Megayacht Octopus
Paul Allen's Octopus
Octopus is a mega-yacht owned by Paul Allen, the billionaire who
co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975.
A cruising mega-yacht,
Octopus weighs 9,900 tons, which is more than an Arleigh Burke-class naval destroyer, yet can reach
speeds of up to 20 knots, thanks to eight Mercedes diesel engines
that generate a total output of 19,000 hp for the twin screws.
When it was delivered to Paul Allen in 2003,
Octopus, which is
414 feet (126 meters) long,
was the longest yacht in the world, a title that passed to the
Rising Sun
in 2004,
Dubai
in 2006,
Eclipse
in 2010,
Azzam in
2013, and will soon pass to the
Gigayacht.
Octopus has a crew of fifty-six in twenty-eight cabins and can
accommodate up to twenty-six guests in thirteen luxury suites. The yacht has two
helicopter landing pads, a swimming pool, a basketball court, a recording studio,
and six tenders (smaller boats that ferry guest to and from shore), including one
that is 63 feet long.
The
interior dock of
Octopus holds a submarine (right) that can
take up to ten people down for up to eight hours, as well as a
remote-controlled unmanned submarine that can dive to a depth of 8,900 feet.
The exterior of
Octopus was designed by Espen Oino and his team
at EOI in Monaco. The interior was designed by Jonathan Quinn Barnett of
Seattle, Washington, and the yacht was engineered and built by Bremen,
Germany's Lürssen
Yachts, which also built David Geffen's
Rising Sun, Alisher Usmanov's
Dilbar II
and the
Azzam.
As massive as
Octopus is, one mega-yacht apparently isn't enough for a billionaire like Paul Allen. Three
years before he paid $250 million (see
yachts cost)
for
Octopus in 2003, he paid $100
million for the 303 foot-long
Tatoosh, which he also still owns.
On which yacht did Paul Allen get better value for
his money?
The answer depends on your views on wealth.
After leaving Microsoft to Bill Gates, Paul Allen became a venture
capitalist, a real estate developer, a professional sports team
owner (he owns the National Basketball
Association (NBA)'s Portland Trailblazers and the National Football League
(NFL)'s Seattle Seahawks), and dabbled in philanthropy.
If you think his wealth is
self-made,
click here.
If you believe he was blessed to amass it,
click here.