Cap’n Lloyd’s Pleasure Cruise Line Is Growing Fast

Lending money to rich people is a pretty good deal for banks: It makes clients happy, it decreases the amount of profits they have to share with brokers, it makes good money and it’s all heavily collateralized, with wine and art and hedge funds and houses and all the other finer things in life. Which means, occasionally, you wind up owning a somewhat less-than-gently used 217-foot luxury yacht.

Mr. Kallop hit money troubles, according to former employees and acquaintances. He put off upgrades to the boats, which were showing signs of wear—bad enough for a March 2016 charter group to walk off “Natita” in Nassau, a former crew member said….

Mr. Kallop laid off crew members and put “Natita” up for sale in 2015 for €59.5 million ($67 million at that time), then dropped the price to $57.5 million last year, according to court document. He sold a second Palm Beach house in April 2015 for $19 million. Goldman alleges he stopped paying back on the loan last November.

So it seized the Natita, which it is trying now to sell at a rather deep discount, $39.9 million, hopefully low enough to attract buyers uninterested at $57.5 million, but more than enough to cover the $28 million Kallop still owes Goldman. And, of course, if it can’t find any buyers, the Natita can be put to plying the Hudson alongside the York and Jersey, shuttling Lloyd Blankfein & co. between 200 West Street and 30 Hudson Street in shabby-chic style.

Why Goldman Sachs Seized a Client’s 217-Foot Yacht [WSJ]