Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, the Arab world’s wealthiest individual with an estimated fortune of $25.9bn, is the rumoured buyer of the planet’s largest superyacht.
The recently launched Azzam cost $609m and at 590ft trumps Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich’s Eclipse, the previous record holder for world’s largest yacht, by 57ft.
Azzam, which has 94,000 horsepower and can reach speeds of more than 30 knots, was designed by Nauta Yachts and constructed by Lurssen in Bremen.
Few details have been released about Azzam’s interior, other than it will require a crew of about 50 and will be delivered to its owner later in 2013.
Abramovich’s Eclipse is said to boast two swimming pools, two helipads, a cinema, a mini-submarine and a missile defence system.
The UK’s Daily Mail tabloid reported that Azzam had been paid for by Prince Alwaleed, a prominent investor and member of the Saudi Arabian royal family. Alwaleed’s Riyadh-based firm, Kingdom Holding, owns stakes businesses including Citigroup and Twitter.
If Alwaleed were to be revealed as the yacht’s buyer, Azzam would be the latest in an impressive list of high profile assets that includes a Boeing 747-400, for which he paid about $220m for.
The Kingdom Holding chairman also confirmed earlier this year he had sold an A380 double-decker, valued at about $319m.
A spokesperson for Alwaleed did not respond to Arabian Business’s query regarding his possible purchase of Azzam.
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