Hey Chris,

Great to hear from you, Happy New Years to you and Sally...

I saw the first KISMET when she first showed up in Lauderdale just a few years ago, a mere 223-footer... Plans were probably already being drawn for her successor at that time... A very striking yacht, no question...

The owner is Shahid Khan, the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, among other things... I've cut and pasted his biography below, quite a remarkable story of a self-made billionaire...

However, there is one thing I will never understand about these guys, who own these yachts that comprise the megayacht charter business... If you were worth $4+ billion, wouldn't you rather own a yacht on which a succession of strangers were NOT sleeping in your bed, no matter how much they are paying for the privilege? (grin)

hope you're enjoying your winter, my Kasco De-Icer has been getting a pretty good workout up here of late...

Shahid Khan is the owner of automobile parts manufacturer Flex-N-Gate Corporation. Shahid Khan also owns the Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL) and the English Premier League team Fulham FC. Khan was born in Pakistan and moved to the US when he was 16. His first job was washing dishes for $ 1.20 per hour. At the age of 28 he started Bumper Works, making car bumpers for pickup trucks. When the company grew he bought his former employer Flex-N-Gate and merged the companies. In 1989 Khan was the sole supplier of bumpers for the entire Toyota line in the United States. In 2011, Flex-N-Gate had 12,000 employees, 48 production plants and USD 3 billion in sales. In 2012 Shahid Khan purchased the Jacksonville Jaguars for an estimated USD 750 million. And in 2013 he acquired the London based soccer club Fulham FC for an amount of USD 200 million from Mohamed al–Fayed (owner of the yacht Sokar). Khan has 3 private jets, all registered to his company Flex-n-gate. A 2011 Learjet with registration N511FG, another 2011 Learjet with registration N411FG and a 2013 Bombardier Global 6000 with registration N612FG. Khan actually owns a majority share in the jet management company Flightstar. Shahid Khan has an estimated net worth of US$ 4.3 billion.

best regards,

Jon