There is also the smaller boat that will take you to Monaco in time for lunch at Le Louis XV.
Or perhaps you have a chase boat, a fast, smaller, crewed vessel that travels alongside the yacht but is nimble enough for shorter day trips.
“People have full fleets and a private jet to get them there,” said Farouk Nefzi, chief marketing officer of Feadship Royal Dutch Shipyards, while sitting in a tent at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the world’s largest aquatic boat show, which ended Nov. 2. “These people lead intense lives.”
Unlike a billionaire's other pleasures, like a house or a private jet, which have a practical use, the yacht is “completely unnecessary,” Nefzi said. “It’s 100 percent emotion.”
On October 29, as Hurricane Melissa hit the Caribbean, more than 100,000 people flocked to Fort Lauderdale to view the 1,300 ships on display. More than 200 of them were classified as superyachts, meaning they were at least 24 meters (78.7 feet) long, about the length of a tennis court. On opening day, as rain pelted the docks, crews mopped the decks and leaned over the hulls to wipe the fiberglass dry. A group of cheerleaders in blue and white uniforms, clutching their pompoms, practiced a number to Kendrick Lamar's “Not Like Us” in the middle of the crowd.
As they wound through the busy docks, brokers and buyers in khakis and loafers, speaking English, French, Italian and Portuguese, hopped over puddles to survey inventory during appointment-only tours. Board a superyacht and a crew in matching uniforms will be waiting for you with a basket for your shoes and canvas boots for your bare feet.
At 85 million euros, or almost $100 million, the most expensive offering was Hampshire, a 66.25-meter-long ship owned by British billionaire Andrew Currie. It's equipped with two helipads, an infinity whirlpool and a clamshell door that opens for relaxing at sea level.
Today's superyacht buyers are younger and wealthier than they were a decade ago, and they are increasingly Americans, enriched by the pandemic business boom, a booming stock market and deep tax cuts.
Instead of waiting for a golden retirement, they buy in their prime and look for a toy with all the amenities of home. They are connected to the world via Starlink internet while playing in St. Barts or Sardinia or heading to more remote corners like the Arctic. Sought-after facilities include basketball courts, nightclubs, underwater lounges, gyms and wellness spas.
While overall yacht sales are down due to concerns about tariffs and an uncertain economy, sales of superyachts 40 meters and longer are up compared to last year, according to SuperYacht Times, which provides industry data. The company also reported that sales of boats over 80 meters, about the length of a river cruise ship, nearly doubled in 2024 from 2023 levels and are on track to remain stable in 2025.
According to SuperYacht Times, Americans own more superyachts over 40 meters than anyone else in the world, accounting for 23 percent of the global fleet. Russians, who have disappeared from the market since the country invaded Ukraine, are a distant second at 7 percent.
“American buyers are the cork that keeps everything going,” said Ralph Dazert, intelligence chief at SuperYacht Times.
According to the Federal Reserve, the wealth of the top 0.1 percent of American households increased by 90 percent from the fourth quarter of 2017, when President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, to the second quarter of 2025, totaling $23.3 trillion.
Americans for Tax Fairness, a tax policy advocacy group, found that the number of billionaires tracked by Forbes increased nearly 40 percent to 905 people over the same period.
“The rich have become very wealthy in the United States. You can attribute that to Trump,” said Jan VanHogerwou, a manager at the Dutch shipyard Amels, as he stood in front of the 74-meter-long Casino Royale, the largest ship in the Fort Lauderdale Show that his company built.
A decade ago, the Americans made up part of Amels' superyacht business. Today they make up 85 percent of it. The company's orders include a superyacht that can grow its own food, allowing its owner to live autonomously on board if necessary to escape to land during a pandemic or war. “They call them Armageddon buyers,” Mr. VanHogerwou said.
He declined to name the buyer of that particular boat – the world of superyacht buying is top secret – but suggested the person was notable.
At Benetti, an Italian shipyard, the ships in production are given numbers rather than names, so even the workers don't know who the customers are. But there are clues. A gym in the hull, a grill on the deck, or plush, oversized furniture are all telltale signs that it's the owner American. “They're very obsessed with foam padding,” said Enrico Bonetti, a Manhattan architect who has designed yacht interiors for Benetti. For Americans, “the appearance of comfort is very puffy.”
The most expensive superyachts sold for over half a billion dollars. For comparison, the most expensive home in the United States, a condo at 220 Central Park South in Manhattan, sold for around $240 million in 2019. But unlike real estate, a yacht is a depreciating asset with huge overhead costs. Hampshire has a crew of 17 people. The Casino Royale has a crew of 18 people. Annual maintenance costs are approximately 10 percent of the boat's value per year.
“It's expensive to be rich,” said Espen Øino, a marine engineer who has designed nearly 70 yachts, including the Octopus for Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
John Staluppi, a Brooklyn New Yorker who made his fortune as the founder of the Atlantic Auto Group and later Millennium Superyachts, owns two superyachts, Casino Royale and Golden Eye, a 54-meter vessel that he wants to sell for $32.9 million.
Mr. Staluppi bought Casino Royale eight months ago for 120 million euros (about $140.8 million). Sometimes he and his wife eat dinner on it when the yacht is docked near their home in West Palm Beach, Florida. “A yacht is like a second home,” said Mr. Staluppi, 78, sitting at a chess table on an upper deck. But unlike a house, “If you don’t like your neighbors, you move with a boat.”
This home away from home features seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms, three dining areas and a full spa with a gym, hot tub, sauna and steam room. Still, there are “a few things we don’t have here,” Mr. Staluppi said, such as a private bathroom in his office.
So he'll probably buy a bigger boat.