What’s money good for if you’re not spending it, right? Howard Schultz, the man who founded and currently serves as chairman emeritus of Starbucks, is perhaps the best person right now to answer that question, even if it’s rhetorical.
Photo: Yacht Charter Fleet/Starbucks (Composite)
Pi is one of the most elusive presences on the superyacht market, because Schultz’s wealth also allows him to retain full ownership of it without having to offer it for charter in the off-season.
A 77-meter (252-foot) vessel, it was delivered to the owner as SYZYGY 818, a fully custom build, at the 2019 Monaco Yacht Show, where it won Best Yacht in Its Class and Motor Yacht of the Year. Schultz presumably saw it and liked it enough that it passed into his ownership just three months later, under the new name Pi.
Photo: YouTube / Dutch Yachting
Described by trade publications as a sophisticated and highly competent vessel, Pi was able to sail under the proverbial radar for months in a row, occasionally making headlines as it moored into different harbors around the world. The last time it did so was May 2022, and it was presumably getting ready to head in for a refit at the Pendennis Shipyard in the UK.
A new report from eSysman Superyacht is now saying that Pi is just now going in for a full refit, having been sold quietly on the specialized market, just one week after listing. Apparently, Schultz wanted to unload it before it was dry-docked, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to enjoy it for at least half a year.
He got a good deal out of it, too. The same report notes that Pi sold for the original asking price, which could be anything between $150 million and $200 million, if industry rumors are anything to go by. If this is true, it speaks volumes for the quality of work from builder Feadship – and for Pi itself.
Schultz won’t be boat-less for much longer, though. The sale isn’t so much as a change in lifestyle for him as it’s an upgrade of the same: the billionaire is currently awaiting delivery on his new superyacht, which, in true billionaire fashion, will be bigger, fancier, more expensive, and understandably more luxurious.
Feadship is handling this build as well. Known internally as Project 824, it’s been in construction for months and was most recently seen in September 2023, when the hull and superstructure were joined at one of the Dutch yard’s facilities.
Project 824 is 100 meters long (328 feet) and will offer an interior volume of more than 3,000 GT, which technically takes it over the threshold into the megayacht category. With the new classification comes even more secrecy, so these are all the details available right now. Delivery is tentatively scheduled for 2025.
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