10 things people buy when they have more money than they'd ever need
1. Tickets to outer space
Celebrities Ashton Kutcher and Katy Perry are among those who have reportedly bought tickets for a space tour aboard Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spacecraft.
Source: Business Insider
Perry bought a $200,000 Virgin Galactic ticket as a birthday gift for her now ex-husband Russell Brand in 2010.
Source: New York Daily News
Branson said in May 2018 that Virgin Galactic was two or three test flights away from taking passengers to space.
Source: CNBC
2. Fossils
When money is no object, what's a few hundred thousand dollars spent on the remains of a long-dead creature? In 2007, Nicolas Cage outbid Leonardo DiCaprio for a $276,000 Mongolian dinosaur skull. The skull turned out to be stolen, so Cage later had to give it to US authorities.
Source: INSIDER
At an auction in Paris in June 2018, an unidentified buyer spent about $2.6 million on the fossil of a dinosaur thought to be from the Allosaurus genus.
Source: Wired
In 2014, billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen bought a 14-foot preserved shark for between $8 million and $12 million.
Source: NY Mag
3. Gold toilets and bathrooms
One way to show that you're ultra-wealthy is to surround yourself with as much gold as possible. A Hong Kong jeweler spent $3.5 million building a bathroom made entirely of gold and precious jewels, including a 24-carat solid gold toilet.
Source: Guinness World Records
Built in 2001, the room still holds the Guinness World Record for most expensive bathroom.
Source: Guinness World Records
Former professional boxer Mike Tyson once bought a 24-karat gold bathtub for $2.2 million.
Source: INSIDER
4. Private islands
The ultra-wealthy love buying islands. In 2012, billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison bought 97% of a 90,000-acre Hawaiian island for $300 million.
Source: Business Insider
Sir Richard Branson bought Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands for about $320,000 dollars in 1979.
Source: Business Insider
And Blackadore Caye, a small island off the coast of Belize, was purchased by Leonardo DiCaprio for $1.75 million in 2005.
Source: Travel + Leisure, The New York Times
The actor-turned-activist, who's worth an estimated $29 million, has been building an eco-resort on the island, which will be powered by 100% renewable energy and is set to open at the end of 2018.
Source: Business Insider, Forbes
5. Luxurious superyachts
Some of the world's wealthiest people are owners of superyachts. Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought his yacht, Eclipse, in 2010. Reports of its cost vary, ranging from $600 million up to $1 billion.
Source: Business Insider
The Eclipse has two helipads, a missile defense system, two swimming pools, a cinema, hair salon, and restaurant.
Source: Business Insider
Entertainment mogul David Geffen owns a $590 million superyacht know as the Rising Sun, which includes a basketball court and space for 18 overnight guests. In April 2017, Geffen hosted the Obama family on his yacht.
Source: Business Insider
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, owns the world's largest motor yacht, which is 590 feet long and cost $600 million to build.
Source: Business Insider
6. Private planes
Private planes are another luxury on which the super-wealthy love to splurge. In 2007, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia spent $319 million for a double-decker superjumbo jet nicknamed "The Flying Palace," made renovations that put the value at more than $500 million, and then promptly sold it to an unknown buyer.
Source: GOBankingRates
Businessman Alisher Usmanov, one of the wealthiest people in Russia, owns a business jet Airbus A340-300, a plane that costs at least $350 million and can seat up to 277 people.
Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, owns a $65 million Gulfstream G650ER private jet.
Source: Business Insider
Bill Gates owns a relatively modest $40 million Bombardier BD-700 Global Express plane.
Source: Business Insider
7. Movie props and memorabilia
If you had millions (or billions) of dollars to spare, would you buy props and other paraphernalia from your favorite films? Many do just that. In 2013, Elon Musk bought the Lotus Esprit car from James Bond's "The Spy Who Loved Me" for $886,000.
Source: INSIDER
In the movie, the car turns into a submarine. "I was disappointed to learn that it can't actually transform. What I'm going to do is upgrade it with a Tesla electric powertrain and try to make it transform for real," Musk said.
Source: INSIDER
8. Massive car collections
Many of the world's wealthiest people like to collect cars. Bill Gates is an avid luxury car collector, with his first big splurge after founding Microsoft being a Porsche 911 supercar. He has various garages that fit 23 cars.
Source: Business Insider
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has owned many different vehicles in addition to his James Bond submarine car. His past cars include an Audi Q7, a Porsche 911, a 1967 E-Type Jaguar, and a Hamann BMW M5 sports car.
Source: Business Insider
9. An entire town
If an island isn't your thing, you can always buy a town, like Kim Basinger did in 1989. With other investors, she bought 1,751 acres of the 2,000-acre town of Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million. She wanted to turn the town's farmland into a tourist attraction and film studio, but it was later auctioned off as part of her bankruptcy.
Source: INSIDER
10. Second passports
Yet another mark of the wealthy comes in the form of second passports. "It's a status symbol — it shows friends you can afford it," Nuri Katz, president of international financial firm Apex Capital Partners, told Business Insider. "I call it the black American Express syndrome."
Source: Bloomberg
Many countries, including the US, require you to meet certain criteria before obtaining citizenship. But in others, including Austria, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, and certain Caribbean islands, you can simply buy it — for a minimum $100,000.
Source: Bloomberg
Becoming a citizen of Malta will cost you about $1 million, while Cyprus runs about $2.3 million. An Austrian passport will cost you a whopping $23.7 million.
Source: Bloomberg
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