Eric Schmidt Scraps Superyacht Purchase Amid Legal Wrangling (1)

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has backed out of purchasing a superyacht that’s been abandoned in Antigua for over a year, after the sale became mired in lawsuits.

Schmidt withdrew his $67.6 million winning bid for the Alfa Nero several days ago, said Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the US. In June, Schmidt won an auction for the luxury vessel, but the deal was later challenged in court by the daughter of Russian fertilizer billionaire Andrey Guryev.

Eric Schmidt

Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg

“Schmidt, because of the legal wrangling, determined that we could not give him clear title of the ship,” Sanders said ...