It starts with the size of the hull. For most of us, a boat is a luxury. For the 0.001%, it’s a floating sovereign nation. If you’ve ever walked along the Port Hercule in Monaco during the Yacht Show, you realize the phrase "the haves and have-yachts: dispatches on the ultrarich" isn't just a clever pun. It’s a literal description of a widening chasm in global capital. We aren't just talking about being "rich" anymore. We are talking about a tier of wealth so insulated that it has its own supply chains, its own legal jurisdictions, and its own physical geography.
Money talks, but wealth hides. Or at least it used to.
Now, wealth screams. It screams through 400-foot vessels like Jeff Bezos’s Koru or the late Paul Allen’s Octopus, which features its own recording studio and submarine dock. But behind the glitz of the teak decks and the infinity pools that disappear into the horizon, there is a complex, often bizarre economy that keeps the "have-yachts" afloat. It's an ecosystem of family offices, tax loopholes, and "lifestyle managers" who earn six figures just to make sure a specific type of organic dragonfruit is available in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
The Architecture of Extreme Insulation
Why yachts? Because land is fixed. Land is subject to the prying eyes of neighbors and the pesky regulations of local governments. A yacht is mobile. It’s the ultimate "dispatch on the ultrarich" because it represents the desire to opt out of society entirely.
When you look at the growth of the "gigayacht" market—vessels over 100 meters—you’re looking at a graph of global inequality. According to the Superyacht Group, the fleet has ballooned. It’s not just about the party. It’s about the "have-yachts" creating a parallel world. These ships often come with "shadow vessels." Think of a shadow vessel as a floating garage that carries the helicopters, the jet skis, and the 50-person security detail so the main yacht stays "clutter-free."
Honestly, it’s a bit ridiculous.
But for the people buying them, it’s practical. If you’re worth $50 billion, your biggest threat isn't a stock market crash; it’s a loss of autonomy. A yacht provides a controlled environment where every variable is managed. We’re seeing a shift from "leisure" to "survivability." New builds are increasingly requested with "ice-class" hulls. This means they can cut through polar regions. The ultrarich aren't just vacationing in St. Tropez anymore; they are scouting the Northwest Passage, looking for the last places on Earth that feel private.
The "Haves" vs. The "Have-Yachts": A New Class Divide
We used to talk about the 1%. That’s old news. The 1% includes successful dentists and corporate lawyers. The "have-yachts" are the 0.01%. This is where the dispatches from the front lines of wealth get truly strange.
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There’s a concept in sociology called "assortative mating," but in the world of the ultrarich, we’re seeing "assortative living." They don't just marry people in their tax bracket; they only interact with them. They attend the same "high-conviction" summits like the World Economic Forum or the Sun Valley Conference. They buy art at Art Basel not just because they like the work, but because the VIP preview is one of the few places they won't be asked for a selfie.
The Cost of Being a Have-Yacht
Let’s get into the numbers, because they’re staggering.
The rule of thumb for yacht ownership is that you spend 10% of the purchase price every single year on maintenance.
If the boat cost $300 million?
That’s $30 million a year just to keep the engines running and the crew paid.
Most people’s dream "lottery win" wouldn't even cover the fuel bill for a trip across the Atlantic.
- Fuel: A large yacht can burn 500 liters of diesel per hour.
- Crew: A 100-meter boat requires 30 to 50 staff members.
- Dockage: During the Grand Prix in Monaco, a "berth" can cost over $100,000 for a few days.
This isn't just spending; it's a massive wealth-transfer mechanism to a very specific service class. There are entire towns in the South of France and Florida that exist solely to service these floating palaces.
Dispatches on the Ultrarich: The Tax and Legal Maze
You might wonder why these boats are almost always flying the flag of the Cayman Islands, Malta, or the Marshall Islands. It’s not just about avoiding taxes, though that’s a huge part of it. It’s about "jurisdictional flexibility."
When a yacht is in international waters, it’s a legal grey zone. Employment laws, safety regulations, and even certain criminal statutes become... flexible. Investigative journalists like Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland, have documented how this "offshore" world functions. It’s a place where the ultrarich can park their assets so they are invisible to the tax authorities of the countries where they actually live and work.
The "haves" use the infrastructure of the state—the roads, the schools, the legal systems—while the "have-yachts" use the infrastructure of the globe. They are "citizens of nowhere," but with the protection of everywhere. It’s a brilliant, if ethically dubious, way to play the game.
The Myth of the "Self-Made" Titan
One of the most common narratives in these dispatches on the ultrarich is the "bootstraps" story. We love a good founder myth. But the reality is that extreme wealth is rarely a solo sport. It requires a massive tailwind of cheap credit, favorable tax policy, and, often, inherited stability.
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Look at the surge in family offices. A family office is essentially a private wealth management firm that serves a single family. They don't just trade stocks. They buy up farmland, tech startups, and real estate. In 2024, it was estimated that family offices globally manage over $6 trillion. That’s more than the entire hedge fund industry.
This creates a "permanent" class of wealth. The "haves" might lose their status in a generation or two, but the "have-yachts" are building dynasties designed to last centuries. They use "dynasty trusts" in states like South Dakota or Nevada, where assets can stay locked away from estate taxes indefinitely.
Why This Matters to You (The "Have-Nots")
It’s easy to look at this and just feel annoyed or entertained, like we’re watching a season of Succession. But the "haves and have-yachts" dynamic affects the price of your milk and the interest rate on your mortgage.
When the ultrarich pile into specific assets—like residential real estate or agricultural land—they drive up prices for everyone else. It’s called "wealth creep." In cities like London, New York, and Vancouver, thousands of luxury apartments sit empty for ten months of the year. They aren't homes; they’re "safe deposit boxes in the sky."
This creates a hollowed-out urban core. The people who actually make the city run—teachers, nurses, baristas—are pushed further and further out. The dispatches on the ultrarich are often actually stories about the vanishing middle class.
The Future: Space is the New Ocean
Where do the have-yachts go when the ocean gets too crowded? Up.
The current obsession with private space flight among the billionaire class (Musk, Bezos, Branson) is the natural evolution of the superyacht. It is the ultimate "exit." Why stay on a planet with rising sea levels and political unrest when you can build a colony on Mars or a spinning habitat in LEO (Low Earth Orbit)?
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It sounds like sci-fi, but they are spending billions to make it a reality. It’s the same impulse: the desire for a "vessel" that is beyond the reach of terrestrial problems.
Actionable Insights: Navigating a World of Extreme Wealth
While most of us won't be ordering a custom Lürssen yacht anytime soon, understanding how the "have-yachts" operate can help you protect your own financial future.
1. Watch the "Smart Money" Flow
The ultrarich don't follow the news; they stay ahead of it. When you see massive family offices moving into "real assets" like water rights or specialized logistics, pay attention. These are hedges against inflation and instability. Diversifying your own small portfolio into tangible assets can offer similar, albeit smaller-scale, protection.
2. Focus on "Un-Googleable" Skills
In an era where AI and automation are owned by the "haves," the most valuable thing you can possess is a skill that requires high-level human empathy, complex physical presence, or specialized "insider" knowledge. The "service class" for the ultrarich—architects, specialized surgeons, high-end security—are some of the best-paid professionals in the world because their value can't be digitized.
3. Understand the Geography of Tax
You don't need a yacht to be tax-efficient. Understanding how "residency" vs. "domicile" works, or how to use legal structures like an LLC to manage your side-hustle income, is basically using the "have-yacht" playbook on a "have" budget.
4. Demand Transparency
The biggest power the "have-yachts" have is anonymity. Supporting policies like public registries of beneficial ownership makes it harder for the ultrarich to hide assets and avoid contributing to the societies that made their wealth possible.
The gap between the "haves" and "have-yachts" isn't just about money. It’s about a fundamental difference in how one experiences the world. One group lives in a country; the other lives in a network. As these dispatches on the ultrarich show, the network is winning. Whether that’s a good thing for the rest of us remains the defining question of the 21st century.
To stay informed, monitor the annual Capgemini World Wealth Report and the Knight Frank Wealth Report. These documents provide the closest thing to a "map" of where the have-yachts are moving their money next. Pay close attention to shifts in "alternative investments"—that's usually where the next big market bubble begins to form.