Have you seen the $500 million A380 the Prince of Saudi Arabia ordered?

Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal owns an Airbus A380 that cost $300 million (though sources say he negotiated the price down to $280 million) to buy from Airbus and spent an additional $200 on personal configurations to the aircraft which turned it into a flying palace.

The prince has a net worth of over $18 billion dollars and heavily invests in successful multinational corporations such as News Corp, Apple, Citigroup, Twitter, and many others. So money is not really an issue for him. What’s $500 million anyway? Here I am complaining about high airfare prices…

However, it’s important to note that the prince never actually got his jet because he sold it once his stocks in Citi began to plunge.

Here are some of the configurations that the Prince’s A380 requested:

• A parking space for his Rolls Royce automobile;
• Concert hall with grand piano, seating for 10 patrons, and stage for private entertainment;
• Marble Hamam tiled steam room with spa treatments;
• A wellbeing room complete with flat screen TVs on the walls and floors that shows passengers what they are flying over;
• Five master bedroom with king sized beds, each with private bathrooms and showers;
• 20 smaller private rooms;
• A spiral main staircase;
• A private elevator that connects the prince’s master bedroom to the tarmac, so he may enter and exit quickly;
• Boardroom with holographic monitors; and
• A prayer room with computer monitored prayer mats that will automatically adjust to face Mecca.

Additionally, the belly of the aircraft has a relaxation zone, which includes a Turkish bath lined with marble only 2mm thick to keep the weight down. The plane will also feature several first class seats for miscellaneous use.

It’s no surprise that the prince has such a luxurious taste, given that the prince also owns several yachts, over 100 automobiles, a configured Boeing B747, and an Airbus A321.

Financial records show that the prince eventually sold the A380 to Saudi King Abdullah, though a financial minister denied the allegations and the prince says who he sold the plane to is no ones concern. No one may ever know where the prince’s A380 ended up…

This would make a great Christmas gift, right? Imagine if the Prince and his royal family would donate $500 million to the  starving people of Saudi Arabia.

(BTW: The Airbus order was fulfilled by Airbus in 2012)

Source(s): Daily Mail Online / Forbes