It is taking a few years to sell off Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen's collection of real estate and luxury yachts -- after the business and tech magnate died in 2018 at the age of 65, an estate chaired by his sister has been organizing an ongoing sell-off.
In August, the estate sold eight homes in Washington's Mercer Island for a combined $67.1 million. And while it is not exactly a home, much less eight, Allen's "Octopus" superyacht sold to Swedish pharmaceuticals billionaire Roger Samuelsson after originally being listed for $325 million.
Even though the final sales price was not disclosed, the estate had earlier lowered the asking price to $278 million.
The 414-foot Octopus was not Allen's only superyacht. At around the same time, Allen's estate also listed the 303-foot-long Tatoosh for $90 million.
A $90 Million Yacht Purchase
This yacht was on the market for longer but eventually sold to an undisclosed buyer this week. Stuart Larsen, a yacht broker with Fort Lauderdale's Fraser Yachts, represented the sale.
"Tatoosh" is a Chinook word for breast and is also the name of a wilderness area in a Washington state park -- it is not entirely clear why Allen chose to give it that name in particular.
Allen bought the yacht from telecommunications magnate Craig McCaw in 2001 for $100 million; McCaw, in turn, had it custom-built by German ship company Nobiskrug.
"Custom-built by German shipyard Nobiskrug, the 92.4M/303'02" TATOOSH was one of the finest superyachts available on the market today," Fraser Yachts wrote in a blog post announcing the purchase.
Tatoosh underwent a remodeling in 2001 meant to make it look more modern. At the time of purchase, it came with two helicopter pads, large tenders, a swimming pool, a beach club, an elevator, and a cinema as just some of the onboard amenities.
Fittingly of the "superyacht" title, the Tatoosh also comes with 11 staterooms that would each fit up to 19 guests. It is also the 60th largest yacht in the world, behind ones like the 162.5-meter eclipse owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Too Many Yachts, Too Little Time
Allen's sister Jody Allen has been the executor in charge of the estate and has been on a mission to whittle it down as per her late brother's instructions. One of the estate's biggest assets is the Seattle Seahawks football team -- although Jody Allen has repeatedly said that they are not planning to sell it for the time being.
Even before his death, Allen had said that his yachts had started to weigh on him.
"They’re too big, and there are too many of them," Allen said of them at a 2011 presentation in Seattle's Town Hall.
While superyachts are often criticized for their role in ostentatious displays of wealth, they recently became the subject of much attention after government officials stepped up efforts to seize ones belonging to Russian oligarchs as part of the sanctions placed amid the country's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In May, the government of Fiji seized the 348-foot Amadea yacht belonging to Suleiman Kerimov -- the oligarch worth over $14 billion had already been under sanctions from the U.S. Treasury Department since 2018 over alleged money laundering but was subject to new ones due to his close ties to President Vladimir Putin amid the invasion.
