Microsoft founder Bill Gates enjoyed some family time aboard The Serene, a $330 million yacht that Gates and his family are renting for $5 million a week.
In addition to its 12 staterooms, the 450-foot, seven-deck vessel also comes equipped with its own saltwater pool, climbing wall, library, health spa, outdoor theater and even a nightclub spread out over 48,000 square feet, according to the New York Daily News.
Gates doesn’t actually own The Serene. He’s renting it from Stolichnaya vodka distributor Yuri Scheffler. The Russia-born Scheffler is an interesting figure himself, famous for battling with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who tried to nationalize and “redistribute” Stolichnaya’s wealth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik4kMc-MH_U
According to Business Insider, The Serene is the third-most-expensive yacht in the world. You can check out a video of the yacht during a recent visit to California in 2012 that was taken by a fellow overwhelmed boater.
The yacht was made in Italy by Fincantieri, according to the Seattle Times.
Although Gates does not own a yacht, he seems to be a fan of them. In 1994 he was married aboard a yacht belonging to his fellow Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Allen famously bought his own megayacht, the Octopus, a few years ago for $200 million.
Gates and his family regularly make use of The Serene’s onboard helicopter to travel for tennis matches at the “billionaires’ playground” of nearby Porto Cervo while the boat is stationed off the coast of Sardinia. And like Allen’s yacht, The Serene also comes with its own submarine.
