It’s hardly a surprise that multi-million dollar superyachts are very popular with the super-rich of this world who love the idea of conspicuous displays of wealth; after all, it’s a great way to confirm their position in the pecking order of the global financial elite. Yet, these uber-luxurious floating mansions offer a lot more than just showing off the owners’ wealth and status. While most of them use such pleasure vessels to vacation at some of the most exotic locations, there are owners who end up earning millions by chartering their superyachts. However, for American billionaire Dan Snyder, his $192 million luxury superyacht Lady S provided him refuge while he tried dodging congressional subpoenas.
Last year, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform tried to depose Dan Snyder as part of its investigation into the NFL’s handling of workplace harassment and abuse claims against the American billionaire’s team. But Snyder used the age-old trick used of avoiding consequences by living in international waters.
A congressional subpoena has to be handed over in person, and Snyder avoided it by enjoying the Mediterranean on his superyacht for much of the summer season last year. In fact, he was successful in his attempt to dodge the congressional subpoena, yielding him a critical legal victory.
According to the publicly available tracking data, Snyder’s luxury superyacht has undertaken 22 voyages over the last 12 months, with an average length of 6 days each. The Lady S superyacht has spent most of its time cruising around the Mediterranean, making visits to different ports in Italy, France, and Spain. We did some number crunching to find that the luxury vessel has traveled a distance of 7262 nautical miles (~ 8357 miles) during the same period. We could not find a verifiable source to confirm if Snyder was onboard the vessel during all the voyages. It’s quite possible that the superyacht was used by other people on some of those trips as Lady S can be chartered by paying $1.75 million per week.
Checkered ownership history
Controversies kept following the former Washington Commanders owner over the duration of his tenure, which spanned over 23 years. The Commanders, formerly known as the Redskins, were purchased by Snyder for $800 million in May 1999. Back then, it was reported as the most expensive team acquisition in sporting history. However, the disgraced billionaire went on to become one of the worst owners in sports history, having more investigations against him than playoff wins. The Washington Commanders went from the first position in NFL attendance in 2008 to dead last in 2023. Yet, he recently sold the team for a whopping $6.05 billion, which earned him a staggering 656% profit over the $800 million he had invested 24 years ago.
M/Y Lady S – a stunning first-of-its-kind superyacht
Delivered in 2019, Lady S is a gorgeous superyacht built by Dutch ship-building company Feadship. Measuring 93 meters in length, the vessel is a symbol of elegance, technology, and power in the world of luxury yachting. It was designed by Michael Leach Design and features a contemporary, clean look on the outside.
The vessel boasts an array of impressive features, including a two-deck Imax cinema, ultra-high-definition 8k TVs in each guest cabin, and a fully-certified helipad.
And if a movie hall sized indoor cinema was not enough there is a mammoth 201 inch outdoor SEED TV as well. Lady S has enough space to accommodate 12 guests and a crew of 29. The superyacht is propelled by top-of-the-line MTU engines, which help it reach a top speed of 18 knots and a cruising speed of 14 knots.
