• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic

Tycoons are dumping their superyachts

By
David A. Kaplan
David A. Kaplan
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
David A. Kaplan
David A. Kaplan
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 25, 2012, 5:00 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Athena, companion of heroes.

FORTUNE — The oldest adage on the sea is that the two happiest days in a sailor’s life are the days he buys his boat and the day he sells it. For three business titans, the days seem to be getting happier.

In 2009, Tom Perkins, the nonpareil venture capitalist of Silicon Valley, sold the Maltese Falcon, a 289-foot futuristic Darth Vader-esque square-rigger. Reported price: $90 million. The buyer: Elena Ambrosiadou, a European hedge-fund billionaire. Then, last June, Joe Vittoria — who made a fortune as head of Avis Rent a Car when he led an LBO of the company in the 1980s — unloaded Mirabella V, the 247-foot sloop with a 292-foot mast that’s so tall the yacht can’t fit under the Golden Gate Bridge or through the Panama Canal. Price, according to industry sources: $25 million. The buyer: Rod Lewis, a billionaire Texas oil-and-gas tycoon. Now comes the 68-year-old billionaire Jim Clark, the co-founder of Netscape, Shutterfly and WebMD. He just put his splendid sailboats, Athena and Hanuman, on the market on the same day.

MORE: 10 multi-million-dollar mega-yachts

Athena is a glorious 295-foot gaff-rigged schooner, with 28,000 square feet of sail area. It has enough cool gadgetry to tickle any techy who likes toys: handheld wireless touch-screens that monitor and control such ship accoutrements as music, air conditioning, and the shades in the staterooms. You can also keep track on a navigation screen of what exclusive exotic island you’re heading to. Clark, whose eccentricities led his professional crew to call their nautical universe “Jim World,” used the boat a lot as a diving platform. Athena even has a decompression chamber for divers with the bends. Asking price: $95 million, which presumably doesn’t include the South Beach white suits that Clark liked to wear aboard.

As the story goes, Clark and Perkins were in a bit of a competition about whose boat under construction would be longer. Perkins said he misled Clark by 10 feet about how long the Falcon would be — and that’s why Perkins’ is bigger. Clark maintains his is bigger, not at the waterline but because of a 33-foot figurehead-adorned bowsprit extending out from the foredeck. Boys, settle down!

The sleek 138-foot Hanuman, currently in Newport, R.I., is a replica of the great J-class racer Endeavour II from the 1930s built by Tommy Sopwith. Asking price: a mere $18 million.

 

Assuming Clark sells Athena, there will be only one Vanderbilt of the new yachting age left at the helm. Clark, along with Perkins and Vittoria and Barry Diller — the billionaire media mogul — each had his own exemplar of conspicuous construction. Diller’s 272-foot Eos, a Bermuda-rigged schooner, is still in his hands. (He might have an interesting time selling it, given that its bowsprit reportedly features a figurehead of his wife, Diane von Furstenberg, the fashion designer.)

Yacht owners buy and sell all the time. Clark could not be reached for comment about why he’s pulling anchor on his two prized sailing possessions. But one friend offers this speculation: “He has a newborn, and babies and sailboats don’t mix well.” In 2009, Clark married Kristy Hinze, an actress and TV host dubbed the “Aussie Angel” by the tabloids, as well as occasional Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. She’s 36 years younger than him and his fourth wife. Maybe they can buy another really, really big house together.

David A. Kaplan wrote “Mine’s Bigger: Tom Perkins and the Making of the Greatest Sailing Machine Ever Built,” which won the 2008 Gerald Loeb Award for best business book of the year.

About the Author
By David A. Kaplan
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in

Current price of gold as of July 21, 2026
Personal Financegold prices
Current price of gold as of July 21, 2026
By Danny BakstJuly 21, 2026
24 minutes ago
va
North AmericaWhite House
HUD suspends disaster funding to U.S. Virgin Islands housing authority, saying mismanagement has kept $1.3 billion from hurricane survivors
By Danica Coto and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
34 minutes ago
traffic
HealthAutos
Rich countries have cut road deaths by more than 30% in 30 years—but about 90% of fatal crashes now happen in poorer nations
By Mike Stobbe and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
36 minutes ago
bird
EnvironmentAnimals
The rare ‘great conservation success story’ is happening off New England as $10 million over 10 years brings back the quirky oystercatcher bird
By Michael Casey and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
53 minutes ago
kalshi
CryptoKalshi
Kalshi’s ‘chronically online’ war room figured out World Cup virality — and realized AI might be bringing back the monoculture
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 21, 2026
57 minutes ago
wilt
Arts & EntertainmentAuction
Gen Z entrepreneur found a Wilt Chamberlain Lakers warm-up for $3.07 outside Portland — it was a $90,000 genuine article
By Claire Rush and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
1 hour ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
20 hours ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
24 hours ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
3 days ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 20, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 20, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
Warren Buffett says his $147 billion investing career was an accident: ‘I may be one of the 10 luckiest in the world’
Future of Work
Warren Buffett says his $147 billion investing career was an accident: ‘I may be one of the 10 luckiest in the world’
By Sarah GlodekJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
It’s not just Taco Bell lettuce and possible glass in Pillsbury rolls: Food and drink recall events reached a 6-year year-over-year high
Retail
It’s not just Taco Bell lettuce and possible glass in Pillsbury rolls: Food and drink recall events reached a 6-year year-over-year high
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.