The new AI super-rich are reshaping the market for jets, yachts and cars

The rapid growth of AI-focused companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic has created a wave of millionaires and billionaires, and they are starting to spend — with trophy assets near the top of their lists.

The number of billionaires globally rose 13 per cent year-on-year to 3,302 in the 12 months that ended in April, more than a thousand of whom are based in the US, according to UBS.

The first trophy is always a house. There has been a surge in property prices in San Francisco, where the median price for a single-family home jumped to $2.1mn in June, up almost 25 per cent from the same month in 2025, according to real estate brokerage Compass.

But once they have a home, those with fortunes minted in the AI boom are spending big on hyper-personalised and high-performance yachts, jets and cars.

They are spurning the champagne and white-glove service typically associated with luxury travel and instead looking for things that are practical, private and allow them to maintain their healthy lifestyles. They don’t want to wait and they do want to pay with crypto.

“The emergence of the AI super-wealthy has opened up a whole new wave of demand for those companies providing access to private jets, yachts and supercars,” said Paul Charles, a luxury travel consultant. “The notion of the discerning client is rather outdated and so companies now have to adapt to cater to a new generation of luxury-focused traveller, created by this AI wealth.”

Companies that supply such assets are having to learn very quickly about the very particular demands of this new class of wealthy.

Private jets

Few modes of travel are a greater hallmark of vast wealth than a private jet. Flexjet, which allows people to buy fractional ownership of an aircraft, has noted an increase in clients who made money through AI or in other technology flotations. The trend has pushed the average age of its customers down by a decade, said Flexjet’s chief executive Andrew Collins.

That wealth is also spreading to those in businesses adjacent to AI. One of jet charter group FlyVictor’s newest clients is a data centre builder who has been chartering planes in the US and Europe while waiting for his purchase of a new long-range Bombardier jet to go through.

That new breed of buyer, some as young as 25, brings new demands, according to FlyVictor’s co-chief executive Toby Edwards.

As well as wanting to pay in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, these digital-native clients typically prefer to book using a company’s app or WhatsApp, bypassing brokers and the “theatre of traditional private aviation”, said Charles Robinson, founder of charter marketplace EnterJet. “If it takes more than a few minutes to get quotes and confirm, many will lose interest.”

Onboard standards have also been updated. “The private aviation golden standard of yesteryears, sipping champagne on crisp linen [tablecloths], has largely gone out the window with this cohort,” said Robinson, adding that they looked for “specific types of water” such as artisanal brand Fiji and Acqua Panna as well as “health-conscious catering”.

“They’re flying privately for efficiency and discretion — not to impress socially,” he added.

Cars

The new AI multimillionaires and billionaires prioritise exclusive features and are willing to change vehicles after as little as six months to secure the latest models.

Lamborghini has been particularly successful in attracting the younger generation of AI entrepreneurs, according to brokers, with its Urus sport utility vehicle, which can be hyper-personalised with a choice of more than 150 colours. Beyond the customisation options offered by the carmaker, younger buyers can add aerodynamics and carbon-fibre kits to their Lamborghinis to change the look of the body, perfect for posting on social media.

“This kind of car, at the end of the day, is like a toy. It’s a way to express the personality of a customer,” said Stefano Cossalter, Urus product line director at Lamborghini.

Ferrari, according to people close to the company, has received positive feedback from customers in Silicon Valley for the Luce, its first electric vehicle, which drew backlash among some traditional fans for its polarising design. Benedetto Vigna, the Italian luxury group’s chief executive, has defended it, stressing the importance of widening the brand’s appeal. On the day of the EV’s launch, he pointed to interest he’d received from a technology entrepreneur in San Francisco.

“It’s for sure a good opportunity for us,” Vigna said when asked about the AI-related new wealth creation. “Whenever you have a new flush of money in the market . . . Ferrari is a good source.”

Porsche’s chief executive Michael Leiters also said new customer groups were emerging from the AI boom. “Naturally, we are making every effort to reach these customers and win them over to the Porsche brand,” he added.

EMJ Exclusive, which provides a range of services to wealthy individuals, recently bought a low-mileage Rolls-Royce Cullinan for an LA-based AI entrepreneur in his twenties who had asked for a “one of a kind” vehicle. The company customised the vehicle extensively, including by changing its signature black exterior and interior to a bespoke bright blue and orange.

“I think the thing individuals of AI wealth care about is exclusivity,” said EMJ Exclusive founder Ed Somner Bogard. “Our client is never going to drive somewhere with his Rolls-Royce and someone has the same car.”

Yachts

Jeff Brown’s San Diego-headquartered yacht dealership has “benefited greatly” from a new wave of San Francisco-based buyers that “became wealthy overnight”, he said. Customers at his branch in Sausalito, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, include new multimillionaires seeking smaller boats that can take on the rough Pacific Ocean and travel up the winding Napa River.

These buyers — who include employees of and investors in chipmaker Nvidia — are not looking for gin palaces, but rather faster and longer-range expeditionary vessels. “These aren’t luxurious boats. These are very functional machines that can go long distances fast and carry a lot of fun stuff,” he said. They also place a greater premium on privacy measures, such as more heavily tinted windows, than Brown’s traditional clientele.

Wave of AI Wealth

This is the final article in a series looking at the extraordinary wealth created through AI

Part 1: Wealth managers cut fees to win AI’s paper millionaires

Part 2: AI fortunes revive effective altruism after Bankman-Fried turmoil

Part 3: The new AI super-rich’s spending on jets, yachts and cars

Annie Reed, chief commercial officer of British luxury yacht manufacturer Princess Yachts, said the company was “sending more boats to the west coast of America”, as well as to Florida, and had already sold five units of its new 90ft superyacht model X90, which costs upwards of £10mn, to US buyers ahead of its official launch in September.

Princess has received multiple requests to fit high-end Technogym fitness equipment, including functional and strength-training equipment, onboard its vessels. One customer even asked to install a Peloton bike on their flybridge, the open-air deck on a yacht’s rooftop. The company has also been asked to fit Starlink internet terminals.

Health is also a growing focus in his business, said Brown. His customers are requesting more and fancier “toys” — from scuba-diving kits to hydrofoil sailboats — in place of catering and alcohol: “These clients are into fitness and they’re out doing stuff. They’re not sipping a Mai Tai on the deck.”

Additional reporting by Sebastien Ash in Frankfurt and data visualisation by Martin Stabe