“Founders Keepers” is a philosophy that millionaire ‘magic circle’ lawyer Ronald Gibbs seems to believe in. It is not an object we are referring to, but a $25 million investment fund set up for Princess Deema Bint Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in 2011. The Saudi Princess was given the generous gift by her father, former Saudi defense minister Sultan bin Abdulaziz.
Now, 12 years later, the former leading lawyer, a partner at Linklaters, one of the top five commercial legal firms in London, is being sued by the Saudi Princess for splashing her money on a $29 million super-yacht, which he sailed around the world on, and a $3.5 million luxury apartment at the Regent Hotel in Porto, Montenegro.
Matters took a legal turn years ago, but they also reached a settlement agreement in 2018, under which Gibbs was obliged to begin selling the assets and return the princess’s investment. Clearly, that hasn’t happened, compelling the princess to sue the lawyer for breach of the 2018 agreement. Now Gibbs stands to lose a $5 million London house in the court battle. The princess asked the court to order the sale of Gibbs’ $5 million house in west London to cover a $2.6 million interim damages and costs bill, resulting from the previous ruling and alleged Gibbs had “not paid a penny.”
Whether Gibbs will be able to settle scores once and for all is yet to be seen, but it seems unlikely as Mr. Gibbs claimed the costs and damages orders would ruin him, stating, “This is warfare against me,” per The Telegraph. Here is a closer look at the customized Sunseeker 131 superyacht named Elysium which is at the center of this dispute.
Elysium Yacht makes the Ancient Greek concept of a heavenly paradise come alive-
This Sunseeker motoryacht takes its name very seriously and does, in fact, become a heavenly abode. The yacht was yacht enthusiast Gibbs’s fifth Sunseeker. “I wrote the spec before I ordered the boat,” he shared with Boat International. “That way, the yard has everything up front, and it minimizes costly change orders.” He got the British shipyard to build him a boat exactly how he wanted. “I like driving the boat myself, and I like being in the open air. I didn’t want to be in the same situation as with the Sunseeker 115, where you have to run between the sundeck and the bridge.”
Gibbs’ Elysium came with bigger roofs and a custom mast put in forward with a bit of extra height. The tall owner did a lot of rearrangements, which made the original arrangement null and void. From rerouting the stairs and converting some cabin into a gym to turning the pantry into a bathroom and the saloon into the owner’s cabin, it was quite the overhaul.
The boat sleeps 10 guests in 5 spacious suites, while the master suite is an impressive area complete with an emperor-sized bed, floor-to-ceiling windows, and even a walk-through wardrobe. Elysium boasted a galley with two ovens, a microwave, four fridges, and two freezers. However, it was hardly used as the owner preferred piping hot meals ashore. Flameless cooking is all that took place there occasionally. The transom of the 131-footer is unusually commodious for a vessel this size.
It can house the largest tender possible, a 6.8-meter Ribeye, Sea-Doo personal watercraft, Seabobs, inflatable kayaks, and two inflatable Nautibuoy platforms. The yacht features a stunning spa pool, enveloped by sunbeds and speakers, ensuring good times never end aboard Elysium. She is powered by 2 MTU engines, which give her a top speed of 25 kn.
