American billionaire Larry Ellison was the co-founder of Oracle Corporation and is believed to have a net worth of nearly $114 billion. Ellison is no stranger to the yachting world and used to co-own a yacht with David Geffen for many years. There was a rumor he sold his stake to Geffen because he thought their 453 foot yacht the Rising Sun was just too big for him. That was back in 2010. Since that time, Ellison has gone on to purchase his own yacht

Design and Features of Larry Ellison’s Yacht

Ellison’s yacht is known as Musashi. It was built in 2011, just after he sold his previous yacht to David Geffen. It was built by the company Feadship with an exterior design by De Voogt naval architects and interior handled by Sinot Yacht Design.

The vessel has a steel hull and an aluminum superstructure. The decks are teak. The superyacht features at-anchor stabilizers to increase comfort. The on board water tanks store around 88,000 liters of fresh water.

What’s with Larry Ellison and Miyamoto Musashi?

Other yachts that Ellison has owned included the Ronin and the Katana. All four of these yachts have a noticeable theme in common and that is Japan with a strong leaning towards samurai culture. 

While Rising Sun is a reference to Japan itself, often called the Land of the Rising Sun, the other names are more samurai inspired. Ronin is the name of a masterless samurai while a katana is a type of sword that is often associated with the warriors. As for Musashi, that comes from a famous samurai warrior and Japanese swordsman named Miyamoto Musashi. It was said Musashi was a master swordsman and was undefeated in over 60 duels. 

This appreciation for Japanese culture also inspired some of the design elements of the yacht seen in the Sinot yacht architecture. That includes things like an overall minimalistic Japanese style, clean lines along the exterior to the materials and art found within which either reflect Japanese style or design esthetics.  One of the most notable pieces is a Hiroshi Senju painting.

Interior of Larry Ellison’s Yacht

The Musashi superyacht has been designed to accommodate up to 18 guests at a time, in addition to the crew who run the ship. That includes 10 guest suites, two of which are VIP cabins. Among the many features available for guests you can find

  • a movie theater
  • a spa
  • a gym
  • a swimming pool
  • basketball court
  • volleyball court
  • beach and water toys

The 5 deck yacht can be accessed easily thanks to an elevator to take you where you need to go. Failing that, there’s a stainless steel and glass staircase that can take you through the structure. The design is a little unusual and where a tender garage would normally be kept on the lower decks is the gym and spa and then crew quarters as well as access to the inner workings of the ship are down below.

The Musashi also features a basketball court on board as well that can be converted for playing other sports like football and volleyball as a crane that can launch racing boats.

There is a tender garage, of course, but it’s located on the main deck as part of the giant beach club. You can also find a cinema on the main deck that converts to a lounge and then most of the guest cabins are on this level as well.

Heading to the upper deck, half of this entire space is reserved for the largest of the VIP suites. 

How Much Did Musashi Cost?

According to various reports, Musashi cost Ellison about $160 million. That doesn’t put it in the running to be the most expensive yacht in the world by any means, but it’s definitely an expensive superyacht.

The annual expense for running the yacht which includes everything from taxes and licenses, salary for the crew and fuel expenses is believed to run between $10 million and $20 million per year. That may seem like a lot but it’s pretty standard for a yacht of this size. This is part of the reason why many billionaire yacht owners will put their yacht up for charter during times when they are not using it. It’s much easier to cut those expenses when other people are paying them. 

That said, Ellison has not opted to make his yacht available for charter. At least not yet, anyway.

Speed and Propulsion

Musashi is powered by twin 5,766hp MTU 20V4000 M93L diesel engines.

  1. The yacht has a fuel capacity of 335,000 L (88,000 US gal).
  2. That means that Musashi has a maximum range of 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h).
  3. Cruising speed is 18 knots and a top speed of 21 knots.

Crew

The crew of the Musashi numbers around 24 and there are 10 crew cabins on board. This includes the crew needed to actually operate the vessel as well as additional crew members such as a chef and others who are able to see to the needs of the passengers for whatever they might require.

Dimensions

Musashi is a large yacht, though far from the largest yacht in the world.  It measures 288 feet in length, and has a beam of 45.6 feet. The draft is 13.5 feet and the gross tonnage of the megayacht is 2,463 tons. 

How Does The Musashi Yacht Compare to Other Luxury Yachts?

One of the most obvious comparisons you can make is between this luxury superyacht and Ellison’s previous yacht the Rising Sun, owned by David Geffen. The Rising Sun is 453 feet which is 165 feet longer than Musashi. The Rising Sun was also said to have a cost of around $200 million compared to the $160 million of Musashi. 

While $160 million is nothing to sneeze at, the current reigning title for most expensive yacht seems to belong to the Eclipse, owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich which, after the initial purchase and various retrofits and upgrades, is said to have cost him $1.5 billion.

In terms of size, Musashi also falls short of the largest yacht in the world which is the massive Azzam. It measures in at 180 meters which is nearly 600 feet in length.

The Bottom Line

Larry Ellison was the founder of Oracle and is one of the top ten richest people in the world. He spent $160 million on his yacht Musashi, named after a historical samurai. Musashi measures in at 288 feet in length and can handle up to 18 guests on board. The yacht features a pool, spa, gym and other amenities and is very much inspired by Japanese design elements.