Find The Best Bank For You

Cheap Stocks to Buy New

Best Cryptocurrency to Buy Now

Find The Best Bank For You

Find The Best Card For You

Find The Best Bank For You

GEN Z: The Future of Finances

Many of the offers appearing on this site are from advertisers from which this website receives compensation for being listed here. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). These offers do not represent all available deposit, investment, loan or credit products.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have so much money that you could choose to buy anything you wanted without checking your bank balance first? Maybe you’d want to buy the most expensive thing in the world. But what would that be?

Research on dozens of sites to find the priciest real estate, artwork, yachts and jewels pinpoints the world’s most expensive item right now: the History Supreme Yacht, measuring 100-feet long and costing $4.5 billion.

Read on to find more of the world’s most expensive items, from artwork to domain names to a preserved dead shark.

Bonus Offer: Open a new Citi Priority Account by 1/9/23 and earn up to a $2,000 cash bonus after completing required activities.

Canadian piano manufacturer Heintzman & Co holds the title for producing the world’s most expensive piano, a transparent piano constructed of crystal. According to Pianist magazine, artist Lang Lang played it at the Beijing Olympics before it was retired.

While many expensive things have useful, revenue-generating purposes, some of the world’s most expensive objects seem to make less sense. Artist Damien Hirst created The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, aka The Shark in 1991. It’s a tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde in a vitrine and was commissioned by Charles Saatchi. It sold for $8 million to hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen, according to multiple reports.

Insurance is a big business, and finding the right domain name can be a pricey proposition. Insure.com was purchased for $16 million. According to Whois.com, the site is registered to Network Solutions, LLC, and the contact information listed reveals the parent company is Quinstreet Inc., a company that powers “decentralized online marketplaces.” Apparently not willing to skimp on domain purchases, the tech giant also owns Insurance.com and CarInsurance.com.

Christie’s Hong Kong sold a 14.23-carat, fancy intense pink diamond to an anonymous buyer for just over $23 million in 2012.

Bonus Offer: Find a Checking Account that Fits Your Lifestyle. $100 Bonus Offer for New Checking Account Customers.

This timepiece features 874 individual gemstones, including three heart shaped diamonds ranging from 11 to 15 carats each, all with flawless clarity. These diamonds form a pattern and open like flower petals to reveal the watch’s face. Just. Wow.

Amongst billionaire Jeff Bezos’ more extravagant purchases is a $42 million giant clock designed to run for 10,000 years. Perhaps it could be considered a business expense if he uses it to ensure everyone receives their Prime Day purchases in two days or less?

It’s not surprising to find a few cars on this list of the world’s most expensive things. In 2018, a 1962 red Ferrari GTO sold to an anonymous buyer at Sotheby’s auction in Monterey for $48.4 million.

Laurence Graff, chairman of Graff Diamonds, introduced this gemstone watch masterpiece to the world in 2014, and it is an undisputed one-of-a-kind show of craftsmanship featuring more than 110 carats total of diamonds in various shapes and colors.

Bonus Offer: Bank of America $100 Bonus Offer for new Online Checking Accounts. See page for details.

There’s big money in art investing, and “Garçon à la pipe” (Boy with Pipe) by Pablo Picasso falls third behind “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” as one of the three most expensive pieces of artwork ever. It sold for $104 million at Sotheby’s auction in May 2004, supposedly purchased by Guido Barilla.

The Gustav Klimt painting takes second place behind “The Card Players” when it comes to expensive art. The painting last sold in 2006 for $135 million, purchased by art collector Ronald Lauder for display in Neue Galarie New York.

Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos owns a lot of real estate, including a $119 million mansion, a $23 million New York City condo and a $23 million house in Washington, D.C. But his priciest property to date seems to be his $165 million estate in Beverly Hills, previously owned by music mogul David Geffen.

With stocks and investments tumbling in a bear market, some of the world’s wealthiest people are opting to invest in art and other tangible items. Your portfolio would look pretty sweet if you had this pricey painting in it.

“The Card Players” by French artist Paul Cezzane is worth $275 million and owned by the Royal family of Al Thani in Qatar, which happens to be the world’s fourth richest country according to WorldAtlas.

A mansion on the French Riveria, named Villa Leopolda, holds the title of second-most expensive private residence. The building served as a a hospital during World War II and has changed hands several times since its construction in 1902 for Belgian King Leopold II — hence, the name. In 2008, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov purchased the Villa.

If you’ve ever wanted to live in the world’s most expensive house, you’ll find it in Mumbai, India. The 27-story building towers over others in the skyline and boasts three helipads, 9 elevators, a 50-seat home theater and other luxuries. It is owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in India, who has a net worth of $84.2 billion, according to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List.

The History Supreme yacht is not the largest in the world. That honor goes to Jeff Bezo’s superyacht Y721 at 417 feet — but Y721 cost a mere $500 million. However, the History Supreme took three years to design and is outfitted with some of the world’s priciest materials and amenities.

First, the yacht features gold and platinum structural fittings, plus gold alloys in the base, deck, railings, dining area, and anchor, according to Lifestyle Asia. It is believed that Malaysian businessman Robert Kuok, who owns the Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, purchased the boat.

Our in-house research team and on-site financial experts work together to create content that’s accurate, impartial, and up to date. We fact-check every single statistic, quote and fact using trusted primary resources to make sure the information we provide is correct. You can learn more about GOBankingRates’ processes and standards in our editorial policy.

Every day, get fresh ideas on how to save and make money and achieve your financial goals.

Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the offers appearing on this site are from advertisers from which this website receives compensation for being listed here. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). These offers do not represent all available deposit, investment, loan or credit products.

Sign up for our daily newsletter for the latest financial news and trending topics.

For our full Privacy Policy, click here.