World's first ever superyacht bought for $34k is now for sale and worth $94 million

This is the Christina O, the world’s first ever superyacht, which, interestingly, actually used to be a Royal Canadian Navy ship.

The owner bought the ship for just $34,000 and then spent around $4 million to customize it.

It’s now worth $94 million, which sounds like the deal of the century.

But there’s something worth pointing out.

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The story behind Christina O

She doesn’t look a day over 25, but the world’s first ever superyacht is actually over 80 years old.

The 99-meter (325 ft) boat started out its ‘career’ in 1943 as an anti-submarine frigate for the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II.

And its name was HMCS Stormont.

In 1945, when WWII ended, Jaqueline Kennedy’s second husband, Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis, bought the yacht for just $34,000. That’s equivalent to around $620,000 in 2024.

Onassis then had to spend around $4 million to convert the ship into a superyacht, which is now worth around $94 million.

It sounds like the deal of the century, but we should point out that $4 million, in today’s money, is equivalent to $75 million.

Still, buying a yacht for the equivalent of $75 million and then selling it for $94 million is not a bad deal.

The world’s first ever superyacht

Christina O is considered the world’s first ‘postwar’ superyacht, so, in a way, this is the mother of all superyachts as we know them today.

The superyacht first hit the market about a year ago, but didn’t sell.

It is now available again, at the same price, by the way.

Today, we’ve got Jeff Bezos, who spent a whopping $500 million on his main yacht, Koru, and an additional $75 million on his support yacht, Abeona.

Then we have Mark Zuckerberg, who spent $300 million on his yacht.

The list goes on and, in a way, it’s all because of the Christina O.