Feadship makes only Four Super Yachts a Year For Billionaires. Billionaires like Jack Ma

A super yacht swanned into the hands of Chinese Billionaire Jack Ma earlier this year, as he sailed the seven seas on the lap of luxury.  

Dutch manufacturer Feadship is a renowned brand known to… well, mostly billionaires. Their exquisite and exclusive designs are snatched up by the 1 percent who set forth on opulent vacations like no other, on azure seas, in rarefied air. They put the ‘super’ in superyachts, an acronym for First Export Association of Dutch Shipbuilders, Feadship’s original mission was to market superyachts to buyers of extreme discerning taste. 

Buyers such as Apple founder Steve Jobs, publisher Malcom Forbes, and IndyCar team owner Roger Penske who went on to commission two Feadships, a 46m named Excellence, and then in 2020, a 73m giant called Podium.  

However, no matter what their reach, power and level of influence, even they have to patiently wait for the designer yacht-makers to deliver one of the only four super yachts Feadship makes each year.  

Even notable names, such as Chinese billionaire Jack Ma (co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group) had to wait four years after commissioning his HK$1.6 billion super yacht before he set foot on it. 

With a handful of close associates, friends, business partners and tycoons, Ma has been known to mix business and pleasure, work and vacation on board the boat he named Zen. The few VIPs who have ventured on board the new yacht have been seen coasting along the isles of Ibiza, as the billionaire set sail on sea-bound holidays across the European coastline. 

Here’s what we know of the superyacht; the 290-foot-long Zen can carry up to 16 passengers. Built in the Netherlands, Zen has five decks with a vertical bow and operates with an able crew of 25. Over 2,500 tonnes, with a maximum sailing speed of 17 nautical miles per hour, the exterior design and naval architecture was created by De Voogt Naval Architects and the plush interior was the work of Nauta Yachts and FM Architettura. She is built with a Teak deck, a Steel hull, and Aluminum superstructure. 

For something of this magnitude, it comes as no surprise that the boat is equipped with mega features such as lavish dining rooms, entertainment rooms, leisure pads, expansive kitchens, and seven decked-to-the-hilt guest rooms, or as it's known on board, “state rooms.”  

Each year, maintaining the billionaire’s asset alone costs roughly HK$150 million. 

Though commissioned years before and ready to set sail since 2021, the mega yacht was docked for weeks on end at Rhode Island in the United States or at Massachusetts' Martin's Vineyard, the world’s most famous billionaire hot spot, as Ma was too busy to take a break on one of his prized possessions.  

Soon after he boarded the luxurious vessel however, the international media has been stalking its every move as reports from around the globe have spotted the magnificent vessel in Ibiza, in Mallorca and finally seen dropping anchor just outside the resort city of Palma in recent times.