- [Narrator] You'd think that in order to become a billionaire, you'd need to be pretty smart. But it turns out, being
good at making money doesn't necessarily mean
you're good at spending it. From million-dollar pigeons
to designer garbage bags, you won't believe the weird, wacky, and downright useless ways billionaires have found
to splash their cash. (bright music) Titanic 2.0. For billionaires, shelling
out for a luxury yacht is understandable. But spending $500 million to build a replica of a ship
that's famous for sinking? Not so much. But that hasn't stopped Clive Palmer. The Australian billionaire,
businessman, and politician is currently spending
millions on a replica of the RMS Titanic. He's calling his boat Titanic II, and once it's completed, he intends to sail it from
Southampton to New York, the route taken by the original Titanic, because that went so well the first time. To capture the authentic feel of the original 1912 ship, Titanic II won't have internet access, and the third class compartments will feature narrow bunk
beds and washbasins. Unlike the original Titanic, though, the billionaire has promised that his boat will possess
modern safety equipment, including enough lifeboats
for all 2,435 passengers. However, the project
has hit a few icebergs. Titanic II was originally
scheduled to set sail way back in 2016, but that deadline was pushed to 2022 due to financial disputes. Skeptical commentators
have also pointed out that Clive Palmer has a history of announcing then abandoning
eccentric projects. Back in 2012, he purchased a resort with 160 state-of-the-art
animatronic dinosaurs, only to close it in 2015, leaving his prehistoric
robots to the elements. Let's hope Clive Palmer
doesn't abandon Titanic II to sink without a trace. If you'd like to sail the
high seas on Titanic II, hit the like button. Or, if you'll be steering clear, smash the subscribe button. Either way, with mind
boggling content posted daily, you can't lose if you climb
aboard the goo ship Be Amazed. Now, let's get back to it. Mobile Money. Where would you keep a precious jewel? Personally, I'd lock it away in a safe. But when one Hong Kong businessman inherited a 26-karat black diamond, he decided he wanted to keep
it with him at all times. His solution? To attach the
rare jewel to his iPhone. That's right. The anonymous businessman
commissioned luxury craftsman, Stuart Hughes, to make
him a custom iPhone 5, and have his black diamond
mounted on the home button. The body of the phone is
coated in 24-karat gold, while the sides of the Apple logo are inlaid with 653
flawless white diamonds. The screen, meanwhile, is sapphire glass, an incredibly hard and
scratch-proof material made from real sapphires. Thanks to these precious embellishments, the glittering smartphone is valued at a jaw dropping $15 million. It might be an outdated model now, but you still wouldn't want
to drop it down the toilet. Silver Linings. It seems as though with enough money, you can do pretty much anything,
even control the weather. For a hefty $100,000 fee, the super-rich can hire companies to disperse clouds and banish rain, guaranteeing blue skies
for their weddings. An American chemist called Vincent Shaefer was the first to
experiment with a technique known as cloud seeding. He discovered that by pumping dry ice and silver iodide into clouds, he could cause the water
particles within to freeze before falling as snow or rain. In theory, this could also
be used to induce rain in one area to reduce it elsewhere. Over the years, this technique
has been put to many uses. Some ski resorts use cloud
seeding to induce snowfall, while China reportedly used the technique to prevent rain in Beijing
during the 2008 Olympics. More recently, UK-based events
company Oliver's Travels came up with a bright idea of selling sunshine to wealthy clients. For $100,000, they'll
hire a plane, a pilot, and a trained meteorologist to fire small rockets of
silver iodide into any clouds, changing water vapor into rain which will fall in
advance of your big day. The catch? There's still debate over whether cloud seeding actually works. In 2003, the national
research council claimed that there's insufficient
scientifically acceptable proof of successful cloud seeding, while a 2010 study by Tel Aviv University found the technique isn't
particularly effective at producing rainfall. So, you're probably better off spending your $100,000
on emergency umbrellas. Seeing Double. Did you know animal-loving billionaires have discovered a way to keep
their pets alive forever? Obviously, the mega-rich can't
actually beat death, yet. But they can spend hundreds
of thousands of dollars on genetically identical
replicas of their beloved animals to replace them when they die. Scientists have known that it's possible to clone mammals since 1996, when a group of Edinburgh
scientists cloned a sheep. The first successful
experiment in dog cloning took place nine years later in 2005, when South Korean
scientists cloned two dogs using cells from the
ear of an Afghan Hound. In 2009, billionaire
businessman John Sperling paid the same lab to clone
his girlfriend's dog, giving rise to the phenomenon
of commercial pet cloning. Now there are cloning
companies all over the world willing to replicate your
fur baby for a hefty fee. US-based company ViaGen
charges $50,000 to clone a dog, $35,000 for a cat, and a whopping $85,000 for a horse. Here's how it's done. Scientists remove a cell, such as a skin cell, from your pet. They then take an unfertilized egg from another animal of the same species and suck out the nucleus with a pipette. They transfer the DNA from the skin cell into the unfertilized egg
and use an electric pulse to fuse the egg and the DNA together. The egg is then implanted
into a surrogate, which carries and gives
birth to the clone. The process has proved a hit
with the rich and famous. Barbara Streisand has revealed that two of her three dogs are clones; Simon Cowell has publicized his plans to clone his three Yorkshire Terriers; and media billionaire Barry Diller has cloned his Jack Russell
terrier into two new pups. But pet cloning has a dark side. The DNA of cloned pets is
replicated from an adult animal, meaning they may be born with DNA strands that are actually shorter than normal, which can lead to premature
aging and early death. There's also the fact that
many cloned pregnancies don't take hold in the surrogate uterus. In order to clone
Snuppy, the Afghan Hound, the South Korean scientists had to implant more than
1,000 embryos into 123 dogs, which meant many animals underwent unsuccessful, invasive operations. With these factors considered, ethicists and animal
rights organizations argue that cloning isn't the best way to prolong your time with your pup. And as you'll soon see, there are plenty of other ways
to splash cash on your pet without going full mad scientist. Millionaire Mutt. How would you feel if I told you this dog has more money than you? Meet Trouble, the pet Maltese of billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley. In her lifetime, Leona's
hard-hearted business practices earned her the nickname Queen of Mean. She was known to rage and
storm at her employees, and even served 19 months
in prison for tax evasion after claiming that "only
the little people pay taxes." But puppy love can melt the iciest heart, and Helmsley certainly had a soft spot for her beloved Trouble. In fact, when she died in 2001, Helmsley's family was horrified to learn that she'd cut two of her four
grandchildren out of her will in order to leave her dog
a $12 million fortune. A judge immediately slashed
Trouble's inheritance by $10 million on the grounds that Helmsley must've been barking mad when she made the will, but that's still left Trouble
much richer than most people. The $2 million fortune
was handled by a caretaker who spent $100,000 a year
on the pampered pooch, including $8,000 for grooming and $1,200 for luxury dog dinners. The pup also had a
round-the-clock security team to protect her from death
threats and kidnapping attempts, because even for dogs, Biggie
Smalls' words ring true: "Mo Money, Mo Problems." So remember people,
the moral of this story is to be nice to your elderly relatives. If not, your inheritance
really could go to the dogs. Road Rage. Back in 2013, police in Moscow
pulled over an ambulance that was driving erratically. When they peered inside, they were shocked to discover that instead of containing
medical equipment and paramedics, the vehicle was fitted out
like a luxury limousine. They'd stumbled upon a sneaky new scheme by Moscow's mega-rich:
hiring fake ambulances in order to glide through
gridlocked traffic, delivering them to their
boardrooms in plenty of time. These taxi ambulances reportedly arose from Moscow's notorious roads, which are home to some
of the worst traffic jams in the world. According to a 2019 survey
by Dutch tech company TomTom, the average Moscow drivers
spent 210 hours a year sitting in traffic. That's almost nine days. You might think a wealthy commuter would be inspired to spend
their cash funding research into how to solve this
problem for everyone. But nope. Instead, rich businessmen
spend $150 an hour on undercover ambulance
taxis, blasting the siren in order to skip to
the front of the queue. I guess you don't get rich for being nice. Pampered Pups. Well, admittedly, celebrity
socialite Paris Hilton isn't actually a billionaire, this hasn't stopped her spending like one. Just take a look at the
$325,000 mini mansion she had built for her
beloved pet chihuahuas. The two-story villa is
located in the grounds of Hilton's a Los Angeles home, and at 300-square-feet, it's big enough for a fully grown human to fit inside comfortably. Sadly, I doubt the dogs
appreciate the design detail that went into this luxury pad. The walls are painted Barbie pink and the custom leather furniture was created by French
designer Philippe Starck. The mansion also boasts air conditioning, a sweeping staircase, a
chandelier, and a balcony, all of which puts a positive
spin on being in the doghouse. And while we're on the
topic of pampered pups, take a look at the most
expensive dog collar in the world sold by company I Love Dogs. This blingy piece of dog jewelry is handmade and bedazzled
with 1,600 diamonds. The catch? It'll set you
back a cool $3.2 million. Is your pooch worth it, or is this just a bunch
of billionaire baloney? Let me know in the comments below. Flex on Wheels. Billionaires can afford to go wild when it comes to choosing a car, but they don't always make
the most practical choices. Just take a look at this
sparkling Mercedes-Benz created as a showcase by US
luxury car company Garson. It's worth an estimated $1 million and is encrusted with
300,000 Swarovski crystals. After the pictures went viral online, an urban legend developed
that Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bun Talal owned one, and that he charged his friends
$1,000 just to touch it. However, the Prince's private
office released a statement denying any ownership of a
diamond encrusted Mercedes-Benz. If you say so, your majesty. Next up, check out this vintage
ride owned by Elon Musk. The billionaire Tesla CEO
spent nearly $1 million on this Lotus Espirit, which was featured in the 1976 bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me". Musk bought the car from
a Long Island couple who found it in a locked
storage unit in 1989. They paid just $100 for the car and were stunned to sell it
to the world's richest man for a huge profit. But there's a twist. Elan has modified the car with four battery-powered propellers, allowing it to run underwater
and double as a submarine. It's unclear whether Elon actually drives the car underwater, but he's reportedly
using it as inspiration for a brand new sub-aquatic Tesla. But we can't talk about cars without mentioning the Sultan of Brunei who owns the largest private
car collection in the world. He's estimated to own about 7,000 cars, including 300 Ferrari's
and 600 Rolls Royces with a combined value
of more than $5 billion. That means that even if the Sultan decided to drive a new
car every single day, it would still take him more than 19 years to try every car in his collection. However, collectors who
visited in recent years have reported that many of the
cars have never been driven with leather melting in the
sun and seats covered in mold. It's almost as if 7,000 cars
is too much for one man. Whoa! Skyscraper for One. Imagine being so rich you could have a 27-story
skyscraper all to yourself. One billionaire, Mukesh
Ambani, is living that dream. His Mumbai home, known
as the Antilia Building, is the most expensive
private house in the world. The gigantic building
is located on a street known as Billionaire's Row, famous for its ultra-luxury mansions. Inside you'll find space for 168 cars, a temple, three helipads,
and a 50-seater cinema. There's even a fully
stocked ice cream parlor for when the Mumbai heat gets too much. Unsurprisingly, the idea of an entire 400,000 square foot skyscraper belonging to one wealthy family doesn't sit well with many people. After all, Ambani could've
spent his billions providing relief to Mumbai's poor, rather than squandering money
on an oversized mansion. It probably doesn't help that in order to clear space
for his futuristic pad, Mukesh had to buy the
land from an orphanage, which he then had knocked down. Yeah, not exactly helping the evil billionaire
stereotype there, Mukesh. Pot of Gold. In 2001, Hong Kong jewelry
magnate Lam Sai-Wing earned himself a Guinness World Record by building the world's
most expensive bathroom. The unusual project cost Sai-Wing a breathtaking $3.5 million to build, featuring 380 kilograms of 24-karat gold and 6,200 precious gemstones. Today, tourists can visit the bathroom, which is on display at
Sai-Wing's Hong Kong store. But however much you may need to go, the fully-functional, solid
gold toilet is off limits. Perhaps inspired by Lam's creation, Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan made this 18-karat gold artwork in 2016, which he named America. In 2019, the fancy john, worth over $5 million, was stolen from the
Blenheim Palace in the UK, where it had been plumbed into the wall as a quirky exhibition piece. A $124,000 reward was
offered for its safe return, but it was never seen again. I guess there can only
be one golden throne. Toilets aren't the only way to incorporate a touch of
luxury into your bathroom. In 2013, Australian
company Toilet Paper Man revealed an unusual new product, a single roll of 22-carat
gold toilet paper on sale for $1.3 million. The paper is now listed as sold out, suggesting that one eccentric billionaire may have decided to flush
their money down the drain. But that's not where the madness stops. If you'd like the contents
of your toilet paper bowl to match your solid-gold toilet paper, you can shell out $425 for
24-karat gold poop pills. These two-centimeter long capsules were created by artist Tobias Wong, and claim to make your
feces gold and glittery. In Tobias's words, they will "turn your innermost parts into chambers of wealth." I'm gonna go ahead and
take his word on that, but you're welcome to give
the golden poop pills a try. Cold Hard Cash. Would you spend hundreds
of dollars on ice? And no, I don't mean diamonds.
I mean actual frozen water. Strange though it may sound, there's a booming market for luxury ice with the super wealthy
willing to spend $325 on a case of 40 cubes. That's a chilling $8 per cube. According to leading
brand Glace Luxury Ice Co, their product is made from
specially purified water that's free of minerals,
additives, and pollutants. Each piece of ice is individually carved into a sphere or a cube and comes packaged in a resealable pouch. They're certainly pretty to look at, but to me, it seems like a great way to watch your money literally melt away. Guinea Pig Armor. Back in June 2013, a very strange item was
listed for sale on eBay. Feast your eyes on this, a cute little suit of hand-made chainmail and a battle helmet designed to fit any
medium-sized guinea pig. Perfect for carrot jousting, I guess. Now, personally, I don't consider guinea
pig armor a must-have. But the mega-rich must disagree because the listing received 156 bids from 47 bidders in 10 days, and ultimately sold for
a breathtaking $24,300. Although the winning bidder
chose to remain anonymous, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that they must
have been pretty well off. Is that you Bill Gates? Designer Trash. Can you imagine being so rich that you can afford to spend
a fortune on your trash? In 2018, Kim Kardashian made waves when she posted a snap of
her trash cans on Instagram, revealing that they're branded all over with the Louis Vuitton logo. While they were likely just custom painted and not officially branded, Kim's not the only person
who's splashed their cash on Louis Vuitton-themed trash. This photo of a branded bin bag has been doing the rounds on the internet, and while that bag appears
to be another custom job, these ones are real. This unusual, waterproof purse, officially sold by Louis Vuitton, is designed to look like a garbage bag and will set you back a whopping $1,960. Sometimes, fashion really is trashy. Something Fishy. Personally, I'd pay money not
to have a shark in my home. But billionaire hedge
fund manager Steven Cohen evidently disagrees, because he spent $8 million
on a dead tiger shark suspended in a tank of formaldehyde. This unusual piece of interior decor is actually an iconic 1991 artwork by British artist Damien Hirst, and goes by the charming name of "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living." Make what you will of the name, but here's a little secret
about Cohen's purchase. It's not actually the same shark that Hirst made famous back in the 90s. By the time Cohen bought the
artwork it was 13 years old, and the original shark had begun to decay. So, on top of the purchase price, Cohen paid for a brand new
shark to be caught and stuffed, a process which costs more than $100,000. Why can't billionaires just to
be satisfied with a goldfish? #Blessed. Madonna may not quite be a
billionaire, but trust me, her spending habits are extravagant enough to land her a place in this video. Don't believe me? Well, did you know that
she reportedly spends $10,000 a month on water? Yeah, the stuff that comes
out of taps for free. The singer is a devout
follower of Kabbalah, a mystical offshoot of Judaism that boasts a number
of super-rich devotees, including Lindsay Lohan and Mick Jagger. As a result, she will
only drink bottled water that's received a Kabbalah blessing, which many followers believe enriches it with a power to cure disease and even neutralize nuclear waste. Needless to say, there's no evidence to back up these claims. In fact, a 2012 BBC documentary revealed that some sellers of Kabbalah water were actually charging extortionate prices for plain tap water, cashing in on the gullibility
of the rich and famous. This wasn't enough to
stop Madonna, though. Not satisfied with merely
drinking the Kabbalah water for $5 a bottle, Madonna's friends report that
she also fills her radiators and swimming pools with the stuff. Talk about liquid assets. Island extravagance. We all want to make our mark on the world, but some billionaires take that
idea a little too literally. Take Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi's ruling family. In the early 2000s, he came up with the unusual idea of carving his own name into
the surface of Al Futaisi, an island he owns off
the coast of Abu Dhabi. He hired workers to
build a series of canals which would spell out HAMAD in letters that were 1600 feet long and 144 feet wide, large enough to be spotted on Google Earth Satellite imagery. But unfortunately, in 2012, the letters were filled in
with sand with no explanation, rendering the whole project
a short-lived waste of time. Maybe Hamad realized
he'd Ha-made a mistake? Not all billionaire private island owners need to label their land
in big letters, though. Most times, merely spending time there brings enough satisfaction. And what better way to get to and from your personal paradise than in an incredibly souped-up yacht? The master of this kind of thing is super-wealthy businessman
Roman Abramovich, who owns not one, but two superyachts. The $600 million Solaris
is 460 feet in length and boasts 8 decks, a helipad, a sauna, and anti-paparazzi lasers. Her sister ship, Eclipse, is even bigger, coming in at 530 feet and valued at a stunning $500 million. It's hard to imagine why anyone would need two enormous yachts, but I guess buying stuff you don't need is part of the fun of being a billionaire. Winging It. You've probably heard of billionaires who dropped millions on exotic pets. But did you know that China's uber-rich shell out huge sums on pedigree pigeons? Yup, it turns out pigeon racing
is a big business in China. The ancient sport involves releasing specially trained
homing pigeons into the air and then placing bets on which bird will be the first to return home. In the interests of securing a win, breeders sell fast-flying
thoroughbred birds for eye-watering prices. Particularly desirable
birds routinely sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. And in 2020, a frantic bidding war ended when an anonymous Chinese
buyer spent $1.9 million on a two-year-old pigeon called New Kim. Experts at PIPA, a specialist
pigeon auction house, likened the bird to a painting by Picasso, with a few more feathers, of course. Vampire Billionaires. Now I don't want to imply that all billionaires are bloodsuckers, but it's true that some
super-wealthy vampires, sorry, I mean tech moguls, are willing to splash their cash on a dystopian procedure called
a young blood transfusion. This involves injecting wealthy clients with a blood of 16 through 25 year olds, which is, thankfully, harvested willingly, and allegedly increases
the regenerative abilities and general functions of
older people's bodily cells. A US-based start-up called Ambrosia was founded around this idea in 2006, and began offering
transfusions for $8,000 a pop. PayPal billionaire Peter
Thiel made headlines in 2016 when he expressed interest in
trying out Ambrosia's work. But is it legit? Well, unsurprisingly, the practice has received
a lot of criticism, and has been widely
labeled as pseudoscience. The US Food and Drug
Administration, for instance, issued a warning about the transfusions, claiming that they have no
proven scientific benefits. They also point out that the procedure could risk
spreading bloodborne diseases and could even overload
the circulatory system, causing swelling and
breathing difficulties. So, even if you are insanely rich, probably best to give this
blood curling procedure a miss. Go buy a golden toilet
or something instead. What's the most expensive,
useless thing you've ever bought? Let me know in the comments
below. Thanks for watching. (upbeat music)
