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Hostess with the mostest: Denise Rich throws lavish, carnival-themed yacht party in St Tropez

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Songwriter Denise Rich threw a large, lavish, carnival-themed party in St Tropez last night, aboard her yacht the Lady Joy. Guests included Joan Collins, Ivana Trump, Jerry Hall and Bill Wyman. Denise recently dumped her US citizenship for tax reasons. The New York Post had a spy in place who reported that: “The entire dock is covered in red carpet. Huge stars are hanging like balloons. Women are doing circus acts above the dance floor, which is rotating in a circle with a big top over it. Oh, yes.”

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Fresh-faced Denise Rich, 68, throws lavish party on yacht in St Tropez months after renouncing her U.S. citizenship and the death of her fugitive ex

• Guests included Joan Collins, Jerry Hall and Magic Johnson
• Songwriter also has Austrian citizenship through her late father
• Former husband Marc Rich fled the country when indicted on charges of tax evasion - but was pardoned by President Clinton in 2001
• House of Representatives committee later found Denise Rich had swayed the decision through donations to Clinton campaign

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 12:42 EDT, 18 July 2013 | Updated: 13:54 EDT, 18 July 2013

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Denise Rich, the wealthy socialite and former wife of late billionaire trader Marc Rich, threw a lavish carnival-themed party in a St Tropez harbor last night with guests including Joan Collins, Magic Johnson and Ivana Trump.

The 68-year-old renounced her U.S. citizenship last year, saving herself millions in tax dollars, some of which seems to have been pumped into the lavish, ostentatious party on her 157-foot yacht Lady Joy.

She has an estimated fortune of $12million.

Also at the party were Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn, TV personality Star Jones, model Jerry Hall and Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman.

Wooo: Denise Rich smiles during her annual St Tropez party on July 17, 2013, in Saint-Tropez, France, where she danced with Joan Collins, Magic Johnson and Ivana trump

Famous friends: Denise Rich parties with Cookie Johnson and Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, right, during the lavish celebrations on her yacht

A source told the New York Post: 'The entire dock is covered in red carpet. Huge stars are hanging like balloons. Women are doing circus acts above the dance floor, which is rotating in a circle with a big top over it'

Having a ball: Joan and Terry were also seen with Denise Rich and Ivana Trump

A source told the New York Post : ' The entire dock is covered in red carpet. Huge stars are hanging like balloons. Women are doing circus acts above the dance floor, which is rotating in a circle with a big top over it. Oh, yes.'

The Grammy-nominated songwriter appeared in the Federal Register on April 30, 2012, in a quarterly list of Americans who renounced their U.S. citizenship and permanent residents who handed in their green cards.

Her ex-husband Marc Rich died in Switzerland aged 78 at the end of June.

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He made his fortune by founding the company which would become Glencore, the world's largest commodities trader, but was more famous for fleeing from the U.S. in 1983 when he was indicted on more than 50 counts of fraud, racketeering and tax evasion.

The charges could have earned Rich 300 years in prison - however, in 2001 Clinton decided to pardon him hours before leaving office, leading to speculation he was motivated by receiving thousands of dollars in donations from the financier's ex-wife Denise.

The Grammy-nominated songwriter, pictured right at Cannes last year, appeared in a quarterly list of Americans who renounced their U.S. citizenship and permanent residents who handed in their green cards

Never too old: Jerry and Joan were joined by Terry Allen Kramer at the glitzy bash

Having fun: With Joan Collins and her husband Percy Gibson

Non U.S.: The Grammy-nominated songwriter appeared in the Federal Register on April 30 last year in a quarterly list of Americans who renounced their U.S. citizenship and permanent residents who handed in their green cards

Rich , who was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, has Austrian citizenship through her deceased father. her lawyer said she dumped her U.S. passport 'so that she can be closer to her family and to Peter Cervinka, her long-time partner'.

The 68-year-old wrote songs recorded by Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige and Jessica Simpson, is the latest bold-faced name to join a wave of wealthy people renouncing their American citizenship.

Rich's two daughters live in London; Cervinka, a wealthy property developer, is an Austrian national.

Dubbed 'Lady Gatsby' by Yachting magazine, she owns multiple properties, including a mansion in Aspen, Colorado and is a frequent habitue of Cannes, Monte Carlo and St Tropez.

Last year Rich sold her massive, 12,000 square foot Fifth Avenue duplex penthouse to Hollywood mogul David Geffen for $54million at the end of 2012.

Wealthy: Denise Rich, a songwriter who was married to pardoned billionaire trader Marc Rich, renounced her American citizenship last year and sold her massive Fifth Avenue penthouse for over $50million

Moving on: Her lawyer said she gave up her U.S. passport to be closer to her family and partner, Peter Cervinka

Peter was by her side at the St Tropez bash as well

Famous friends: Rich, left, with Michael Jackson, Hillary Clinton and President Clinton pictured in 2000. Rich is also a citizen of Austria and will live full time in London

Share or comment on this article: Denise Rich, socialite parties hard with celebrity friends on her luxury yacht

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The other side of cannes, exposed: debauchery, danger and the dirty secrets aboard the super-rich’s superyachts.

Jealous of those out on the sumptuous floating party palaces? "Don't be," says one power publicist, as insiders reveal the entitlement and inappropriate behavior that goes on inside the luxury boats.

By Dana Kennedy

Dana Kennedy

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Dark_Side_of_Superyachts - S 2015

This story first appeared in the May 15 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe .

Just a few years ago, a young steward working on one of the glossiest superyachts anchored at Cannes for the film festival threatened to call the police on a well-known movie producer who was badly beating two prostitutes during sex in the master stateroom.

“He couldn’t believe I’d actually do it,” said the man, who no longer works on yachts but signed a confidentiality agreement that precludes him from being identified. “But it was the only way to stop him. He was violent and out of control. The girls were screaming, and he didn’t care. He did care about the cops being called.”

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That incident, says a former chief stewardess, is not atypical of the behavior aboard some of the world’s multimillion-dollar mega yachts, a global armada that recently has exploded with bigger, even more opulent vessels being launched on the seas — or into Cannes — every year.

“I could tell you stories that would make your head spin and make you reach for the Dramamine on dry land,” says Elizabeth Moore , who was based in Nice and worked on mega yachts in the Mediterranean and Caribbean for 11 years before quitting the lucrative but stressful business and moving to Australia last year.

The average have-not gazing out at the sumptuous floating party palaces from the Croisette only can imagine the luxury aboard these vessels, the most expensive of which cost up to $400 million. Amenities include movie theaters, wine cellars, gyms, detachable “beach clubs,” helipads , storage for Jet Skis and submarines, anti-paparazzi shields and jellyfish aquariums.

“Jealous? Don’t be,” says power publicist Peggy Siegal , a Cannes veteran. “Here’s the dirty little secret about the parties on the yachts. People don’t want to get stuck on them. Then there’s the shoe problem. They make you take your shoes off. Nobody looks good without their shoes. Then you’ve got the weather. The tenders [which transport guests to the yachts] are a real pain in the ass because you get wet. You’ve got to bring shawls and sweaters and wind­breakers and you’re still freezing. Black tie in early May on a boat is not a good combination.”

Even Paul Allen ‘s annual party aboard his yacht Octopus, once the festival’s hottest ticket, has lost its allure. “Nothing but hookers on that boat now,” says one longtime attendee. Then again, the ambiance aboard a yacht at Cannes can be so magical that the stars become secondary to the experience. “ Diane [ von Furstenberg ] and Barry [ Diller ] threw a famous party for Madonna a few years ago on their boat Eros,” says Siegal . “It’s a fantastic 300-foot sailboat with computerized sails and a beautiful green hull. Madonna never showed up, but it was such a gorgeous night, nobody cared. They barely noticed she wasn’t there.”

The silent army keeping this glamorous world afloat are the crewmembers , whom Nice-based yacht broker Valeria Alekhina calls “the world’s most discreet people because they have to be.” They often work 18 hours a day, seven days a week, scoring tips that can average $5,000 a week — a reward for the unique challenges of serving the world’s wealthiest and most entitled.

“Some of the celebrities who are guests on the boats are fantastic,” says Moore. “We had Tom Hanks and his family on board. Nicest people you will ever meet. Meg Ryan was a doll. The only star I ever remember having a problem with was Sigourney Weaver , who refused to take off her stilettos and left marks on the deck.”

It’s not the guests but rather some of the owners — and the megarich who charter what top boat designer Dickie Bannenberg calls “the sexy trophy yachts” — that are the problem, say past and current crewmembers and brokers.

For Moore, the final straw came during a cruise on the Amalfi Coast on a yacht chartered by a Russian billionaire who brought two prostitutes with him but proceeded to hole up alone in his stateroom, almost drinking himself to death. After coaxing him out, says Moore, “I spent about an hour in there, scrubbing vomit off the walls and sheets, picking up the broken glass and pulling out all the bottles rolling around in the drawers. He apologized to us in the end, but it was too late for me. It was time to get out. The tips weren’t worth it.”

Moore earned her skeptical view of superyacht enthusiasts: “All you really need to know is that it’s not about the boats and the sea for these guys,” she says. “They’re out to one-up each other, and they can be awful to work for. The yachts are just extensions of their dicks; it’s a big status game.”

No wonder superyacht websites are all about measurements, listing the world’s 100 biggest yachts in descending order with little more than their names and length. Azzam, owned by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan , the secretive emir of Abu Dhabi and the UAE president, is No. 1 at 180 meters (590 feet). Roman Abramovich ‘s much-chronicled Eclipse — with its reported three-man leisure submarine, two swimming pools, a dance floor, six tenders, three helipads and an exterior fireplace — comes in second at 162 meters (553 feet). The only American in the top 20 is David Geffen , whose Rising Sun, a regular at the festival, is a relatively puny 138 meters (453 feet). (For context, Titanic was 269 meters, or 882 feet.) Yachts longer than 60 meters have to anchor outside the harbor and send tenders that are, according to Siegal, “bigger than my apartment.”

But the larger the yacht, the larger the target — and casting a pall over this year’s floating fetes will be an added layer of security that would have been unthinkable just five years ago, according to boat owners, captains and maritime security specialists. “There’s a real threat in the Med now, and yachts are a high target,” says Tony Sparks , who spent 10 years as a U.S. Army Special Operations officer and now runs Phantom Services, a maritime security company that was based out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but is moving permanently to the South of France this year. Sparks is in charge of security for three yachts coming to the festival this year, which means his team has trained the crew and will be stationed incognito aboard the vessels.

“Superyachts have always been a target for thieves because of the jewelry and cash people often have aboard, but now we’re on alert for terrorists as well,” he says. Some yachts now have security systems that rival the White House’s, with anti-aircraft weapons, rocket launcher systems, lethal and nonlethal pepper guns and radar “geo-fences” that extend for up to 3,000 yards around the vessel.

Crews are trained, but they are the “weakest link,” says Sparks. Because of that, superyachts, especially those owned by Saudis and Russians, have security teams on board masquerading as guests.

“I never know who they are when they come on board,” says veteran captain  Ovidiu Serbanescu , speaking to  THR  via Skype from a mega yacht cruising off Genoa, Italy. “But I know they’re there, and it’s a big relief.”

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Rock the boat: The essential guide to throwing the ultimate on board bash

Decadent, chic and, by their very nature, uber exclusive, it’s no wonder that superyacht party invitations are the most coveted of all. Jordana Reuben Yechiel reveals the most rocking parties, the trailblazing hosts and gives her tips on how to throw the coolest onboard bash...

The best party I’ve been to on board a yacht was a summer party in Antibes port, hosted by a fabulous young couple on their super impressive yacht. Guests entered via a red carpet and were serenaded by Vanessa-Mae at the pre-dinner reception, where we enjoyed champagne cocktails before making our way down to their nightclub (a permanent fixture on board). Limited Edition Event Design produced the party and, among many highlights, filled the swimming pool with 250 goldfish.

One of my other all-time favourite superyacht parties was a Pirates of the Caribbean do. This small party was held on board a 75 metre last year in St Barths , and guests were all sent custom pirate outfits and the decks were covered with skulls, crossbones and pirate booty. Rum cocktails were served in handled mugs and chocolate volcano cake was presented in individual mini treasure chests.

Paul Allen throws a party on board Octopus , his 126 metre superyacht, during the Cannes Film Festival . It is always themed and stuffed with A-list guests – making it a Cannes favourite. Jake Gyllenhaal, Sienna Miller, Kristen Stewart, Kate Moss and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, have all partied away on board. Previous themes have included Bollywood and A Midsummer Night’s Dream , with fairy light-covered trees and faux grass flooring.

The biggest yacht party fiesta is without doubt Saturday night at the Monaco Grand Prix . Yacht after yacht is lined up, full of bright lights and loud music, as the harbour becomes party central for the yachting jet set.

Superyacht Party Checklist

If superyacht soirées have you thinking of garish champagne and caviar parties, you are way out of date. These days they are all about understated elegance, with fewer guests and more high quality production.

More and more hosts want to return to the era of fine dining and they incorporate this regardless of the party size. Celebrity chefs are the new party rock stars and the uber elite are flying them in to cater for them. Creating the tastiest and, more importantly, the healthiest menus is now the craze. Most superyacht chefs get sent to observe and assist in the owner’s favourite restaurant kitchens for a few weeks a year. Now they are being sent into spa kitchens too.

What to offer? A steady stream of healthy bowl food passed around by staff all through the night. Sushi? Make sure it’s brown rice. The arancini? Black rice fried in coconut oil. Even the desserts are free of sugar, gluten and dairy.

The key to a good party is booze – strong enough to get the job done and tasty enough so you don’t notice. Espresso martinis are out and teatini is in. Made with jasmine pearl tea, mixed with bourbon, apple juice and agave nectar, it is then shaken and strained into a martini glass. Sensational. For the older crowd a good vintage Bordeaux never goes out of fashion.

Music sets the tone for a party so you have to get it right. The big bands are so last season; now it’s DJ only, regardless of the age of the crowd. And star singers are being flown in only for a song or two. Banana Split events flew Tony Hadley on to a yacht in Monaco last summer to sing one song – Gold – because it was the hostess’s favourite.

It’s all in the details and the hosts with the most know how to do detail. Limited Edition Event Design put together a Japanese themed party on board a superyacht in Mexico, where the hostess wanted cherry blossom trees to line the helipad. So 3,000 fake cherry blossoms were sourced and it took staff three days to hand stitch them on to real branches. Special touches with tableware, glassware, uniforms and flowers go a long way.

Individual shoe boxes or shoe bags embossed with the boat’s logo can safely hold all the guests’ shoes as they enter. Emboss and engrave everything. Stamp the boat’s logo on the cocktail napkin, colour matched to the design scheme. Have your own scented candles made to scatter round the party, with your vessel’s name and logo engraved on the label.

The Party Throwers

• Aleksandra and Andrey Melnichenko on Motor Yacht A . Hail the king and queen of entertaining. They are reclusive, and protective of their privacy, but when they entertain nobody does it better. I danced the night away one New Year to Aleksandra’s childhood favourite Matt Goss in her personal nightclub.
• Dasha Zhukova and Roman Abramovich on Eclipse . Their pre-New Year’s parties on board in St Barths are the hottest of tickets.
• Paul Allen on Octopus . His themed party during the Cannes Film Festival is legendary.
• Denise Rich on Lady Joy . Her annual summer yacht party in Saint-Tropez attracts an older crowd – and a good percentage of the Fortune 500.

Pictures: Getty Images; Shutterstock; Alpha Press; Goff Photos; Capital Pictures; Spread Pictures; Backgrid

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By SuperyachtNews 18 Sep 2017

Conversations with colourful owners

The next issue of the superyacht report features three conversations with an eclectic range of owners….

In an industry famous for its even more famous owners, high-profile names are often casually dropped into conversation, but in issue 182 of The Superyacht Report , Denise Rich's remarks certainly made me stop in my tracks, and is potentially the best name-drop I've heard as yet.  “I’ll never forget the moment I first thought that I really wanted a boat,” recalls the owner of 48m Lady Joy . “We were on my uncle’s boat in Cape Cod – I was just a young girl at the time – and we passed President Kennedy on his boat called Honey Fitz. He waved at us from the boat and that was the moment I knew that one day I’d have one.”

Rich’s interview with Felix Sowerbutts in issue 182 of The Superyacht Report is peppered with these exceptional anecdotes, including insights from her time working with famed musicians such as Sister Sledge, Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin, to performing at a Martin Luther King Jnr. memorial service. Rich’s journey into ownership, which she approached with a discerning mind and methodical process, led her to build with Christensen.

Don’t miss the ownership insights from Dr. Ed Bosarge, who I spoke to for our ‘Lessons Learned’ feature. For Bosarge, the most important part in a yacht’s life is the crew, “For me, I think the most important thing is to hire the best captain, with the highest integrity and the highest amount of experience,” he explains. Bosarge owns three sailing yachts, Marie, P2 and Tenacious , and is a prominent fixture on the regatta circuit, in addition to roles at IBM and NASA, an interest in geophysics and stem cell research, and running a fully, eco-friendly island in the Exumas. To say he is a busy man would be an understatement.

“We were on my uncle’s boat in Cape Cod – I was just a young girl at the time – and we passed President Kennedy on his boat called Honey Fitz. He waved at us from the boat and that was the moment I knew that one day I’d have one.”

An adventure of almost epic proportions is revealed in this issue’s ‘Owner on Board’, as Bryony McCabe speaks exclusively to the owner of 49m motoryacht Menorc a (ex- Zurga ), Laurent Morel-Ruymen. As he explains in the interview, his route into superyacht ownership was far from typical. The interview outlines the painstaking restoration project that saw the vessel be returned to her former glory, with all the modern touches a successful charter yacht needs. “I asked the broker to take me to the marina where the boat was docked, completely shut up, and we asked the marina manager to look the other way,” Morel-Ruymen remembers, laughing. “I entered the boat through a broken window on the wheelhouse and started looking around commando-style, using my iPhone as a torch. That was the only way I could visit Zurga !”

Finally, complementing these conversations is the guest column, from Ian Biles, managing director of Maritime Services. Biles explains how vital it is for superyacht owners to undertake surveys throughout their vessel's lifecycle. “If engaged correctly,” he argues, “A good surveyor can be one of an owner’s greatest assets, offering a vast array of information, experience and advice to help mitigate the many risks involved.”

Another jam-packed issue, with a hugely diverse set of superyacht owners and experts. Grab your copy of The Superyacht Report issue 182 at Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show or click here to see if you qualify for a complimentary VIP subscription.

Image: M/Y Menorca

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As the Yachting Class Grows, So Do Yachts

By KEITH SCHNEIDER

• Oct. 23, 2007

FOR the adventurous, healthy and superwealthy, few measures of fortune and successful retirement could be more apt than their boats.

Boats, that is, that extend more than 100 feet long, can cross oceans and cost $15 million to more than $100 million.

From Seattle to Miami, from Germany to Brazil, the richest of the rich are swamping select boat builders with orders for record numbers of custom-designed, fantastically appointed and enormous pleasure cruisers equipped with the newest communications gear.

They are also exorbitantly expensive to operate, with annual maintenance and operating costs generally 15 percent of the boat’s price, brokers and builders say.

“This is not your 60-year-old who retires and buys a 30-foot boat to spend the day on,” said Glenn Kautt, president of the Monitor Group, a wealth management firm in McLean, Va., who owns a 65-foot yacht. “These boats are for somebody who has a lifestyle, who multitasks, who says they’re retired but really isn’t, and who needs to stay connected. All are being outfitted with the latest forms of technology, uplinks and downlinks and video feeds. Many are floating offices and conference centers. They can go almost anywhere in the world and serve as a resort and a work station.”

ShowBoats International, a trade magazine, says there are more than 900 yachts over 80 feet long that were built this year around the world. That is almost 125 more than in 2006, said Jill Bobrow, the magazine’s editor.

Roughly half, said Ms. Bobrow and other authorities on the industry, are built for retirees or baby boomers fast approaching retirement. There are some 7,000 megayachts (80 feet or more) plying the oceans, according to estimates by industry publications. Many of the yachts over 150 feet, builders and brokers say, were ordered and are owned by Americans.

“You have complete mobility,” Ms. Bobrow said. “You have a world around you that contains everything you know and love. You have privacy and security. It’s a porthole to the world with all the things you need the way you like them. Basically, it’s a self-contained world.”

Denise Rich, the New York socialite and philanthropist, held a party this month at the Battery Park City yacht harbor to introduce her friends to her new 157-foot boat, Lady Joy, which she will base in the Mediterranean in the summer and in the Caribbean during the winter.

“I was chartering for years and knew what I wanted when I bought my first yacht, the Lady Joy,” Ms. Rich said. “I needed more space, though. The yacht has a music studio, a Portuguese deck, seven staterooms and so much more.”

Ms. Rich, who plans voyages to Croatia, Russia and Alaska, said the Lady Joy also served the G & P Foundation for Cancer Research, which she founded after the death of her daughter, Gabrielle Rich Aouad, from leukemia.

“We use the space to host events and raise money,” she said.

As the number of extremely wealthy retirees grows, so does the length, cost and sophistication of their yachts. The 150-foot Highlander, built for the Forbes family in 1986, was once regarded as the ultimate in floating luxury.

Today the Highlander is a midsize yacht compared with such vessels as the 452-foot, seven-deck, $194 million Rising Sun, delivered last year by a German builder to Larry Ellison, 63, the co-founder and chief executive of the Oracle Corporation, and one of the world’s richest men. Still, Rising Sun is four feet shorter than the eight-deck Al Salamah, the world’s largest private yacht, according to Power & Motoryacht magazine. That vessel is owned by Crown Prince Sultan, the Saudi Arabian defense and aviation minister.

One city that wealthy yachters are cruising to is Seattle, where Delta Marine Industries designs and builds custom yachts, producing roughly two boats a year measuring 120 feet or more. Last year, Delta delivered a 240-foot boat, called the Laurel, to an unidentified American owner, the largest yacht built on American soil since the 1930s, according to Power &Motoryacht.

“It’s amazing when you ask our clients what they’ve seen, what experiences they had exploring the world on the water,” said Michelle Jones, 32, Delta’s marketing manager and the daughter of a Delta founder. “They are great travelers, and they are great yachtsmen.”

They are also patient. It takes Delta two years from start to finish to produce a yacht. At the moment, four boats ranging in length from 123 feet to 175 feet are in various stages at Delta’s 25-acre shipyard along the Duwamish River, where 400 people are employed. Ms. Jones declined to specify the prices the company charges for its boats, though brokers and other sources say the cost ranges from $20 million to $50 million.

Still, the owners of megayachts often pursue the same simple pleasures that retirees of ordinary means seek.

“A lot of retirees think there is no better way to spend family time,” said Ms. Bobrow of ShowBoats International. “These boats provide privacy and security. They don’t have to deal with a lot of outsiders. There’s room for everybody’s personal space. And when they get to port, they go off and do what they want to do.”

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