AI millionaires drive shift in luxury spending to private jets, yachts and hyper-customised cars
A wave of new wealth from AI-focused companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic is reshaping luxury markets, with buyers prioritising private jets, expedition yachts and customised supercars over champagne and white-glove service. Property prices in San Francisco have surged, with the median single-fami
The rapid growth of AI-focused companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic has created a wave of millionaires and billionaires who are rewriting the rules of luxury spending, 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 US$2.1 million (S$2.66 million) 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.
“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 “The notion of the discerning client is rather outdated and so companies now have to adapt to cater to a new generation of luxury-focused traveller, created by this AI wealth.”
Flexjet, which allows people to buy fractional ownership of an aircraft, has noted an increase in clients who made money through AI or other technology flotations. The trend has pushed the average age of its customers down by a decade, said chief executive Andrew Collins. Digital-native clients as young as 25 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,” he added.
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. “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. Ferrari has received positive feedback from customers in Silicon Valley for its first electric vehicle, the Luce. Benedetto Vigna, the Italian group’s chief executive, said of AI-related new wealth: “Whenever you have a new flush of money in the market … Ferrari is a good source.”
Yacht dealerships are also benefiting. Jeff Brown’s San Diego-based business has “benefited greatly” from a new wave of San Francisco-based buyers that “became wealthy overnight”, he said. Customers at his Sausalito branch include employees of and investors in chipmaker Nvidia, who are seeking faster and longer-range expeditionary vessels with heavier-tinted windows for privacy, rather than “gin palaces”. Annie Reed, chief commercial officer of British luxury yacht manufacturer Princess Yachts, said the company has already sold five units of its new 90ft superyacht model X90, which costs upwards of £10 million (US$13.59 million; S$17.13 million), to US buyers ahead of its official launch in September. Reed added that the company has received multiple requests to fit high-end Technogym fitness equipment and Starlink internet terminals onboard.
