billionaire yacht tracker

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Schadenfreude at sea: The Internet is watching with glee as Russian oligarchs’ yachts are seized

Schadenfreude abounds online as the luxury toys of russia’s richest residents are seized.

There’s just something satisfying about watching online as a billionaire’s luxury yacht moves around the globe — and then gets snagged by law enforcement as part of sanctions designed to crack down on Russia.

Alex Finley thinks of it as schadenfreude, or getting pleasure from another’s troubles. Finley, an author and former CIA officer, is online tweeting names, locations, ownership and the latest status of various yachts owned by Russian oligarchs.

Seeing the yachts being seized feels like a “little bit of justice,” Finley said.

She’s part of a growing group of online spectators watching and reporting as governments around the world seize Russian oligarchs’ assets as part of sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While money can often be hidden and moved between offshore bank accounts, it’s trickier to conceal a 511-foot megayacht with an indoor pool, multiple helipads and a tracking system.

Using automated Twitter accounts, online tracking sites and homemade bingo cards , casual fans of financial retribution are following the location of the oligarchs’ ships and jets, often hoping to catch them on the run or docked in a country likely to seize them. Social media accounts have sprung up to follow the movements of these luxurious vehicles and keep track of which ones have been frozen or taken into possession by governments.

They use sites like VesselFinder , MarineTraffic or SuperYachtFan where you can type in a ship’s name or unique identifiers, known as an International Maritime Organization (IMO) number or Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI). Thanks to similar satellite-based tracking technology, oligarchs’ private jet locations can also be tracked online through sites like Flightradar24.com . It’s not just location information. Some of the more expensive and well known yachts have their own Wikipedia pages and online followings, where details about their most over-the-top features are documented.

The Russian billionaires became the new object of fascination after the White House and European Union moved to sanction dozens of individual oligarchs and their associates as part of the larger Western crackdown on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

“The United States and governments all over the world will work to identify and freeze the assets Russian elites and their family members hold in our respective jurisdictions — their yachts, luxury apartments, money, and other ill-gotten gains,” according to the White House in a March 3 statement.

Yacht watchers have already witnessed a number of seizures. Italian financial police seized the superyacht Lena and another named Lady M, belonging respectively to Russian oligarchs Gennady Timchenko and Alexei Mordashov, according to the Associated Press. VesselFinder showed both on its maps recently, docked in Italian ports.

Late last week, the French Finance Ministry announced on Twitter it had seized a 281-foot-long superyacht worth $120 million that belonged to Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, the CEO of oil giant Rosneft. Called the Amore Vero, that ship’s recent locations were not as easy to find on tracking sites.

After Russian oligarch’s $120 million yacht is seized, Putin allies search for safe waters

Yachts are not always required by law to share their location, though they typically do so for safety. However, some may turn off their automated tracking system if they want to sail under the radar.

“Whether a yacht has a duty to keep its AIS device on under international law or the domestic laws of its flag just depends on the size of the yacht, her flag, and where the yacht is located,” R. Isaak Hurst, an attorney at the International Maritime Group, said in an email.

The Russian-owned megayachts have become a clear object that people can focus their anger and attention on, yacht tracking fans say.

“There’s a symbolic power that the yacht holds in the West’s campaign to rein in the power of Vladimir Putin and his global kleptocracy,” said Oliver Houston, a political campaigner and writer from London. Houston has been active on the #YachtWatch trend on Twitter.

If the rich owners are losing their prized possessions, they might be incentivized to put pressure on Putin to back out of Ukraine, Houston figures.

The practice of tracking billionaires’ jets is hardly new — hobbyists, reporters and observers have long followed executives’ and government leaders’ movements by tracking their private planes. In 2017, a federal investigation probed then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s trip on a political contributor’s plane. ( It was found to be legal .) And while Amazon searched for a second headquarter city in 2018, journalists tracked where founder Jeff Bezos’s jet traveled to try to find clues. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

Nineteen-year-old college student Jack Sweeney, who gained fame this year for demanding Elon Musk pay him $50,000 to shut down an account that tracked the billionaire’s private jet, has turned his attention and massive Twitter following to the oligarchs’ property. ( Musk offered the University of Central Florida student $5,000, which Sweeney declined .)

He runs the @RussiaYachts Twitter account, which has shared some locations of the vessels, along with a list of several superyachts and their billionaire owners. Sweeney also created a Twitter account that shares automated updates of oligarchs’ jets movements.

Good morning, Oligarch #YachtWatch fans! I thought it would be a good idea to start the week off with a summary of where things float at the moment. 1. Four yachts were "frozen" last week. NB: not "seized" because it's not like the government took control and can sell them. 1/ — Alex Finley (@alexzfinley) March 7, 2022

He started tracking the oligarchs’ property after getting a flood of messages from people who knew about his flight-tracking prowess. It’s a way to make the locations more transparent, even when their owners are trying to fly (or sail) under the radar.

“They think they’re hidden but they’re not, necessarily,” he said.

Keeping watch on these Russian's Yacht's pic.twitter.com/BaZQeNyyKB — Russian Yachts (@RussiaYachts) March 6, 2022

Private jets are less flashy than the megayachts, at least on the outside, but they’re still an object of fascination online.

“Some are very recognizable. Some have custom paint jobs,” said Jon Ostrower, editor in chief of the Air Current, a news site reporting on the aerospace industry. "[Russian billionaire] Roman Abramovich has an aircraft that he’s always maintained called the Bandit, a 767 painted all white except for this black stripe over the cockpit windows. It was sharp.”

On Twitter, college student Sweeney uses data from ADS-B Exchange , an open-source company that publishes a map of flight movements around the world. Founder Dan Streufert said pretty much any plane flying around the globe has a transponder that broadcasts the plane’s unique ID and its position, for safety reasons such as avoiding collisions. ADS-B Exchange relies on crowdsourced data — aviation and radio hobbyists have receivers that collect data from the flights’ transponders, which the company then plots onto a map.

The system isn’t without its gaps. Areas without participating receivers will show fewer flights, and military planes can turn off their transponders, making some areas — such as Crimea — appear as though they have empty skies.

Streufert said he understands people’s fascination with the massive jets. Not many people have their own private fleets, after all.

“It can help hold not only [the oligarchs] accountable, but also the countries they fly into, because some countries are saying they are going to seize assets,” he said.

Yachts can sometimes be more difficult to track, especially if they are not near a port. MarineTraffic , a website that publishes data about ships’ whereabouts, uses a network of receivers on land as well as satellites to track the boats’ positions no matter where they are.

The company has about 6.5 million unique users each month, ranging from hobbyists to shipping and banking industry professionals who use the data to keep track of assets, said the company’s media and communications leader, Georgios Hatzimanolis.

How the Ever Given was freed from the Suez Canal: A visual analysis

Since the invasion in Ukraine began, MarineTraffic has seen a “huge spike” in interest, he said, a level not seen since a massive ship got stuck in the Suez Canal one year ago. The much-memed plight of the stuck containership Ever Given was monitored on marine tracking sites like MarineTraffic and VesselFinder, where it was often represented by a giant rectangle wedged diagonally in the Suez Canal.

People are also monitoring villas and other lavish properties that belong to Russia’s elite, looking up online listings and satellite images as well as searching public property records while waiting to see if they are seized by local governments.

Still, “the yacht is a particularly powerful symbol — not only of their power, but also of our power to be sure that we are hitting them where it hurts,” #YachtWatch user Houston said.

Yacht seized as U.S. ramps up oligarch sanctions so Putin 'feels the squeeze'

• France impounds yacht it says linked to Rosneft's Sechin
• Other Russian tycoons' yachts anchored in Maldives -data
• More sweeping sanctions to target oligarch assets
• White House wants Putin to "feel the squeeze"

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Maldives haven.

Reporting by Reuters in Washington D.C., New Delhi, Paris, Berlin, London, Moscow, Brussels and Barcelona, Writing by Ingrid Melander Editing by Mark Heinrich, Angus MacSwan, Leela de Kretser, Frances Kerry, Andrew Heavens and Cynthia Osterman

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Thomson Reuters

Tassilo is a trained lawyer who first joined Reuters in Berlin, then re-joined in Paris. He covers French politics and business, EU institutions and NATO.

Alasdair leads the team covering breaking news in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Before moving to Sydney, he covered general news in New Delhi, where he reported from the front-line of the coronavirus pandemic in India and the insurgency in Kashmir, as well as extended periods in Pakistan and, most recently, in Sri Lanka covering its ongoing economic crisis. His reporting on Islamic State suicide bombings in Sri Lanka in 2019 was highly commended as the Society of Publishers in Asia awards. He previously worked as a financial reporter in London, with a particular interest in hedge funds and accounting frauds. Signal app phone number: +61439529540

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The Internet Sleuths Obsessively Tracking the Superyachts of Russian Oligarchs

‘Seizure of the yachts feels like a little bit of justice. It sends the message that these oligarchs have to pick a side: Support the dictator or support democracy’

For the first time in several years, Ben, a 36-year-old machinist in Michigan, hasn’t been pulling up Twitter first thing in the morning. Instead, he’s been checking MarineTraffic.com — an open, community-based website that tracks the real-time movement and location of ships — to see which yachts belonging to Russian billionaire oligarchs have been seized as a part of the economic sanctions placed on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. “I catch up on everything else later in the day,” he tells me. “But ever since they announced the sanctions, I can’t take my eyes away from #YachtWatch and MarineTraffic.” 

To be sure, a desire to know intimate details about billionaire yachts is nothing new. Within niche communities of maritime enthusiasts and professionals, these extraordinary yachts have always been followed and discussed in great detail. In fact, many yachts have their own Wikipedia pages , and websites like SuperYachtFan.com and SuperYachtTimes.com thrive on outlining the design, specs and ownership of these multi-million dollar vessels. But for the general public to become interested in the intricacies of billionaire yacht ownership and tracking is certainly new. 

To that end, Alex Finley, a former CIA officer turned author , had been researching oligarch yachts for her upcoming novel long before they caught the public’s eye. “I was already in tune with how the yachts and other assets play a role in Putin’s wider agenda,” she tells me. “But when I was kind of shitposting about Russian yachts on Twitter, no, I didn’t think it would turn into a crowdsourced global hunt for super yachts.” 

Good day #YachtWatch -ers. Yesterday morning, around 10am, Roman Abramovich’s other yacht [insert eye roll gif] Eclipse was tracked heading toward Gibraltar. She hasn’t pinged in about 8 hours. 1/ pic.twitter.com/cdlr6TH3rW — Alex Finley (@alexzfinley) March 11, 2022

Since creating the #YachtWatch hashtag, Finley says she’s seen the number of people like Ben who regularly check in on her updates of yacht seizures grow exponentially. “I’ve gained something like 20,000 followers in just a few days, and judging by the number of media inquiries, yeah, I guess people are interested,” she explains. 

And more than merely observe, certain people have made contributions that help improve the public’s ability to track and absorb complex maritime information. “Some mariners have helped explain some of the more technical aspects regarding AIS [ automatic identification system ] and navigation and facility infrastructure, for example,” Finley says. “Others have provided great encouragement, or remind me to sleep and hydrate, which I love.” 

Italy are still winning with an early brace, but still lots to play for. Straights of Gibraltar could prove a winning card for @RoyalNavy to get UK on the board, but a strategically timed US Transfer deal with the Maldives could beat everyone! #HuntForRedYachtober #YachtWatch https://t.co/yBOyI7cBSs — Charlie Moore (@c_moore) March 11, 2022

Elsewhere, members of the #YachtWatch community have created makeshift “BINGO” cards that show pictures of yachts along with the name of the Russian billionaire to whom they belong. Others, like Jack Sweeney , a college student who recently gained notoriety for tracking Elon Musk’s private jet, created their own Twitter accounts dedicated to the pursuit. In just over a week, his @RussianYachts account has amassed over 22,000 followers after posting information about yacht ownership and location updates. 

While I figure out more to track the yachts and choose the best solution. Here's a graphic made by @CNN of the latest locations of some of the yachts. pic.twitter.com/z9FgcJNiz2 — Russian Yachts (@RussiaYachts) March 7, 2022

Finley reckons that there’s a sense of “heightened” schadenfreude driving the massive public interest in superyacht seizures. They’re not just watching bad things happen to bad people, they’re watching people who “supported a dictator who started a totally unprovoked war” lose their toys. “These oligarchs have supported Putin’s efforts to destabilize the West and our democratic institutions, while at the same time taking advantage of those very same democratic institutions,” she says. “Seizing the yachts feels like a little bit of justice. It sends the message that these oligarchs have to pick a side: Support the dictator or support democracy. We won’t let you do both anymore.” 

Roman Abramovich's yacht Solaris looks to be heading to Montenegro, a popular place for Russian yachts. His even bigger superyacht Eclipse is in the Atlantic heading toward the Strait of Gibraltar per @MarineTraffic pic.twitter.com/o70Zzl7EEi — Mike Forsythe 傅才德 (@PekingMike) March 11, 2022

With that in mind, Finley argues that a lot of people “are getting into the hunt because they feel like they’re helping a just cause.” 

Plus, unlike most white-collar crime that gets prosecuted over the course of lengthy, closed-door legal battles, the seizure of superyachts has been swift and public. On March 3rd, French authorities took to Twitter to announce they had seized a 281-foot-long yacht belonging to Russian oligarch Igor Sechin. The $120 million vessel was in breach of the law after having attempted “to leave French territorial waters,” and was therefore seized and “immobilized” by French customs. 

Dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre des sanctions de l'Union européenne à l'encontre de la Russie et en soutien à l’Ukraine ?? nous avons procédé à la saisie d’un premier yacht. ➡️ L’Amore Vero est immobilisé en France. pic.twitter.com/ncr4UOP3OD — Olivier Dussopt (@olivierdussopt) March 3, 2022

But of all the major governments cracking down on Russian yachts so far, Ben says he’s rooting for the Italians the most. “It seems like they’re the ones who aren’t pussyfooting around, pardon my French,” he says. “I don’t know what happens to the seized properties after the fact, but I feel like the Italians could end up with an army of superyachts when this is all said and done.” 

So far, Italian authorities have officially seized at least two yachts belonging to Russia oligarchs Gennady Timchenko and Alexei Mordashov — Timchenko’s Lena, a 126-foot, $55-million beast , and Mordashov’s Lady M, a 213-foot, $71-million luxury monstrosity . 

Keeping watch on these Russian's Yacht's pic.twitter.com/BaZQeNyyKB — Russian Yachts (@RussiaYachts) March 6, 2022

According to the Washington Post , MarineTraffic.com “has seen a ‘huge spike’ in interest,” with traffic reaching “a level not seen since a massive ship got stuck in the Suez Canal one year ago.” Ben says he checks the site several times a day, working his way down the curated list of oligarch yachts he’s created there. “Right now I’m watching Clio , Tango , Palladium , Nirvana and Le Grand Bleu ,” he tells me. “Le Grand Bleu has been spinning in circles outside St. Martin for a few days now, so hopefully he runs out of fuel and is forced to make a decision soon.”

That’s when he’ll get the payoff he’s been waiting for: “The day I check my phone during a break and see one of my yachts being chased down or seized by government agents… I can’t even begin to imagine what that’ll feel like.” 

Ultimately, though, when it comes to social media-driven justice , particularly involving the rich and powerful, it’s nearly impossible to not be cynical. Is #YachtWatch just another fleeting #ResistanceTwitter saga, yacht seizures being the latest carrot dangled in front of a terminally logged-on population fruitlessly grasping for control as the world spirals toward nuclear war? Or, could the growing interest in tracking billionaire’s yachts actually lead to systemic change ? 

Melnichenko's $600,000,000 Yacht A is being seized in Italy: https://t.co/oYfVydcANQ — Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) March 12, 2022

For her part, Finley is hopeful that it’s the latter. “We arrived at this point in history partly because we in the West allowed a system that’s fueled both inequality and authoritarianism , all because businesses, politicians and the West in general were getting rich from it, too ,” she explains. “I hope the mega-yacht hunt might be a wake-up call that we need to reform the system and make it more transparent.” 

It’s certainly opened Ben’s eyes to the idea that wealth disparity isn’t merely a flaw in the system. “I’m not naive enough to think we don’t live in a world of haves and have-nots, but the sight of all those yachts, crowding around islands in the Caribbean like mayflies to a street lamp stopped me in my tracks,” he says. “It really struck me how they live in a different universe, where laws don’t exist.” 

Ben has “read everything about the tax-dodging leaks and money in the Cayman Islands,” but if it doesn’t go over his head, it just makes him feel powerless. “There’s nothing I can do about billionaires cheating the system — all these guys have gotten away with crimes because they’re billionaires,” he concludes. “But now that I know what can happen with transparency, I like to think this is the beginning of the end for them.” 

Quinn Myers

Quinn Myers is a staff writer at MEL. He reports on internet culture, technology, health, masculinity and the communities that flourish within.

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Revealed: Russia-linked superyachts ‘going dark’ to avoid sanctions threat

Vessels with ties to Russian oligarchs hit by sanctions are no longer reporting their position to an automatic global locator

I n the sparkling azure waters of Antigua, the gleaming £95m superyacht Alfa Nero could be seen at anchor last week by sightseers enjoying the Caribbean coastline. But few of the tourists who spotted its sleek black hull would have appreciated that it was quite a find.

Since the invasion of Ukraine , the superyacht, which is linked to the Russian billionaire Andrey Guryev, has vanished off the global tracking maps used to locate marine traffic.

An investigation by the Observer this weekend reveals it is one of at least six superyachts linked to UK-sanctioned oligarchs which have “gone dark” on ocean tracking systems. The owners of these yachts will almost certainly realise they are at risk of being targeted in a global hunt for the assets of Russia’s super-rich.

At least 13 such vessels with a total value of nearly £2bn have already been impounded since the invasion of Ukraine, from southern France to Fiji. In the latter case, the superyacht Amadea, allegedly linked to the gold billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, was seized on behalf of the US .

Analysts report an increase in Russian-linked yachts which are turning off the automatic identification system (AIS) equipment used for tracking large vessels. The system can be turned off for legitimate reasons, but experts believe some vessels want to avoid detection.

An analysis by the Observer of AIS data compiled by the maritime and aviation market intelligence firm VesselsValue reveals other superyachts which have “gone dark” for more than a month include:

The 72-metre (238ft) superyacht Clio, linked to industrialist Oleg Deripaska, which sailed from the Indian Ocean to Turkey after the invasion. Its last transmitted location was on 18 April in the Black Sea, within range of the Russian ports of Sochi and Novorossiysk.

The 70-metre Galactica Super Nova, linked to the oligarch Vagit Alekperov, the sanctioned former president of Lukoil. The last transmitted location of the vessel was on 2 March off the Croatian coast.

The 140-metre Ocean Victory, linked to the sanctioned oligarch Viktor Rashnikov, which last transmitted its location at anchor in the Maldives on 1 March.

One member of crew on a superyacht linked to a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the UK told the Observer last week: “We were told to turn off the AIS. We removed the screws on the power plug and pulled it out.”

There are about 9,300 superyachts on the seas, worth more than £50bn, according to industry data. An estimated 10% of that fleet is owned by Russians.

One of the first superyachts to be impounded was the 86-metre Amore Vero, linked to the oil tycoon Igor Sechin , which was seized by customs officers at a shipyard at La Ciotat, near Marseille, on 2 March.

Italian authorities also impounded the 143-metre Sailing Yacht A on 12 March in Trieste. It is believed to be owned by the billionaire entrepreneur Andrey Melnichenko. He was sanctioned by the UK on 15 March.

Melnichenko’s other superyacht, the futuristic £240m Motor Yacht A, has disappeared from global tracking system. Its last confirmed location was on 10 March in the Maldives.

The last recorded location of the Alfa Nero on AIS was in the Caribbean on 3 March, when it was anchored at Philipsburg in Sint Maarten. The yacht is operating on a skeleton crew and has put its tender, the Alfa Fish, into storage.

Guryev, 62, a Russian who made his fortune with the Russian fertiliser giant PhosAgro, is reported by maritime sources to be the owner of the vessel. He was revealed to have bought London’s largest private residence, the 25-bedroom mansion Witanhurst, for £50m in 2008.

He has regularly enjoyed sailing on the Alfa Nero. The vessel is also used by his family, including his son (also Andrey) and his son’s wife, Valeria, who studied at the London College of Fashion and once reportedly stated on Instagram that she was “too pretty for work”. Like many yachts, it is owned via an opaque offshore structure, and Guryev has denied being the owner.

Other yachts which have not been tracked by AIS for more than a month include the Galactica Super Nova, which has a glass-bottomed swimming pool with a waterfall. It left Tivat in Montenegro on 2 March and promptly disappeared off the system.

The Clio, linked to Deripaska, sailed more than 3,000 miles after the invasion, from the Maldives, through the Suez Canal, across the Mediterranean and into the Bosphorus, gateway to the Black Sea and its Russian ports. In the Clio’s case, one reason it may have gone dark could be the perilous situation in the Black Sea arising from the war.

Other yachts which have not transmitted a confirmed location via AIS for at least a month include the My Sky, linked to the cigarette tycoon Igor Kesaev, which last reported its location in the Maldives on 30 March. The Maldives has no extradition treaty with the US, and at least five yachts linked to Russian owners have headed for its waters since the invasion. Other vessels, including two owned by Roman Abramovich, have headed to Turkey.

Under maritime rules, AIS should always be in operation when ships are under way or at anchor. All vessels of 300 gross tonnage and upwards must be fitted with it. A cruising vessel will typically transmit its location frequently, but it can turn the system off when in port. The data is relayed by radio receivers and satellites.

Sam Tucker at VesselsValue said: “There are some vessels where we would be previously getting a signal every few minutes from transponders and we are now seeing gaps of months. It’s very likely that some have flicked off the switch and gone into stealth mode.”

None of the sanctioned oligarchs linked to the six superyachts suspected of turning off their AIS responded to a request for comment.

• The Observer
• Shipping industry

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These 11 Russian oligarchs and politicians own at least $17.5 billion in combined assets, according to a new tracker. See how much their planes, mansions, and yachts are worth.

• The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project launched an "asset tracker" that lists the wealth of Russia's elite. 
• It tracks the mansions, yachts, and private jets owned by Russian oligarchs and "enablers."
• The 11 individuals identified own $17.5 billion in combined assets, topped by Roman Abramovich. 

A new Russian Asset Tracker  — led by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an investigative journalism nonprofit organization — is keeping tabs on the offshore wealth of 11 Russian oligarchs. 

The tracker calculated the "known minimum value of assets" of the top "oligarchs and enablers," according to the OCCRP. The organization, which was founded in 2006, operates as a consortium of investigative journalists and media entities across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Central America. 

The tracker features assets whose ownership was "widely reported," but could not be independently confirmed. A few of those assets are included below, though not tabulated in the oligarchs' total value. 

1. Roman Abramovich, businessman: $8.1 billion

Abramovich has at least 78 offshore assets, according to the tracker. This includes three private helicopters and planes, 37 apartments, seven homes, and his $600 million yacht, "Solaris."

The oligarch, who is reportedly taking part in Russia-Ukraine peace talks, is also linked to the $700 million superyacht "Eclipse."

Source: Insider

Abramovich owns four adjacent townhouses in New York City's Upper East Side, which he plans to combine into a "mega-mansion," according to architectural documents reviewed by the New York Post.

Source: New York Post

But his most well-known asset is Chelsea FC. Multiple bidders have demonstrated interest in purchasing the British football club, which is expected to sell for over $2.5 billion.

2. Alisher Usmanov, businessman: $3.4 billion

The billionaire's superyacht, "Dilbar," is one of the largest yachts in the world and worth at least $600 million, according to the US Treasury. The EU has called Usmanov one of "Putin's favorite oligarchs."

OCCRP also reported Usmanov owns the "Beechwood House," a $96 million mansion in London.

The oligarch's sister, Saodat Narzieva, is the beneficial owner of 27 bank accounts at Credit Suisse worth $2.1 billion, according to the tracker.

Representatives for Narzieva told Insider that she does not know why her name would appear as the ultimate beneficial owner on the accounts except potentially that she once held shares worth about 0.6% of USM, Usmanov's holding company.

3. Gennady Timchenko, businessman: $70.5 million

Timchenko's superyacht, "Lena," is valued at around $54 million, per Reuters. It was seized by Italian authorities the first week of March.

Timchenko also owns shares in Finland's Helsinki Arena worth $15.5 million, according to the tracker.

4. Igor Sechin, politician, businessman: $120 million.

Sechin has been called the most powerful man in Russia, after Putin. His $120 million superyacht "Amore Vero" was seized the first week of March by French authorities.

The superyacht "Crescent," linked to Igor Sechin and estimated to be worth $600 million, is also among the OCCRP's list of assets they are investigating. Spanish authorities detained it, but said ownership was "very hard to prove."

5. Denis Popov, chief prosecutor of Moscow: $5.6 million

6. Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's spokesperson. His known value was listed as unknown but the tracker included an "upmarket Parisian apartment" owned by his family.

7. Igor Shuvalov, government official: $102.5 million

Shuvalov and his wife own a $19.3 million luxury apartment in London's Whitehall Court, per the tracker.

8. Nikolay Tokarev, president of Transneft, a state-run company: $4.8 million

Tokarev's daugher, Mayya Nikolaevna Tokareva, owns two companies in Croatia that hold real estate on Losinj island, per the tracker. The area is known as a hotspot for Russian wealth.

9. Oleg Deripaska, businessman: $5.7 billion

Deripaska, who has been sanctioned by the US since 2018, owns the 238-foot superyacht "Clio." The ship has reportedly anchored in the Maldives, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

10. Vladimir Solovyov, TV and radio host: $1.18 million

The Russian TV personality known as a "Kremlin propagandist" owns an apartment and villa on Lake Como, OCCRP reported.

11. Yury Chaika, former Prosecutor General: owns $400,000 worth of land in Greece, per the tracker

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Watch CBS News

Russian oligarchs moving yachts as U.S. tracks down assets

By Catherine Herridge

March 2, 2022 / 9:19 AM EST / CBS News

Yachts owned by Russian billionaires are on the move as the U.S. and its allies seek to hunt down the assets of Russia's wealthiest in direct response to the invasion of Ukraine . The wealthiest Russian money – including Russian President Vladimir Putin's — has pushed to sea.

Data from MarineTraffic, a global intelligence group, shows yachts owned by oligarchs are on the move, including aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska's $65 million Clio and oil executive Vagit Alekperov's $80 million Galactica Super Nova.

"No self-respecting oligarchy exists without a super yacht. And so what we're seeing now is a hightailing it on the high seas," financier and anti-corruption activist Bill Browder told CBS News. 

A super yacht is typically over 40 meters long. The Clio and Galactica are each over 70 meters long. 

In response to Putin's war against Ukraine, the Biden administration created a task force to go after Russian oligarchs' "yachts, luxury apartments, money and their ability to send their kids to fancy college[s] in the West." 

Browder said the goal is to get the oligarchs to pressure Putin to stop the war. 

"We're not ready to engage in military warfare. And so there's an expression: We should fight them in the banks if we can't fight them with tanks,'" he said. 

Some oligarchs have made statements taking issue with the Russian invasion.

Mikhail Fridman, who founded one of Russia's largest private banks, said he does "not believe that war would be a solution." Evgeny Lebedev — the son of an oligarch, and who owns a London newspaper — wrote an op-ed pleading with Putin to "save the world from annihilation." 

The financial pressure is really about undermining support for Putin, both "among rank-and-file Russians as well as the oligarchs who help control the economy," said John Smith, former director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers and enforces all foreign sanctions.

Weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine , the $100 million "Graceful" — believed to be owned by Putin himself— left a German port for safer Russian waters. 

"He's a former KGB agent, and he has worked his entire career to appear on the surface to be the common man — when below the surface, it's apparent that he has significant wealth stored," said Smith.

Former government officials and experts told CBS News that cutting off Putin's revenue from the energy industry is key but this is an area where both the U.S. and its allies are vulnerable. Further disrupting the energy supply could send prices even higher .

• Vladimir Putin

Catherine Herridge is a senior investigative correspondent for CBS News covering national security and intelligence based in Washington, D.C.

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10 of the most impressive superyachts owned by billionaires

From a sailing yacht owned by a russian billionaire industrialist to the luxury launch of the patek philippe ceo, here are the best billionaire-owned boats on the water….

Words: Jonathan Wells

There’s something about billionaires and big boats . Whether they’re superyachts or megayachts, men with money love to splash out on these sizeable sea-going giants. And that all began in 1954 — with the big dreams of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

Onassis, keen to keep his luxury lifestyle afloat when at sea, bought Canadian anti-submarine frigate HMCS Stormont after World War II. He spent millions turning it into an opulent super yacht, named it after his daughter — and the Christina O kicked off a trend among tycoons. To this day, the world’s richest men remain locked in an arms race to build the biggest, fastest, most impressive superyacht of all. Here are 10 of our favourites…

Eclipse, owned by Roman Abramovich

Built by: Blohm+Voss of Hamburg, with interiors and exteriors designed by Terence Disdale. Launched in 2009, it cost $500 million (the equivalent of £623 million today).

Owned by: Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, the owner of private investment company Millhouse LLC and owner of Chelsea Football Club. His current net worth is $17.4 billion.

Key features: 162.5 metres in length / 9 decks / Top speed of 22 knots / Two swimming pools / Disco hall / Mini submarine / 2 helicopter pads / 24 guest cabins

Sailing Yacht A, owned by Andrey Melnichenko

Built by: Nobiskrug, a shipyard on the Eider River in Germany. The original idea came from Jacques Garcia, with interiors designed by Philippe Starck and a reported price tag of over $400 million.

Owned by: Russian billionaire industrialist Andrey Melnichenko, the main beneficiary of both the fertiliser producing EuroChem Group and the coal energy company SUEK. Though his current net worth is $18.7 billion, Sailing Yacht A was seized in Trieste on 12 March 2022 due to the EU’s sanctions on Russian businessmen.

Key features: 119 metres in length / 8 decks / Top speed of 21 knots / Freestanding carbon-fibre rotating masts / Underwater observation pod / 14 guests

Symphony, owned by Bernard Arnault

Built by: Feadship, the fabled shipyard headquartered in Haarlem in The Netherlands. With an exterior designed by Tim Heywood, it reportedly cost around $150 million to construct.

Owned by: French billionaire businessman and art collector Bernard Arnault. Chairman and chief executive of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company, his current net worth is $145.8 billion.

Key features: 101.5 metres in length / 6 decks / Top speed of 22 knots / 6-metre glass-bottom swimming pool / Outdoor cinema / Sundeck Jacuzzi / 8 guest cabins

Faith, owned by Michael Latifi

Built by: Similarly to Symphony above, also Feadship. With exteriors designed by Beaulieu-based RWD, and interiors by Chahan Design, it cost a reported $200 million to construct in 2017.

Owned by: Until recently, Canadian billionaire and part-owner of the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team , Lawrence Stroll. Recently sold to Michael Latifi, father of F1 star Nicholas , a fellow Canadian businessman with a net worth of just under $2 billion.

Key features: 97 metres in length / 9 guest cabins / Glass-bottom swimming pool — with bar / Bell 429 helicopter

Amevi, owned by Lakshmi Mittal

Built by: The Oceanco shipyard, also in The Netherlands. With exterior design by Nuvolari & Lenard and interior design by Alberto Pinto, it launched in 2007 (and cost around $125 million to construct).

Owned by: Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company. He owns 20% of Queen Park Rangers, and has a net worth of $18 billion.

Key features: 80 metres in length / 6 decks / Top speed of 18.5 knots / On-deck Jacuzzi / Helipad / Swimming Pool / Tender Garage / 8 guest cabins

Odessa II, owned by Len Blavatnik

Built by: Nobiskrug, the same German shipyard that built Sailing Yacht A . Both interior and exterior were created by Focus Yacht Design, and the yacht was launched in 2013 with a cost of $80 million.

Owned by: British businessman Sir Leonard Blavatnik. Founder of Access Industries — a multinational industrial group with current holdings in Warner Music Group, Spotify and the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat — he is worth $39.9 billion.

Key features: 74 metres in length / 6 guest cabins / Top speed of 18 knots / Intimate beach club / Baby grand piano / Private master cabhin terrace / Outdoor cinema

Nautilus, owned by Thierry Stern

Built by: Italian shipyard Perini Navi in 2014. With interiors by Rémi Tessier and exterior design by Philippe Briand, Nautilus was estimated to cost around $90 million to construct.

Owned by: Patek Philippe CEO Thierry Stern. Alongside his Gulstream G650 private jet, Nautilus — named for the famous sports watch — is his most costly mode of transport. His current net worth is $3 billion.

Key features: 73 metres in length / 7 guest cabins / Top speed of 16.5 knots / Dedicated wellness deck / 3.5 metre resistance pool / Underfloor heating / Jet Skis

Silver Angel, owned by Richard Caring

Built by: Luxury Italian boatbuilder Benetti. Launched in 2009, the yacht’s interior has been designed by Argent Design and her exterior styling is by Stefano Natucci.

Owned by: Richard Caring, British businessman and multi-millionaire (his wealth peaked at £1.05 billion, so he still makes the cut). Chairman of Caprice Holdings, he owns The Ivy restaurants.

Key features: 64.5 metres in length / Cruising speed of 15 knots / 7 guest cabins / Lalique decor / 5 decks / Oval Jacuzzi pool / Sun deck bar / Aft deck dining table

Lady Beatrice, owned by Frederick Barclay

Built by: Feadship and Royal Van Lent in 1993. Exteriors were created by De Voogt Naval Architects, with interiors by Bannenberg Designs. She cost the equivalent of £63 million to build.

Owned by: Sir David Barclay and his late brother Sir Frederick. The ‘Barclay Brothers’ had joint business pursuits including The Spectator , The Telegraph and delivery company Yodel. Current net worth: £7 billion.

Key features: 60 metres in length / 18 knots maximum speed / Monaco home port / Named for the brothers’ mother, Beatrice Cecelia Taylor / 8 guest cabins

Space, owned by Laurence Graff

Built by: Space was the first in Feadship’s F45 Vantage series , styled by Sinot Exclusive Yacht Design and launched in 2007. She cost a reported $25 million to construct.

Owned by: Laurence Graff, English jeweller and billionaire businessman. As the founder of Graff Diamonds, he has a global business presence and a current net worth of $6.26 billion.

Key features: 45 metres in length / Top speed of 16 knots / Al fresco dining area / Sun deck Jacuzzi / Breakfast bar / Swimming platform / Steam room

Want more yachts? Here’s the handcradfted, homegrown history of Princess…

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Billionaires: Jeff Bezos takes his $500 million superyacht for a test run

In our fortnightly round-up of the world’s super wealthy, mukesh ambani builds on record cricket views with new offerings and winklevoss twins lend $100 million to their gemini crypto platform.

Previously known as Y721, the ship is now registered as Koru and is flying under a Cayman Islands flag. EPA

Billionaire Jeff Bezos should have his new superyacht in time for the summer.

On Wednesday, the 417-foot (127-metre) Koru left a shipyard in the Netherlands and anchored off the coast of Spain near Mallorca, where it’s undergoing tests.

The Koru’s excursion is part of the sea trials where an owner puts the boat through its paces to make sure everything is working properly, according to a person familiar with its travels, who requested anonymity discussing private matters. It could return to the shipyard for final tweaks before being delivered.

The three-mast superyacht is estimated to have cost the Amazon founder more than $500 million.

Mr Bezos, 59, is the world’s third-richest person with a fortune of $126.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Jeff Bezos's $500m superyacht — in pictures

A superyacht, reportedly built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, sits on a slipway in Zwijndrecht, the Netherlands. All photos: AP

Previously known as Y721, the ship is now registered as Koru and is flying under a Cayman Islands flag. It’s the largest sailing yacht afloat, according to Boat International , and one of the biggest to be built by Netherlands-based Oceanco.

An Amazon representative did not respond to a request for comment.

The superyacht’s size has caused a number of headaches for Mr Bezos and its builders. The height of its masts was originally going to force the city of Rotterdam to dismantle historic steel bridge De Hef for the boat to be able to make it to the ocean.

City officials initially agreed to temporarily take apart the bridge’s central section, but Oceanco ended up retracting the request amid public outcry. The shipbuilder eventually towed the vessel out to sea without its masts.

The size of the sails also meant that the yacht couldn’t have a helipad on board. Instead, Mr Bezos and his helicopter pilot partner Lauren Sanchez will rely on a support boat, which is currently crossing the Atlantic with a destination of Gibraltar, according to vessel-tracking data.

Mukesh Ambani

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani ’s streaming service will add more than 100 films and TV series to its platform, building on the popularity of its cricket broadcasts in its push to take on global giants such as Walt Disney and Netflix in the fast-growing Indian market.

The expansion will coincide with JioCinema starting to charge for content, though the exact pricing strategy is still being finalised, media and content business president Jyoti Deshpande said in an interview.

New titles will be introduced before the end of the Indian Premier League cricket next month, and viewers will still be able to watch matches for free until then, she said.

Mr Ambani’s sprawling conglomerate has aspirations to become a global media and online streaming behemoth.

Last year, Viacom18 Media, a joint venture between Paramount Global and the billionaire’s Reliance Industries, outbid Disney and Sony Group to clinch the digital rights to IPL — one of the world’s fastest-growing sports events that’s seen as a critical way for any media company to lure eyeballs in India.

The potential viewership in India, home to 1.4 billion people and with a growing middle class and expanding internet access, is immense.

JioCinema drew more than 1.47 billion video views during the opening weekend of the IPL in April, and had 22 million viewers for a match on Wednesday.

It remains a market that’s been hard to crack for global streaming platform giants: Netflix has cut its fees to lure price-conscious users, while a robust local cinema-going culture means Indian viewers can be picky in what they’ll watch online.

Both price and content are at the front of mind in JioCinema’s expansion, said Ms Deshpande.

The plan is to “keep tariffs simple for viewers”, she said.

Currently, the streaming space “is dominated by westernised content. Jio Studios wants to become a catalyst for cross pollination of talent. We want to get as Indian as it can,” she added.

That includes rolling out films and series from thrillers and romance to biopics in languages including Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss

Billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have dipped into their own pockets to support their crypto exchange Gemini Trust , which has faced numerous setbacks during the year-long market downturn for digital assets.

The twins made a $100 million loan to Gemini recently, according to two people familiar with the matter, who did not wish to be identified discussing private information.

The move came after Gemini had informally sought funding from outside investors in recent months without coming to any agreements, according to three people.

Gemini and the Winklevoss twins didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Venture funding for crypto start-ups has cratered following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and slowdowns in the tech and crypto industries, plummeting 80 per cent to $2.4 billion in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, according to data from research firm PitchBook.

Gemini has experienced its own troubles during the crypto bear market, a sharp contrast to when it raised $400 million at a valuation of $7.1 billion in November 2021.

Fallout from the implosion of FTX led to the bankruptcy of crypto lender Genesis Global Holdco, severely bruising Gemini in the process.

Genesis Global had been Gemini’s sole partner on its Gemini Earn lending product and when Genesis froze withdrawals in November, that forced Gemini to pause redemptions on Earn accounts.

The move left $900 million of customer money in limbo and sparked a heated spat between the Winklevoss twins and Barry Silbert, chief executive of Digital Currency Group, the parent company of Genesis.

In February, the two parties reached an agreement in principle to resolve the dispute, under which Gemini would kick in as much as $100 million.

The Winklevoss loan won’t go towards that, but rather to fund operations, one person familiar with the matter said.

David and Simon Reuben

David and Simon Reuben are exploring ways to finalise one of Los Angeles’s biggest real estate projects after taking control over major parts of the $2.5 billion plan through debt financing deals.

The British billionaire brothers are in talks over a revised repayment plan with the US property developer behind the Century Plaza site after it defaulted on loans during the pandemic, according to a statement from the Reubens’ namesake company.

The project, which includes a five-star hotel as well as retail stores and residential units, is almost complete.

Reuben Brothers is now “engaged in discussions on a forbearance agreement with the borrower, Next Century Partners, controlled by Michael Rosenfeld, to ensure the project will move forward”, their company said, without disclosing financial terms.

“With the funding and development secured, Century Plaza can cement itself as a premier luxury residential complex in the centre of Los Angeles.”

Representatives for Next Century Partners didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The situation underscores the risks many real estate companies worldwide face as higher interest rates to curb surging inflation lead to more defaults.

Money managers have recently stepped up their bearish bets against office landlords: Warren Buffett has warned there will be problems for banks in the commercial property sector, while investor Kyle Bass went as far as saying skyscrapers will need to be demolished.

The Reubens control one of the world’s biggest portfolios of retail, office and residential properties. Sons of Iraqi Jews, they were born in India and moved to London as teenagers.

They built a fortune trading metals and later invested in real estate, leisure and technology companies. David, 84, and Simon, 81, have a combined net worth of $13.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

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Russian Billionaire’s Superyacht Mysteriously Vanishes

The Galactica Super Nova yacht owned by Lukoil CEO Vagit Alekperov seems to have turned off its tracking system, which would violate international maritime regulations.

Noah Kirsch

Wealth and Power Reporter

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

It’s a 230-foot superyacht with room for 28 guests and crew—and yet, in the last week, it has seemingly vanished, just as other vessels belonging to Russian billionaires have been frozen or seized.

The Galactica Super Nova, owned by Lukoil CEO Vagit Alekperov, sailed in recent weeks from Barcelona to Tivat, Montenegro, arriving on March 1. But just a day later, the boat departed, according to data from the ship-tracking company MarineTraffic.

An official at the port in Montenegro confirmed that the yacht was no longer there.

Soon after it left, Galactica’s automatic tracking system, also known as AIS, stopped pinging out signals, reports MarineTraffic and its competitors VesselFinder and VesselsValue. As of Wednesday afternoon Central European Time, the boat had yet to update its location.

It is legally required for all yachts of Galactica’s size to have their AIS turned on “at all times,” said Sam Tucker, head of superyachts at VesselsValue. “For the past 12 months, we have had a very reliable signal coming from this vessel, so after seeing it [leave] Porto Montenegro, we are very surprised that there has been no signal received from either our satellites or ground stations.”

Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty

Duncan Bateson, a marine lawyer based in London, said it was likely that “if captains of Russian-linked boats are turning off their AIS tracker, then it's because they're trying to evade being tracked.”

Lukoil did not respond to requests for comment.

The timing of the disappearance has certainly raised eyebrows. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a number of megayachts linked to oligarchs have been frozen or seized by international authorities, including one tied to Putin confidant Igor Sechin, and the Lady M and Lena yachts, which were docked in the Italian Riviera.

“We’ve never seen anything like it,” Bateson said of the crackdown.

Some Russian megayachts have quickly relocated to the Indian Ocean, ostensibly to avoid being nabbed.

According to Tucker, Russian nationals own about 10 percent of all yachts longer than 79 feet, and the financial ramifications of the sanctions are not yet clear. Entire industries, from insurance firms to boat outfitters to fuel suppliers, rely on the vessels for business.

The yacht issue notwithstanding, Alekperov’s financial position is already shaky. His net worth has plummeted $17.6 billion so far this year, to $5.2 billion, according to Bloomberg estimates .

Much of his wealth is tied to Lukoil, the energy firm that he helped start as a state-owned enterprise in 1991. He served as the Soviet Union’s first deputy minister of the oil and gas Industry.

Neither Alekperov nor Lukoil have been sanctioned so far this year by Western governments, though the United States has banned Russian oil imports and some consumers have begun boycotting Lukoil gas stations (a move that could hurt American franchisees). The U.S. did place Lukoil on a sanctions list in 2014, citing “continued Russian efforts to destabilize eastern Ukraine.”

Alekperov, 71, reportedly convened with other top Russian business people to meet with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin last month.

Perhaps in an effort to distance itself from the current invasion, Lukoil published a statement on March 3 calling for the “soonest termination of the armed conflict” and pushing for a “ceasefire and a settlement of problems through serious negotiations and diplomacy.” It stopped short of labeling the conflict a “war” or an “invasion,” however—no surprise given the Russian government’s highly restrictive new censorship laws, which went into effect around the same time.

As the violence in Ukraine persists, so too does the mystery of Alekperov’s boat. Experts say there are some instances when a captain might turn off a yacht’s tracking device, such as when steering through pirate-infested waters, though that wouldn’t currently apply to Galactica.

Tucker noted that “rare events” like atmospheric disruptions, system failures, lightning strikes, or cyber attacks, could also theoretically cause the AIS to stop working.

Wherever the vessel is, Alekperov is apparently willing to part with it for the right price. The yacht—which features a removable film screen, glass elevator, and 20-foot infinity pool with a waterfall feature—is listed for sale for 75 million euros, or $83 million. According to VesselsValue estimates, its actual value is closer to $69 million.

The boat will be hard to offload whenever it does turn up. Said Tucker: “Everyone is now so scared of touching any money that’s associated with Russia.”

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Why a $1 Billion Gift to a Medical School Moved So Many People

The gift to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx was notable not only for its size but also for the humility of the philanthropist.

By Ginia Bellafante

Ginia Bellafante writes the Big City column, a weekly commentary on the politics, culture and life of New York City.

A few days before it was announced that a former professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx was giving the school $1 billion to ensure free tuition pretty much forever, came word of another significant donation, though one not nearly as astonishing in sum or association. Julia Koch, one of the richest women in the world, was giving $75 million to a medical center in West Palm Beach, which, as The Chronicle of Philanthropy noted , serves “one of Florida’s fastest-growing wealthy enclaves.”

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Giving to hospitals in places where someone might have a second or fifth house is a favored cause of the rich. A single summer party on Long Island might raise millions of dollars for Southampton Hospital. This facility in Florida would be called the Julia Koch Family Ambulatory Care Center.

The Einstein gift, which came from a 93-year-old woman named Ruth Gottesman, is remarkable not only for its size but also for the absence of any apparent vanity surrounding it, the fortune having been quietly made by her husband, to whom she was married for 72 years. David Gottesman, known as Sandy, an investor and early acolyte of Warren Buffett’s, was not a creature of Page Six or TV, of divorce settlements, $500 million yachts , Davos or social-media diatribes . As the billionaire class has grown, modern philanthropy has become more extravagant in tandem with the egos and expectations driving it, a cry for the kind of political and social influence to which the Gottesmans seemed so pleasingly indifferent.

According to new research from CASE , an organization for academic administrators involved with fund-raising, $58 billion in charitable giving was turned over to colleges and universities during the 2023 fiscal year. It was the second highest amount on record, and the number of gifts totaling $100 million or more — 11 of them — surpassed the figure in 2022.

If the news of the Gottesman gift was received with such admiration and excitement, it was in part because it seemed to drown out the noise of transactionalism banging around so much generosity. Rarely had it been louder than it was in recent months when some of the most successful people on Wall Street made it their side hustle to work toward ousting university presidents whose ideologies and management styles were not aligned with their own.

“There’s a wonderful humility to the story,” Amir Pasic , dean of Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, observed, especially given what he described as a “change in sentiment” among donors, who look at giving as an investment rather than “a community process.” This dynamic is much more prevalent now than it was even 20 years ago.

The Einstein gift is the third-largest ever made to an institution of higher learning. (Michael Bloomberg’s $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins, his alma mater, leads the list.) Einstein will not displace its namesake to be called the Ruth Gottesman College of Medicine, nor does its benefactor seem to be demanding any other form of grand institutional deference.

Ruth Gottesman has been involved with the school for more than 55 years, first as a specialist in the diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities and then as a trustee. Dr. Gottesman knew, as Mr. Pasic put it, “how the sausage was being made at a very intimate level.” What she noticed in particular was the gristle — how tough it was, particularly for anyone hoping to go into the field of primary care, to leave school burdened with the kind of debt a $59,000 a year tuition can carry. Nearly half of all students at Einstein wind up owing $200,000 or more when they leave.

The cost of a medical education is one major factor driving the doctor shortage that Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, president of the American Medical Association, has called a national crisis. In an October speech at the National Press Club, he said that, the physician shortfall in the United States could climb to at least 37,000 over the next decade, and it might reach 100,000. Some of the greatest need is in family medicine, where the pay is typically much lower than it is among the various specialties. Last year, 217 residency spots in family medicine went unfilled, the highest in any category. By comparison, anesthesiology had just one vacancy — there were zero in residencies for plastic surgeons.

As it happens, the Bronx has the lowest proportion of general practitioners as a function of neighborhood population of any borough in the city. The hope of a gift like Dr. Gottesman’s is that it gives students the freedom not to choose neck lifts — that it provides the opportunity to stay in a place like the Bronx and give care where it is needed. And there is another hope too: that it broadcasts a message of how a billionaire might live his or her best life — without terra-forming Mars, without Burning Man, without the attempts to stealth-run Harvard.

Audio produced by Parin Behrooz .

Ginia Bellafante has served as a reporter, critic and, since 2011, as the Big City columnist . She began her career at The Times as a fashion critic, and has also been a television critic. She previously worked at Time magazine. More about Ginia Bellafante