Rumors have been running rampant over the past week about who was the mysterious buyer that snatched up the 289-foot super yacht known as the Maltese Falcon. The hybrid super yacht is one of the world’s largest, best designed, and most expensive yachts around and its new owner is, somewhat ironically, a first time yacht-owner.
51-year-old Greek-born hedge fund owner, Elena Ambrosiadou, has been revealed as the new owner of the $120 million yacht. As the founder of hedge fund Ikos (meaning “home” in Greek), Ambrosiadou has been described as the highest-paid woman and wealthiest female entrepreneur in Britain, where she lives part of the year.
The Maltese Falcon was originally built by Perini Navi for venture capitalist Tom Perkins in 2006, and it remains the icing on the super-yacht-cake in terms of technology, design, and reputation. The super yacht is renowned for her revolutionary sailing system, dubbed the DynaRig, which features three self-standing and rotating masts holding 15 sails for a total sail area of 25,791 square feet for unmatched “performance maneuverability and record-shattering speed.” With this system, the Maltese Falcon can cross the Atlantic Ocean in less than ten days.
A chemical engineer by training, with a current fortune estimated at more than $330 million, Ambrosiadou, who divides her time between Cyprus, Greece and London, England commented on the moment that made her decide to buy the Maltese Falcon and said, “I chartered her with some friends last year and then last April I crossed the Atlantic with Tom, which took eight days. I fell in love with her—everyone falls in love with her sleek lines and signature masts.”
Unfortunately, being one of the wealthiest women in Britain means leisure time is limited, and Ambrosiadou says, “I work 16 hours a day, seven days a week. I doubt if I’ll be spending much time on her,” and goes on to indicate she may continue to charter off the yacht for around $620,000 a week. “This is an enterprise,” she adds.
The Maltese Falcon has six guest cabins, eight crew cabins, a gym, and a sculpture of a vintage Bugatti racing car. It is also rumored to carry four Laser sailing boats, a mini-submarine, although it is thought that its former owner, Perkins, may keep the latter.
Mystery solved.
