The former Google CEO Eric Schmidt acquired the Alfa Nero superyacht for $67.6 million. The yacht was owned by the Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev and was moored in the port of Falmouth on the south coast of the Caribbean island of Antigua since March 2023 in the wake of sanctions against Russia and its oligarchs. As the luxury ship became more and more of a financial burden and a security risk for the local authorities, she has now been auctioned off.
During a search of the super yacht last year, the U.S. FBI, Interpol agents, and local officials had identified Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev as the owner. The 267-foot yacht boasts 26 cabins, a baby grand piano, and a convertible swimming pool that doubles as a helipad. The department had previously alleged that Guryev acquired the Alfa Nero in 2014 for $120 million, a claim he denies.
Ownership of the yacht was transferred to the Antiguan government. But for the Caribbean state the luxury yacht became increasingly a security problem and a financial burden. The country is said to have spent 28,000 U.S. dollars per week and around 1.5 million U.S. dollars for the maintenance of the ship.
However, the investment has paid off as the Alfa Nero has now been auctioned off to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt for $67.6 million. The profit will benefit the Caribbean state because the price represents a good four percent of the gross domestic product, which is around 1.4 billion U.S. dollars. Guryev, on the other hand, will probably go away empty-handed.
Eric Schmidt was Google‘s CEO from 2001 to 2011 and subsequently served as the chairman of Google’s board of directors. In 2015, he assumed the role of chairman at Alphabet, the newly established parent company of Google.
Schmidt, whose net worth was valued by Bloomberg Billionaires Index at $25 billion as of Friday, “won the auction this morning in a fully transparent process,” according to Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua’s ambassador to the U.S.
