Inside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Lavish Life

A £400million superyacht, a French chateau described as the world’s most expensive home and alleged links to a record-breaking £340million painting have all helped define the image of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince as a figure of extraordinary extravagance.

Yet Mohammed bin Salman, 41, is now reportedly taking refuge in heavily guarded palaces fitted with bunkers as Houthi rebels launch bombardments against Riyadh, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The reported move highlights the contrast between the kingdom’s de facto ruler’s lavish lifestyle and the dangers now confronting him. His purchases have included a floating palace with two helipads and a mansion featuring iPhone-controlled fountains, while his high-profile connections have included Johnny Depp and Lindsay Lohan.

Known widely as MBS, the prince is facing a growing domestic crisis as Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen step up attacks on Saudi airports and oil infrastructure, while also threatening crucial shipping routes through the Red Sea.

The renewed violence in Yemen is a stark reminder that even a world built around MBS’s wealth, palaces and superyachts cannot be fully insulated from the instability on Saudi Arabia’s doorstep.

His fortune reportedly funded the purchase of the 439ft superyacht Serene in 2015, after he had spent only half a day aboard. He paid Russian vodka tycoon Yuri Shefler €429million—then approximately £383million—for the vessel, about twice its original price.

The yacht has two helicopter pads, an underwater viewing chamber, a cinema, a large jacuzzi and a sweeping spiral staircase overlooking a grand piano.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates had previously chartered the yacht for a reported $5million, then around £3.8million, per week.

Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck’s book Blood and Oil says a former helicopter hangar was converted into a nightclub equipped with poles for dancers.

According to the authors, crew members are forbidden from entering the nightclub. Multimedia equipment enables the yacht to be transformed from a venue for political summits into a setting for private parties.

MBS’s reported spending spree that year also extended to Chateau Louis XIV near Versailles, which he bought for more than $300million—then around £230million.

The property was described at the time as the world’s most expensive home. Although it resembles a 17th-century palace, it is a modern mansion built after a developer demolished the 19th-century building that previously stood on the site.

Spread across 57 acres of landscaped grounds, the estate includes gilded interiors, frescoed ceilings, a cinema and a swimming pool.

An underwater chamber built into the moat allows guests to watch fish swimming above them, while the fountains, lighting and air-conditioning can all be controlled using an iPhone.

The grounds also feature a maze and lavish fountains. Kim Kardashian reportedly considered the chateau as a possible venue for her wedding to Kanye West.

The New York Times reported that royal advisers confirmed MBS was its ultimate owner, although the purchase was concealed through shell companies. Saudi officials declined to comment.

His French property interests also reportedly included Le Rouvray, a 620-acre estate, where he later sought permission to build a hunting compound.

Satellite images obtained by Business Insider have also revealed a lavish palace complex on the Red Sea coast within Saudi Arabia’s $2trillion Neom megacity project, featuring private beaches, sprawling gardens, a golf course and 10 helipads.

The outlet identified the sprawling development as likely belonging to Mohammed bin Salman, citing public data and a 2018 Reuters report detailing plans for five royal palaces with Moroccan-style architecture, a marina and a golf course.

The prince has also been linked to Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which fetched a record $450.3million, then around £340million, at auction in 2017.

Reports identified another Saudi prince as a buyer acting on his behalf, although Abu Dhabi’s department of culture and tourism subsequently said it had acquired the work.

The painting depicts Christ with one hand raised in blessing and the other holding a glass orb. Its sale achieved the highest price ever paid for an artwork at auction. 

Beyond the trophy purchases, Blood and Oil details an extravagant private getaway in the Maldives in July 2015.

The authors claim MBS spent $50million, then around £38million, hiring the island resort of Velaa for a month, with around 150 women flown in to join a few dozen male guests.

Performers included Pitbull, Psy and DJ Afrojack, while the resort offered private pools, butlers and even a snow machine.

The island had around four dozen private villas, many built on stilts over the Indian Ocean, allowing the prince and his entourage to holiday away from public view. 

Staff were banned from carrying smartphones and given $5,000 bonuses, according to the book.

The authors say two employees were fired for breaking the phone rule. Parties continued until dawn, with the men sleeping through much of the day before emerging again in the afternoon. 

On one evening, MBS reportedly climbed on stage during Afrojack’s performance and took over the DJ decks to play his own choice of records. 

But the gathering reportedly broke up within a week after news of the prince’s presence leaked. 

His international connections have extended well beyond his private island parties.

During a 2018 visit to Britain he met the late Queen, while his aides spent billions on billboard space featuring his image and positive slogans.

He also cultivated ties with Donald Trump, whose first foreign trip as a US president in 2017 included a welcome at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton featuring a 50ft-high projection of his face. 

MBS has also been photographed smiling alongside Jeffrey Epstein in an ornate room displaying portraits and a flag. 

According to the files, the picture was shared in a 2016 group text exchange involving Epstein, a contact identified as ‘Terje’ and an unnamed sender.

The messages do not establish when or where the photograph was taken, or who took it. The image does not suggest any wrongdoing.

On his 2018 tour, MBS met technology figures including Mark Zuckerberg, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Elon Musk.

His Hollywood encounters included Oprah Winfrey, while a dinner hosted by Rupert Murdoch introduced him to actors Michael Douglas and Morgan Freeman.

His relationship with Mean Girls actress Lindsay Lohan also attracted attention, with reports claiming the pair were regularly texting and that he had showered her with gifts, including a credit card. Lohan denied those claims.

Her father Michael later told Page Six they were ‘just friends’, saying they had met through her work in the Middle East, particularly helping refugees.

‘She has a platonic and respectful relationship with MbS, nothing more,’ he said.

More recently, a report described a friendship with Johnny Depp, who spent more than seven weeks in Saudi Arabia in 2024, staying in royal palaces and camps and travelling by yacht and helicopter.

The actor also reportedly used MBS’s personal Boeing 747 to travel to London and back for the Jeff Beck memorial concert at the Royal Albert Hall. 

His lavish spending later drew scrutiny alongside his 2017 anti-corruption crackdown, which saw princes, ministers and businessmen detained at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Some detainees subsequently agreed to hand over allegedly ill-gotten gains in exchange for their freedom, according to Saudi Arabia’s then attorney general, Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb.

MBS rejected suggestions that the operation was a political purge, describing them as ‘ludicrous’.

The prince has been guarded when addressing his own wealth.

In a 2018 interview with CBS, he admitted owning ‘large lots of land’ but insisted he donated heavily to charitable causes.

‘My personal life is something I’d like to keep to myself and I don’t try to draw attention to it,’ he said.

‘As far as my private expenses, I’m a rich person and not a poor person. I’m not Gandhi or Mandela. I’m a member of the ruling family that existed for hundreds of years before the founding of Saudi Arabia.’