A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
A megayacht once valued at more than $300 million was sold by the U.S. government for $187 million to an Emirati billionaire whose family has a business partnership with the Trump Organization, according to government documents and yacht industry executives.
Amadea, a 348-foot yacht seized by federal authorities in 2022, was part of a financial crackdown on Russian oligarchs following the country's invasion of Ukraine. After a lengthy legal battle, the yacht was auctioned off by order of the Justice Department in September.
Neither the price nor the buyer was announced by the government, yet a government document reveals the purchase price was $187 million. The buyer was Abbas Sajwani, the 27-year-old son of Dubai property tycoon Hussain Sajwani, whose company DAMAC Properties has partnered with the Trump Organization.
Hussain Sajwani appeared with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last year to announce a $20 billion investment in U.S. data centers by one of Sajwani's companies. At the press conference, Trump introduced Sajwani as "one of the most respected business leaders in the Middle East and indeed the world."
Neither Hussain Sajwani, Abbas Sajwani nor DAMAC responded to requests for comment. The Department of Justice and White House declined to comment.
In 2022, the U.S. seized Amadea off the coast of Fiji as part of a crackdown on Russian oligarchs. The seizure was the highest profile test case for "Task Force KleptoCapture," a program created by the Biden administration to sanction Russian oligarchs and seize the assets of violators. The Justice Department alleged Amadea was owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a Russian mining tycoon who had been under sanctions since 2018.
U.S. authorities hired a new crew and sailed Amadea to San Diego. It remained docked in San Diego Bay for three years during a lengthy legal battle over its ownership. To maintain the yacht and crew, and pay insurance and docking fees, the government spent between $600,000 to $1 million a month, or an estimated $36 million in total, during its time under U.S. control.
After a forfeiture order from a U.S. District Court judge, Amadea was ordered to be auctioned on Sept. 10, 2025. The auction, which took place a month later, was overseen by the U.S. Marshals Service, a part of the Justice Department. The director of the Marshals Service is Gadyaces Serralta, who was appointed by Trump and sworn in on Aug. 1, weeks before the Amadea auction. The bids were sealed and submitted to the Marshals Service, which was in charge of selecting the winning bid.
"The USMS does not routinely disclose or confirm the identity of the buyer when selling assets," a spokesperson for the Marshals Service said in a statement. "That information is withheld under federal privacy exemptions unless ordered released by federal courts."
When it was seized, the Justice Department cited various valuations for Amadea. Early filings by the justice department cited a range of "between $300 million and $500 million" and similarly of "more than $300 million." In a 2024 filing, the Justice Department quoted an independent valuation of $230 million.
Registration documents showed that a month after the $187 million sale, Amadea was registered by Beyond Holding Group Ltd., a British Virgin Islands holding company that lists a headquarters address in Dubai that's the same as DAMAC's.
The government hasn't announced a use for the Amadea proceeds. A U.S. aid package signed into law in May 2024 gave the government the ability to seize Russian state assets located in the U.S. and use the proceeds to benefit Ukraine.
The sale caps a turbulent and controversial history for Amadea. Built in 2017 by Lurssen, the yacht has six decks and accommodates 16 guests and 36 crew. It has a glass "winter garden," infinity pool with a swim-up bar, movie theater with motion seats for a "4D experience" and a party deck with built-in speakers, lights and laser beams. It also boasts a spa with a hammam, sauna and chromotherapy pool as well as a lobster tank in the galley for fresh seafood.
In June, Abbas Sajwani gave Forbes a tour of Amadea anchored off the coast of Monaco. Sajwani told Forbes he had rejected an offer from another buyer to buy Amadea "for much more, in the hundreds of millions."
"I love the boat's interior, I love the style," he said. "It's beautiful."
Amadea's most famous feature is a five-ton stainless-steel sculpture of an albatross figurehead wrapped around the bow. After his purchase, Sajwani converted the helipad on the bow deck into a pickleball court.
The Forbes article doesn't discuss a sale price. Of the auction, it says: "As luck would have it, Sajwani prevailed. His undisclosed winning bid was only $1 million above the next highest." The article doesn't specify how Sajwani knew the value of the other bids.
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Demand for high-quality megayachts like Amadea has soared since the pandemic. With the number of billionaires in the world growing to over 3,500, and elite shipyards straining to meet demand with long waitlists, prices for preowned yachts continue to rise. In 2025, sales of preowned yachts of 30 meters or more rose 36%, to $6.44 billion, according to Fraser Yachts.
Yacht tracking data provided to CNBC from VesselFinder shows that after the auction, Amadea sailed to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina. Yacht industry executives said the trips were for minor repairs and upgrades to Amadea.
In the Forbes interview, Sajwani said when he's not in Dubai he runs his real estate business from the Amadea.
"Many people say they go on a boat for a holiday," he told Forbes. "For me, it's not the case. It's more of a place to live."
Abbas Sajwani's company, called AHS Properties, bought the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai for a reported $300 million and is developing luxury properties along the Dubai Water Canal. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.9 billion.
Although the Iran war has slowed Dubai's once-hot property market, Sajwani told Forbes, "The Dubai market is still very healthy, there's a lot of demand."
Sajwani's father, Hussain, is known as the "Donald of Dubai" for his glitzy real estate developments and ties to Trump. In 2013, DAMAC formed a partnership with the Trump Organization to build the first Trump-branded golf course in the Middle East. The course opened in 2017.
According to The New York Times, DAMAC paid the Trump Organization millions of dollars before the golf course was built and subsequent management fees. A second Trump-branded golf course with DAMAC was planned but has been delayed. In April 2025, Hussain Sajwani shared photos of a breakfast at the White House, where he mingled with Elon Musk.
