Sultan of Brunei's lost $20bn of his net worth and these are all the things he spent a fortune on to help that happen

The Sultan of Brunei is still one of the richest and most extravagant heads of state, but his net worth has gone down significantly from its peak.

At some point, the Sultan was worth $40 billion, but at least $20 billion reportedly evaporated when his brother’s company collapsed, and of course the Sultan’s spending habits didn’t help.

Through an investment agency, the Sultan owns an enviable portfolio of properties.

And then of course we have to talk about his cars.

The Sultan of Brunei is a real estate legend

The Sultan is mostly known for his record-breaking car collection, but he’s also a real estate mogul.

In his homeland, he owns (among other things) a $1.5 billion grand palace with 1,788 rooms and 257 bathrooms.

Below: aerial view of the palace

The interior is adorned with gold-woven carpet, and some of the fixtures feature actual diamonds.

On top of that, the Sultan had silk imported from China, and marble imported from Italy.

And those things aren’t cheap, either.

Also, through the Brunei Investment Agency, the Sultan owns the Dorchester Hotel (below) in London, the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles County, Le Meurice in Paris, and Hotel Eden in Rome.

It’s a nice portfolio, but the real estate market in Europe isn’t the same as it is in the US, and the value doesn’t automatically go up every year.

So whether those properties are worth more or less than what he’d paid for them remains to be seen.

Also – this is probably a ‘last but not least’ thing – the Sultan of Brunei reportedly spent $27 million on his 50th birthday.

$27 million is pocket change to a man worth tens of billions, but the fact he’s willing to spend money like that says a lot about his spending habits.

His car collection is vast, but not necessarily in good shape

There are apparently more than 7,000 vehicles in the Sultan’s garage, some of which are no longer in good shape.

He has been hoarding supercars for years.

Aside from an endless number of custom-built one-offs, he also bought hundreds of ‘regular’ BMWs, Bentleys, Ferraris, and so on that are now worth a fraction of the original price tag simply because they aged and decayed.

He also owns the largest collection of Rolls-Royces in the world, including a $14 million gold-plated Silver Spur II Limo that’s used for ceremonies, a $600,000 Rolls Royce Phantom VI, and a $14 million Rolls Royce Phantom II Continental, which became one of the most expensive cars ever sold at auction.

He reportedly once single-handedly saved Bentley from bankruptcy with a massive order of custom-made models and concepts.

Bentley will forever be thankful, but the Sultan’s treasurers might not be: most of those cars are probably worth a lot less now.