In July of last year, a $40m yacht was released from its moorings on Lake Erie. At 50 metres in length, it more than satisfied the 24-metre requirement to be classed as a “superyacht”. Unmanned, the enormous vessel caused thousands of dollars of damage.

However, it didn’t belong to a wealthy businessman or venture capitalist. ‘SeaQuest’ is in fact owned by US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos - whose family own at least 10 yachts and who, herself, is worth an estimated $1.1bn.

With no background in teaching, DeVos’ appointment seemed unusual and was widely criticised by teachers unions. Furthermore, she married into the vast majority of her fortune. Her husband, Dick DeVos, is the former CEO of marketing goliath Amway and the family are worth around $5.4 billion. However, DeVos was just one of many new cabinet members whose money seems to have done the talking.

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Trump is known for having an unusual approach to politics. He likened his cabinet to top athletes. "I want people that made a fortune because now they're negotiating with you," he said in December 2016. "It's not different than a great baseball player or a great golfer."

His decision to hire the best and brightest from the world of business, rather than politics, was written in the stars. “Part of the beauty of me is that I am very rich,” he once stated. He even claimed to have a $9bn fortune despite this being double Forbes’ estimate.

With minds from business, politics, education and even the arts, Obama’s initial cabinet was an assembly of thinkers. It is thought to have been worth around $67m which, even adjusting for inflation, is a far cry from the value of Trump’s.

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Having made his money in steel, coal, automotive and textile investments, current Secretary for Commerce Wilbur Ross Jr is worth around $505m. With experience working for Rothschild Investments, representing investors in Trump’s casinos and starting his own business, Ross is in good company in the White House.

Worth over $200m, Steven Mnuchin is Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury. A hedge fund manager with the best part of two decades’ experience at Goldman Sachs, Mnuchin is known for seeing opportunity when others see disaster. He bought failed residential lender IndyMac during the financial crisis of 2007 - 2008 before rebranding it to OneWest Bank, rebuilding it and selling it to CIT Group in 2015.

Trump’s cabinet is replete with multimillionaires. His initial cabinet also featured Sonny Perdue ($32.1m), Elaine Chao ($29.9m), David Shulkin ($17.1m), Ben Carson ($15.8m), James Mattis ($7m) Jeff Sessions ($6.3m) and Ryan Zinke ($2.3m).

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An easy criticism is that Trump has appointed individuals from the gilded world of business lunches and charity galas - that his secretaries would be more at home on one of his golf courses than they are in the White House. “The Trump cabinet is mostly a collection of incompetent doofuses,” remarked Democratic National Committee chairman and former Vermont governor Howard Dean.

“Wilbur Ross has advocated a mindnumbingly foolish protectionist policy that has been roundly criticised by most every reputable economist, business leaders and even GOP members of Congress,” writes Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post. “And he has had his own conflict-of-interest scandal.”

“Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has become a poster boy, along with his wife, for clueless excess,” she adds. “His willingness to spin for the president’s tax plan at the expense of his department’s credibility undercuts his effectiveness on the Hill and has drawn searing criticism from economists.”

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With a whole host of super-wealthy secretaries, Trump’s initial cabinet was worth $2.3bn. However, it’s worth noting that Obama’s second term cabinet was more affluent than his first. This was thanks to the addition of Secretary of State John Kerry (worth $150m) and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, worth a whopping $2.2bn.

With so many hirings and firings, the value of Trump's current cabinet will likely change. However, it is obvious that he places a great deal of importance on individuals' monetary worth. Clearly, money talks.

The collective value of given cabinets does not include vice presidents. Values were calculated by Politico 

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez tied the knot in Venice last week, and the staggering cost has people saying the same thing.

Bezos and Sanchez's wedding had a star-studded guest list. Credit: Stefano Mazzola / Getty

The 61-year-old Bezos and 55-year-old Sanchez tied the knot on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice on June 27, years after announcing their engagement and dating for around five years.

But instead of a low-key affair for their second marriages, the couple went all-out with a $50 million three-day extravaganza, including a welcome party, a black-tie ceremony, and an “all-nighter” pajama-themed bash, reportedly costing up to $50,000 per guest.

The festivities, which featured Usher and DJ Cassidy performing as fireworks exploded over the Venice Laguna, included a star-studded guest list.

Attendees included: Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, Kris Jenner, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Brady, Sydney Sweeney, Karlie Kloss, Mick Jagger, Bill Gates, Gayle King, Ivanka Trump, and Orlando Bloom.

Guests danced late into the night, with one insider telling PEOPLE: “It was epic. A full-fledged dance party with everyone standing on the banquettes and all of the sofas and couches.”

However, the spectacle drew protests from locals and environmental activists, with Greenpeace unfurling a banner in St. Mark’s Square that read: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax.”

Protesters also tossed a dummy of Bezos clutching fake dollars into the Grand Canal.

Given that Bezos is one of the richest men in the world, it's that mention of taxes that has everyone asking why he can't pay more.

Bernie Sanders took to X, writing: “This is oligarchy. This is obscene. While 60 per cent live paycheck to paycheck and kids go hungry, Jeff Bezos, worth $230 billion, goes to Venice on his $500 million yacht for a $20 million wedding and spends $5 million on a ring while his real tax rate is just 1.1 per cent. End this oligarchy.”

Another critic posted: “Jeff Bezos is worth $230 billion and is reportedly spending $20 million on a three-day wedding in Venice while sailing around on his $500 million yacht. If he can afford to do that, he can afford a wealth tax and to pay Amazon workers a living wage. Hello?”

The wedding shut down large parts of Venice. Credit: Ernesto Ruscio / Getty

Despite the criticism, Bezos and Sanchez noted on their invite that they would be making charitable donations instead of accepting gifts, stating: “We are excited for you to join us! We have one early request: please, no gifts. Instead, we're making contributions in your honour and with gratitude to you for making the journey to celebrate with us in Venice.”

Meanwhile, Charlize Theron publicly took a swipe at the billionaire’s flashy celebration, per the Hollywood Reporter.

Hosting the fifth annual Block Party for the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project on Saturday, she told the crowd: “I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding. But that’s okay because they suck and we’re cool.”

Theron onstage during Charlize Theron's Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) Block Party 2025. Credit: Presley Ann / Getty

Theron continued with a passionate message on global issues, stating: “Here in Los Angeles, in the U.S. and across the globe, we’re moving backwards fast. Immigration policy has destroyed the lives of families, not criminals; women’s rights are becoming less and less every day; queer and trans lives are increasingly being erased; and gender-based violence is on the rise.”

She added: “This isn’t just policy, it’s personal,” before the crowd applauded, concluding: “Yeah, f*** them.”

Theron further addressed foreign aid cuts affecting HIV and AIDS programs in South Africa, saying: “All of this is not just detrimental, it’s dangerous; people will lose their lives – many have already, unfortunately, and at a frightening rate. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see this kind of unnecessary suffering.”

However, she emphasized hope, telling attendees: “What we also see, what we cannot miss, is the resistance. There is hope. There is power in all of us standing up, organizing, protesting, voting, and caring for each other, and refusing to accept that this is the new normal.”

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Jeff Bezos has sent shockwaves on social media with his very impressive physique.

The billionaire Amazon founder, 57, proved he's no stranger to the gym as he showed off his rock-hard abs during a romantic getaway with girlfriend Lauren Sanchez.

The pair jetted off to St. Barts, where they are soaking up the sun on a luxury yacht on the island's crystal clear waters.

Wearing no more than a pair of Hawaiian swim trunks, sunglasses, and a necklace, Bezos - who purchased a $78million estate in Hawaii in November - seemed to be no stranger to the island life.

Meanwhile, his girlfriend was seen donning a floral bikini after taking a dip in images obtained by Daily Mail.

Bezos and Sanchez have vacationed together in St. Barts before. In 2019, they were joined by Sanchez's son, Nikko Gonzalez, 20.

The couple recently made headlines after Sanchez's exchange with actor Leonardo DiCaprio went viral on social media.

The pair attended the LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles last month, where they were seen in conversation with the Titanic actor.

A clip taken during the event, which was later shared on social media, sparked a mass reaction from social media users, who began to question Sanchez's interaction with the actor.

Many even went as far as labeling their brief exchange as flirtatious, as Sanchez appeared to have her arm briefly around the actor who she can be seen smiling at while Bezos stands by her side.

The clip, which has been viewed millions of times since it was posted to Twitter by Barstool Sports, was captioned: "Leo is Mr Steal Yo Girl."

The clip prompted a response from Bezos himself on Monday, November 8, as the billionaire tweeted a photo of himself alongside a danger sign warning of a "fatal drop".

"Leo, come over here, I want to show you something… @LeoDiCaprio," he captioned the photo, which sees him leaning over the sign that reads: "Danger! Steep cliff. Fatal drop."

Bezos and Sanchez have been publicly dating since early 2019, with news of their relationship coming shortly after the second-richest man in the world announced the end of his marriage to his ex-wife, MacKenzie, after 25 years.

Featured image credit: Erik Pendzich / Alamy

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his long-term girlfriend Lauren Wendy Sánchez are engaged, according to reports.

As reported by Page Six, rumors of the 59-year-old billionaire and the 53-year-old journalist's engagement started after Sanchez was spotted with a diamond on her ring finger.

The alleged engagement - which a source confirmed to People magazine - also comes during the couple's vacation on the billionaire's new $500m yacht named Koru in the South of France for the Cannes Film Festival.

The yacht features a wooden sculpture that resembles Sánchez and is on the French Riviera for the latest stop in their European tour. Last week, the loved-up pair were seen sailing around the Spanish island Mallorca, according to the Telegraph.

The newly engaged couple took their relationship public in January 2019, after the business mogul announced his divorce from MacKenzie Scott after 25 years of marriage.

Bezos's 53-year-old ex-wife - with whom he shares four children - was awarded a staggering $38 billion in their divorce settlement and pledged half of it to charity.

The settlement made her the third richest woman in the world with 25 percent of the joint stock in Amazon, however, Bezos kept voting control over her nearly 20 million shares.

Sánchez also ended her marriage with her husband of 13 years, businessman Patrick Whitesell, after reports came out that she was romantically involved with the rich entrepreneur.

The former Good Day LA co-host had two children with her former husband, as well as a son from a previous relationship with former NFL star Tony Gonzalez.

Over the years, Bezos and Sánchez have continued to grow together, with the couple going on family vacations, and being spotted at red-carpet events and other celebrity gatherings.

They also gush about each other on their social media pages, with the media personality writing a loving post for her partner's birthday on Instagram.

"Happy birthday to the man of my dreams, who lights up my world with his laughter and kind heart. You have shown me that no great love is not bravely fought for," Sánchez wrote in January. "I am so grateful for the memories we have made and the adventures yet to come," she added. "Here's to many more birthdays filled with love and laughter."

The couple also featured in a joint interview back in November where the Blue Origin founder - who stepped down as CEO of Amazon in February 2021 - revealed to CNN that he plans to give away most of his $124 billion fortune in his lifetime to fight climate change and support other causes.

"The hard part is figuring out how to do it in a levered way," he said of his philanthropic strategy. "It's not easy. Building Amazon was not easy.

"It took a lot of hard work, a bunch of very smart teammates, hard-working teammates, and I'm finding - and I think Lauren is finding the same thing - that charity, philanthropy, is very similar," he added, to which Sánchez stated that they make "really great teammates."

As of now, neither Bezos nor Sanchez have confirmed the news of their engagement.

Featured image credit: UPI / Alamy

With its plastic-looking exterior, low ceilings and chemical toilets, the yacht is the cousin of the caravan. However, there’s something alluring about a yacht. A floating lifestyle, it is - in many cases - a larger, more luxurious version of the average house. Superyachts, defined as having a length of 24 metres or more, fulfil this desire for scale even more so.

However, there are now an increasing number of superyachts exceeding 64 metres and those over 3,000 tonnes require full merchant navy certification for all deck and engineering officers. While this would bankrupt the average family within hours, it’s perhaps an even more absurd problem which owners are preoccupied with.

A number of billionaires are keeping priceless works of art on the high seas according to experts who have aided in their preservation. Rather than protect them from the perils of piracy, the dangers facing the artworks are slightly more pedestrian. Unruly children and champagne corks have both come under fire.

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The trend for these nautical collections was first discovered last year when Joe Lewis’ superyacht was moored on London’s Thames. Lewis has an estimated $5.1bn (£3.9bn) fortune and owns a majority stake in Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. However, he also owns the $264m (£200m) superyacht Aviva and when a reporter peered through one of its windows, Francis Bacon’s Triptych 1974–1977 was seen hanging on the lower deck.

However, in some cases, the collections are thought to be worth more than the vessels. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and owner of Manchester City Football Club, has several hundred pieces aboard his $460m (£350m) superyacht Topaz.

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This is according to art historian and conservator Pandora Mather-Lees. Some yachts boast “better collections than some national museums”, she explains. However, housing them here poses problems. Her help was sought by a billionaire who owned a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting.

“His kids had thrown their cornflakes at it over breakfast on his yacht because they thought it was scary,” she explains. “And the crew had made the damage worse by wiping them off the painting.” Mather-Lees neglected to name the painting or the owner but a Basquiat painting depicting a deranged, angry face sold at auction for a US record of $110.5m (£84.5m) in 2017.

The crew “just thought it was some painting, they had no idea it was worth many millions,” Mather-Lees said. “They are expected to know how to serve the owners at sea, not to know about paintings and art. But, now that the rich are increasingly bringing their art collections on board their yachts it’s vital that captains and crew know how to care for these pieces.”

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Having spotted a gap in the market, Mather-Lees now runs a $340-per-day course teaching yacht crews about how to look after such art collections. “Obviously they want to show off their art collection when guests come on board … It acts as an icebreaker, and says volumes about their taste,” she told an audience last year at the Superyacht Investor conference in the Landmark Hotel in London. “But yachts are not art galleries and when something goes wrong it’s obviously very unfortunate and a big burden on the crew and the owners become very unhappy.”

Helen Robertson is a conservator at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. A stately, traditional and quintessentially English setting, it couldn’t be further from the sparkling shores of Saint-Tropez. However, Robertson advises wealthy yacht owners on looking after their seafaring art collections.

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“I used to work as a chief steward on superyachts so I have seen some of the problems first hand,” she explained. “I’ve worked on a vessel with $450m of works of cultural value on board.”

It’s been suggested that such huge collections are placed on yachts to avoid taxes. “In general, tax law favours the wealthy. Complexity favours the wealthy,” Artnet News reporter Tim Schneider told Vox. “Wealthy people are the ones who can afford to hire accountants and lawyers who can find all the loopholes. The more complex we get in terms of all of these different variances of international law and international bodies, whether it’s setting up offshore shell corporations and trusts or [buying] floating vessels that are robust enough that you can put high-value art on them, I think you have opportunities to unearth [tax] advantages you wouldn’t [otherwise] have.”

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“Something people always say to me is ‘why on earth would you carry art on yachts?’,” Helen Robertson said to the Guardian. “But yachts can be very controllable. Systems for temperature and humidity can surpass those you would find in galleries.”

However, issues do arise - such as when the crew of one yacht accidentally broke a $100,000 lamp. “It was the end of a Christmas and new year charter, and everyone was a bit worse for wear,” Robertson recalls. “The crew decided to rugby pass the cushions from the deck into the saloon, and one of them hit the lamp.” In further crew-based hijinx, a work drinks scenario turned sour when an errant champagne cork struck a multi-million-dollar painting.

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But it is probably Tilman Kriesel, founder of Tilman Kriesel Art Advisors, who has the most absurd stories. One in particular centres on a painting by abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, whose work has fetched sums exceeding $80m. The painting in question was too tall for the yacht. “We turned the piece by 90 degrees,” Kriesel explains. “The artist would probably be turning in his grave, but we took a deep breath and said ‘it’s your painting, do what you like’.”

Another of his clients owned a piece by the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. He wanted to display the piece on the stern deck where, on superyachts, there may be access to speed boats or jet skis. However, the painting was the wrong size. “In the end,” Kriesel admits, “we cut it up to make it fit.”

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While the rest of us are praying for payday or worrying about another recession, billionaires clearly have a whole roster of their own problems. In a world where the richest one per cent own nearly half of the world’s wealth, perhaps this is to be expected.