Follow the trail of the yachts and private jets of millionaires It is not simple because as a general rule they appear listed under the ownership of companies that are lost in the business network of their holdings. When that millionaire is someone so jealous of his private life like Amancio Ortegathe challenge is even greater.
One of the simplest ways to establish a relationship between a millionaire and his yacht is to “hunt” him on board while enjoying his vacation or, by coincidence in time. For example, if the superyacht launchpad appears suddenly in Mallorcaand coincides with the fact that Mark Zuckerberg is seen in luxury establishments or restaurants on the island, it is one more indication to relate the yacht to its owner.
The founder of Zara has always cultivated an extremely discreet profile and that has ended up causing a peculiar situation: there is a superyacht valued at about 300 million dollars that much of the sector specialist attributes to Amancio Ortega, although No one has been able to document that he was even on board..
The key to everything revolves around a name: Drizzle.
The first Drizzle was linked to Amancio Ortega
The story starts in 2012when the Dutch shipyard Feadship handed over to Amancio Ortega the superyacht Drizzlea 67.27 meter long boat with capacity for 14 people in five cabins and built for a client who, as the shipyard itself explained on the yacht’s page, had already owned another Feadship previously.
Indeed, the Dutch manufacturer was in charge of building he Value Bthe yacht that both Amancio Ortega and his family have been using for more than fifteen years as family summer yacht. Furthermore, the millionaire has been seen on many occasions aboard the Drizzle of 2012, so its ownership or the millionaire’s connection with this yacht is beyond any doubt.
He Drizzle It became one of the most recognizable boats in the private fleet of the founder of Inditex and for more than a decade it coexisted with the Valoria B, which became the most used by his daughter Marta Ortegacurrent non-executive president of Inditex.
The Drizzle by Amancio Ortega
The sale of the yacht and rumors about a replacement
The situation began to change in 2023, when the millionaire put up for sale his Drizzle for an estimated price of 76 million. The operation coincided with rumors that Amancio Ortega had ordered a new yacht at the Feadship shipyards, a project known internally as Project 1012 and was valued at more than 300 million. Peccadillo for someone with an estimated fortune at about 139.2 billion dollars.
The project remained surrounded by secrecy during much of its construction, something common in the superyacht market, where the identity of the owners is usually kept hidden by very restrictive confidentiality contracts.
Project 1012 at the Feadship shipyards
The problem came when it was officially presented Project 1012 and the shipyard confirmed the final name of the vessel: Drizzle. Suddenly, there were two different yachts with exactly the same name.
In this case, it was a gigantic 91.8 meter long superyacht that became the first boat from the Dutch builder to obtain Hybrid Electric Class certification.
On one hand there was the Drizzle 67-meter original associated for years with Ortega and, on the other hand, a new Drizzle of 2024 of almost 92 meters, built more than a decade later and handed over to an owner whose identity was never officially announced by Feadship.
The coincidence in name caused numerous observers to automatically assume that the new ship It was the replacement of the previous one and which, therefore, also belonged to the founder of Zara.
Current Drizzle, 92 meters long and worth 300 million dollars
There is a detail that doesn’t quite fit
The problem is that the known public evidence does not clearly support this theory and, in reality, Nothing indicates that Amancio Ortega is the owner of that yacht.
Unlike what happened with other vessels linked to the Galician businessman, there are no known photographs of Amancio Ortega using the new Drizzle delivered in 2024. Nor have regular stops of the superyacht been documented in tourist destinations that have historically been linked to the family vacation of the founder of Inditexwhich is characterized by having a great attachment to following habitual habits and routines, as demonstrated by its annual presence in the Galician estuaries as soon as summer begins.
Meanwhile, the businessman’s most recent public appearances continue to be linked to the Value B. This summer, for example, Ortega has been seen beginning his holidays in the Aldán estuary aboard that vessel.
The navigation logs place the new Drizzle operating mainly in the Mediterranean under the Maltese flag, and quite a few movements between different Mediterranean ports which indicates that the yacht is, indeed, being used. Moving a superyacht of these dimensions it is even more expensive to keep it in portso if it were not used, changing ports would be a waste.
In addition, the portals specialized in yacht charter (rental) indicate that he Drizzle (the one from 2024) is not on the rental market, so these movements and Port changes have no commercial justification.
In fact, while Amancio Ortega was enjoying his first summer days in the Aldán estuary aboard the Valoria B, the supposed new yacht that many attribute to him was preparing to arrive at the port of Monaco in what seems like an approach to take positions in busy Port Hercule ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.
The lack of photographs of the millionaire on board his new yacht, the absence of official confirmations of his ownership and movements that do not coincide with the known habits of the businessman have ended up turning the new Drizzle in one of the most curious mysteries in the world of superyachts, in which Amancio Ortega continues to be the X of the equation to be solved.
Image | GTRES, Feadship
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