// the short version
A four-year-old 50-meter (165 ft) superyacht costs about $40,000,000. Running it costs about $4,043,700 a year, about 10% of its price. Add lost value and lost investment return and the true cost is about $8,443,700 a year: about $23,133 for every day you own it. Most owners use their yacht a few weeks a year. Used 28 days, each day on board costs $301,561.
01
What it costs to buy
itemPrice
- 4-year-old 50 m yacht$40,000,000
- New 50 m from a top European yard (multi-year build)$45,000,000 - $70,000,000
02
The running costs (a year)
BillA year
- Crew of 12 (captain about $160,000) + food, flights, insurance, training$1,163,700
- Fuel (about 60,000 gallons; 100 gallons an hour at $5)$300,000
- Marinas and harbor fees (Monaco Grand Prix week, best berth: about €110,000)$380,000
- Insurance (about 1%)$400,000
- Maintenance$800,000
- Refit fund ($3M every 5 years)$600,000
- Management, flag, satellite$250,000
- Extras: jet skis, flowers, wine, laundry$150,000
- Total$4,043,700 (about $11,079 a day)
03
The invisible bills (a year)
BillA year
- Value loss ($40M → $28M in 5 years)$2,400,000
- Lost return on $40M at 5%$2,000,000
- True yearly cost$8,443,700 (five years: $42,218,500)
04
Per day used
Days on board a yearCost per day
- 365 (every day you own it)$23,133
- 28$301,561 (about $3.49 a second)
- 9about $938,000
05
Charter it out, sell it, or charter someone else's?
- Charter it out 10 weeks at $350,000: $3.5M, minus the broker's 15% and about $900,000 of wear, you keep about $2,075,000. Your yearly cost falls to about $6.37 million.
- Sell it: under the standard MYBA terms the broker takes 10% of the first $10M, 5% of the next $10M and 2.5% above: about $2,000,000 on $40M. You keep about $38M, which earns about $1.9 million a year at 5%.
- Charter someone else's: about $350,000 a week + 35% advance for fuel, food and harbor fees + a 7.5% crew tip = about $498,750 a week. The interest on $38M pays for almost 4 weeks a year. Owning only beats chartering past about 17 weeks a year.
// your turn
Your yacht, your numbers
Running costs$4.04M
Lost value$2.4M
Lost return$2M
True yearly cost$8.44M
Each day on board
$301,561
The video's case
$301,561
Yours
$301,561
move a slider, I'll redo the math
// the verdict
Use it under about 17 weeks a year?
Charter someone else's.
// tips if you're thinking of buying
0 of 7 checked
tap a tip when you've got it covered
// three questions to ask before you buy anything big
// sources11
- 1abc17news.comCNN / ABC17: the hidden costs of owning a superyachthttps://abc17news.com/entertainment/2021/06/01/the-hidden-costs-of-owning-a-superyacht/
- 2fraseryachts.comFraser: hidden costs in yacht ownershiphttps://www.fraseryachts.com/en/hidden-costs-in-yacht-ownership/
- 3pressmare.itPress Mare: superyacht market 2024-2025https://pressmare.it/en/media/press-mare/2025-04-02/slight-market-decline-2024-potential-recovery-2025-82810
- 4yachtbuyer.comYachtBuyer: Monaco Yacht Show 2025https://www.yachtbuyer.com/en/news/monaco-yacht-show-2025-opens-with-dollar-3-billion-fleet-and-80-debuts
- 5uksa.orgUKSA: superyacht salary guidehttps://uksa.org/news-and-guides/superyacht-salary-guide/
- 6ahoyclub.comAhoy Club: what a Mediterranean charter really costshttps://ahoyclub.com/guides/what-a-mediterranean-superyacht-charter-really-costs
- 7bosshunting.com.auBoss Hunting: Monaco Grand Prix berth prices 2026https://www.bosshunting.com.au/sport/berth-superyacht-monaco-grand-prix-weekend-2026
- 8thearsenale.comThe Arsenale: how much does a superyacht costhttps://thearsenale.com/blogs/machines/how-much-does-a-superyacht-cost
- 9oceanindependence.comOcean Independence: superyacht costshttps://www.oceanindependence.com/articles/how-much-does-a-superyacht-cost/
- 10stephensonharwood.comStephenson Harwood: yacht sale commissionshttps://www.stephensonharwood.com/insights/a-familiar-scene-at-the-monaco-yacht-show-and-a-commission-question-nobody-has-a-clean-answer-to/
- 11penningtonslaw.comPenningtons: the 2021 MYBA E-MOAhttps://www.penningtonslaw.com/insights/the-better-way-to-sell-a-yacht-the-2021-myba-e-moa/