Simon Cowell Buys Abandoned Billionaire's Superyacht For 10 Cents On The Dollar – Inside The Wild Deal Of The Summer
- The jaw-dropping purchase: The 'America's Got Talent' judge snagged a 280-foot superyacht, originally valued at over $250 million and abandoned mid-construction by a Russian oligarch after sanctions hit, for a reported $25 million—a 90% discount that has stunned the yachting world.
- The mega-refit gamble: Cowell is reportedly spending an additional $50 million to completely gut and redesign the vessel, adding a state-of-the-art recording studio, a private cinema, and a 40-foot lap pool, betting he can flip it for a $100 million profit within two years.
- The ghost ship origin: The superyacht, codenamed 'Project Nebula,' sat half-finished in a Croatian shipyard for 18 months, accruing massive storage fees and becoming a viral symbol of sanctioned wealth, with photos of its rusting hull circulating on Reddit and TikTok.
- The crew mutiny clause: As part of the deal, Cowell insisted on a unique contract term that allows him to fire the entire 32-person crew (handpicked from his previous yacht staff) with 90 minutes' notice if they fail a surprise 'perfection inspection'—a move that has sparked fierce debate among maritime labor unions.
- The crypto payment twist: In a move that shocked financial analysts, Cowell paid for the superyacht using a combination of Bitcoin and a newly launched yacht-backed NFT collection, bypassing traditional escrow and setting a risky precedent for high-value maritime transactions.