Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt scraps $67.6 million buy of deserted superyacht

By Jim Wyss and Devon Pendleton | Bloomberg

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has backed out of buying a superyacht that’s been deserted in Antigua for over a yr, after the sale grew to become mired in lawsuits.

Schmidt withdrew his $67.6 million successful bid for the Alfa Nero a number of days in the past, mentioned Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the US. In June, Schmidt gained an public sale for the luxurious vessel, however the deal was later challenged in courtroom by the daughter of Russian fertilizer billionaire Andrey Guryev.

“Schmidt, due to the authorized wrangling, decided that we couldn’t give him clear title of the ship,” Sanders mentioned in a Friday interview. “That’s not correct, as a result of the ship belongs to us, it’s owned by the federal government.”

Folks near Schmidt who requested to not be recognized discussing the sale mentioned any property topic to litigation isn’t free and clear.

The 267-foot Alfa Nero, full with a child grand piano and a swimming pool that turns right into a helipad, was deserted in Antigua’s Falmouth Harbour in March 2022, after the US Treasury sanctioned Guryev. Whereas he denied he owned the superyacht, his daughter, Yulia Gurieva-Motlokhov, later stepped ahead to say it.

After the US lifted sanctions on the vessel, Antigua’s authorities auctioned it off regardless of Gurieva-Motlokhov’s makes an attempt to dam the sale. Since then, her legal professionals have appealed to courts in Antigua hoping to void the transaction.