Earlier this week, the Venice Biennale opened for previews that were hardly limited to journalists and curators, as is perhaps only to be expected—judging by the numerous megayachts moored nearby, at least. (Not to mention all the well-dressed collectors sipping Aperol spritzes on palazzo balconies visible from the Grand Canal.) If you, like me this week, were stuck hoofing it down the long walk along the Riva of the Seven Martyrs to the Giardini, the yachts were hard to miss. Most were docked along the adjacent waterway, with tents and picnic chairs set out, and security patrolling each deck. Let’s just say it wasn’t easy to waltz on and take a peek at which billionaire was lounging on board. For that, I sifted through previous reporting and open-source records to figure out, as best as I could, which titans of industry were in town for the Biennale. The Private GG is not a subtle vessel—but then again, neither is the man it is named after. Built in 2022 by Italian shipyard CRN and measuring 170 feet long, the yacht was designed by Omega Architects, with a sleek interior by Massari Design, according to Yacht Buyer. She accommodates up to 10 guests across five staterooms, along with nine crew members, and comes equipped with a jacuzzi on the sun deck, an upper-deck cinema saloon, and a beach club with a steam room at water level. The boat belongs to Giancarlo Giammetti, the cofounder of the Valentino fashion house and the decades-long business and romantic partner of Valentino Garavani, the iconic Italian couturier who died in January at age 93. (The yacht shares his Instagram handle.) Giammetti was in Venice for the Biennale opening, posting to Instagram a collection of photos of artworks, and a shot of him, actress Salma Hayek, and her husband François-Henri Pinault, the owner of luxury firm Kering and one of the most famous art collectors in the world, at dinner. Perhaps Hayek and Pinault cruised into Venice courtesy of Giammetti? Giammetti is a serious collector, as was the late Garavani. Garavani sold his Jean-Michel Basquiat painting El Gran Espectaculo (The Nile), 1983, for just over $67 million at Christie’s in 2023—well above its $45 million estimate—after 18 years in his private collection. Giammetti, meanwhile, sold his own Basquiat, In This Case (1983), in 2021 for $93 million, almost twice its estimate. Garavani was also reported to be selling art in the New York auctions this past November, including pieces by Warhol, Marilyn Minter, and Neo Rauch. Garavani also collected works by Richard Prince, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning, and Fernand Léger, according to a 2010 Vanity Fair profile of his New York apartment. Last year, Giammetti and Garavani opened an exhibition space in Rome, PM23, named after its address at 23 Piazza Mignanelli. It is run by the Fondazione Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti. One of the newest megayachts docked in Venice, the Kathryn was built in 2023 by Italian yacht builder Codecasa and designed by Milan’s M2 Atelier. Measuring around 190 feet long, the ship has an owner’s suite, a VIP cabin, and four additional guest cabins, with additional accommodations for 12 crewmembers and the captain. According to Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia, the Kathyrn is owned by private equity billionaire Orlando Bravo, whose firm Thoma Bravo focuses on tech and invested $130 million in FTX, all of which was lost when the infamous cryptocurrency exchange folded. Bravo, who was born in Puerto Rico, is a major philanthropist on the island, having donated $100 million support economic development there though his family foundation. In 2021, he donated $10 million for relief after Hurricane Maria. He’s also a well-known art collector, having appeared on ARTnews‘s Top 200 Collectors list, though little is known about his collection. His business partner, Carl Thoma, is known for collecting digital art and Latin American art. Oh, and the price tag on the Kathryn? $50 million, per El Nuevo Dia, or roughly the cost to land Marian Goodman’s 1982 Gerhard Richter painting, Kerze (Candle), up for sale at Christie’s later this month. The Maraya is one of the older megayachts in the Venice fleet this Biennale week—she was launched in 2007 by Italian shipyard CRN, the same builder behind the Private GG also moored here, and measures 177 feet long, according to Super Yacht Times. Her exterior was designed by the Rome-based firm Zuccon International Project, with interiors by Claude Missir Architecture Intérieure. She can accommodate up to 12 guests across six cabins, along with up to 10 crewmembers. The yacht is listed for charter, however, so the person enjoying her this week may not be her owner, whom Super Yacht Fan, a publication and database dedicated to the industry, identifies as Mohammed Abu-Ghazaleh, the Palestinian-born Jordanian billionaire who built his fortune importing fruit into the Middle East. Born in Jerusalem in 1942, Abu-Ghazaleh became one of the largest banana importers in the Gulf by the early 1970s, and in 1996 he notoriously acquired US-based Fresh Del Monte, one of the world’s largest fruit and vegetable companies, for a reported $120 million. Abu-Ghazaleh is also a serious art patron. He and his wife Mahera provided the founding funding for the MMAG Foundation. The arts nonprofit runs an exhibition space in Amman, Jordan, as well as artist residencies, with the objective of “support[ing] the ecosystem of artists in Jordan and the region.” Per Super Yacht Fan, the Maraya carries a price tag of $35 million, the estimated price of S. I. Newhouse’s Joan Miró painting, Portrait de Madame K. (1924), up for sale at Christie’s later this month. The striking blue-and-white OM yacht was hard to miss on the walk to the Giardini. Built in 2017 by Italian shipyard Rossinavi, it was originally launched as N2H, or Nice to Have, according to Super Yacht Fan. It was designed by Team For Design—Enrico Gobbi and Arrabit Naval Architects, with the interior refitted in 2022 by Massari Design. The approximately 150-foot-long yacht accomodates 10 guests in 5 cabins, as well as 9 crewmembers, and includes a swimming pool and jacuzzi. The OM has changed hands several times since its launch. Per Super Yacht Fans, it was originally built for Polish businessman Robert Oskard, before it was sold to Kees Vermaat, the founder of one of the Netherlands’ largest food and hospitality group. The yacht was sold again in September 2024 to an unnamed buyer. But, given that the name of the vessel was changed to OM, a fair guess might be Erich Obermaier, the founder of OM Gruppe, a major real estate investment company in Munich. Obermaier, who reportedly bought a different Rossinavi yacht, the LEL in 2022. Perhaps Herr Obermaier has too many friends to fit on only one mega yacht? While the sale price of the OM is not confirmed, Super Yacht Fan estimates it at $30 million, right around the estimate for Jasper Johns’s 1958 painting Gray Target, another work of Newhouse’s hitting the block at Christie’s this month. Last but not least, the Sofia 3, spotted moored outside the Punta della Dogana on Monday. While I initially thought I had the sleek dark-grey vessel dead to rights, it was a false positive. Another yacht bearing a similar name, the Sophia—not in Venice this week—is listed as owned by Iranian Canadian billionaire Michael Latifi, owner of Sofina Foods Inc. The Sofia 3, the vessel shown above, was first built in 2008 and designed by Francesco Paszkowski. At 140 feet long, the Sofia 3 is only half the size of Latifi’s megayacht, but it has the advantage of having just been extensively refitted by Italian shipyard Lusben, with the complete repainting of the ship, new decking, and structural work completed in January 2025, per Boat International. It can accomodate 10 guests in 5 cabins, as well as 9 crewmembers, per Yacht Charter Fleet. The owner remains a mystery, likely because it was only recently put on the market. The Super Yacht Times reported recently that the ship is up for sale, listed for a refreshingly reasonable $14.7 milion. Hey, that’s less than half of what it’ll likely cost you to nab Andy Warhol’s Do It Yourself (Violin), set to hit the block at Christie’s later this month.
