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Superyacht seized by U.S. from Russian billionaire arrives in San Diego Bay

June 27, 2022 / 3:40 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A $325 million superyacht seized by the United States from a sanctioned Russian oligarch arrived in San Diego Bay on Monday.

The 348-foot-long (106-meter-long) Amadea flew an American flag as it sailed past the retired aircraft carrier USS Midway and under the Coronado Bridge.

"After a transpacific journey of over 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers), the Amadea has safely docked in a port within the United States, and will remain in the custody of the U.S. government, pending its anticipated forfeiture and sale," the Department of Justice said in a statement.

The FBI linked the Amadea to the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, and the vessel became a target of Task Force KleptoCapture, launched in March to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine. The U.S. said Kerimov secretly bought the vessel last year through various shell companies.

But Justice Department  officials had been stymied  by a legal effort to contest the American seizure warrant and by a yacht crew that refused to sail for the U.S. American officials won a legal battle in Fiji to take the Cayman Islands-flagged superyacht earlier this month. 

The Amadea made a stop in Honolulu Harbor en route to the U.S. mainland. The Amadea boasts  luxury features  such as a helipad, mosaic-tiled pool, lobster tank and a pizza oven, nestled in a décor of "delicate marble and stones" and "precious woods and delicate silk fabrics," according to court documents.

"The successful seizure and transport of Amadea would not have been possible without extraordinary cooperation from our foreign partners in the global effort to enforce U.S. sanctions imposed in response to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine," the Justice Department said.

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Federal government moves to confiscate mega yacht seized from alleged Russian oligarch

NATIONAL CITY, Calif. (KGTV) — After letting a mega yacht seized from an alleged Russian oligarch sit in San Diego bay for nearly 18 months, the federal government is now beginning the process of trying to officially confiscate it.

The Amadea was seized in Fiji and arrived in San Diego in June of 2022. According to court documents obtained by ABC 10News, federal prosecutors allege that the yacht is owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a Russian billionaire who was sanctioned following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Kerimov had the ship custom-built at a reported cost of $300 million dollars. It's considered one of the most lavish mega yachts in the world. "Even in our jaded industry, the yacht behind me is a superstar," said yacht expert Todd Roberts, President of Marine Group Boat Works, a ship yard in Chula Vista that works on mega yachts, though not contracted to work on the Amadea.

While the government may hope to win the case to confiscate the yacht and sell it, that may be a tricky proposition. “Nobody really wants international law to be designed in a way where countries can just sort of seize other country’s assets and actually confiscate them," explained University of San Diego law professor Craig Barkacs.

He says it is not legally clear that the United States has the right to confiscate the ship, even after seizing it. There are a number of United States and international laws that could be at play. He points out that the seizure of the ship for violating sanctions is more of a political decision than a legal one.

Even the ownership of Amadea by Kerimov is being challenged, with a counter lawsuit filed on behalf of another man who claims to be owner of the yacht. Barkacs says the court battle could last a long time. “The answer to your question is, I don’t want to sound too cynical here, but 'in perpetuity' comes to mind.”

Meanwhile, the government is stuck with the ship. Roberts says it must be maintained because letting it rot would lead to leaks and environmental damage to the bay. He estimates the cost of paying for fuel to power the generators, plus maintenance, and the salaries of the 20-30 person crew living full-time on the yacht to be between $4-6 million annually.

If it wins in court, the government could sell Amadea to recoup its money. But for now, it will remain parked in its spot next to Pepper Park.

“If the boat’s going to sit anywhere, it’s great that it’s here in San Diego," Roberts said.

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Inside the capture of a Russian oligarch's superyacht

• Published 11 November 2022

The radio fizzed with static as one of the world's most expensive superyachts sailed through the mist into San Diego Bay.

"Sécurité, sécurité, sécurité… this is the inbound yacht the Amadea."

At the stern, an American flag fluttered above the boat's lavish, mosaic-lined swimming pool.

The $325m (£307m) vessel had spent most of its life touring picturesque ports in the Mediterranean. Now, under the control of US authorities, it was destined for a drab concrete wharf in an industrial harbour.

It is the most ostentatious trophy claimed by a taskforce that - in the words of US President Joe Biden - was set up to pursue Russian oligarchs' "ill-begotten gains".

The BBC has been granted exclusive access behind the scenes of a superyacht seizure.

As missiles rained down on Ukraine in the early days of the war, US prosecutor Andrew Adams was sitting in his New York office with a list of Kremlin-connected billionaires and their luxury assets.

But it looked like time was running out. On a digital map of maritime traffic, he could see superyachts linked to oligarchs making a scramble for safety - sailing towards countries where, he suspected, they believed their assets would be safe from sanctions.

Among the opulent floating targets, one "mega yacht" stood out, Mr Adams said.

The Amadea is roughly the length of a football pitch, with a helipad at one end and a 10-metre infinity pool at the other. Inside, there is a gym, beauty salon, cinema and wine cellar. There are luxury cabins for 16 guests, and accommodation for 36 crew to service their every need.

From a distance, it appears like the tip of an iceberg. Sleek, clean lines and a gleaming white facade seem to project an image of pristine purity. Simply keeping the Amadea shipshape comes at vast expense, with annual running costs estimated at £25m or more. But the ownership of the yacht, and the source of the wealth locked away in its marble floors and teak decking, remains disputed.

US investigators say billionaire Russian politician Suleiman Kerimov is the true owner. Mr Kerimov, a senator in the Russian parliament, rejects the claim.

The 56-year-old is one of the richest men in Russia, according to Forbes, which estimates that he and his family are worth $12.4bn. He made his fortune after the fall of the Soviet Union, buying up large stakes in Russian companies, including the country's biggest gas and gold producers.

The US sanctioned Mr Kerimov in 2018. The UK followed suit in March, as did the EU, which said he had supported or implemented policies which undermine the independence, stability and security of Ukraine.

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The list of Russian elites banned from spending their fortunes in Western countries had been growing since 2014, as governments tried to isolate President Putin after the annexation of Crimea. When tanks rolled into Ukraine in February, oligarchs faced renewed scrutiny.

"We're joining with European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets," President Biden announced on 1 March.

Mr Adams - a lean, blue-eyed prosecutor with the US Department of Justice - was placed at the head of a new taskforce, named KleptoCapture, dedicated to enforcing US sanctions.

He planned to use his experience tackling organised crime to honour the president's pledge.

With tactics developed in the fight against the mafia, the taskforce - which includes agents and analysts from the likes of the FBI and the US Secret Service - aims to identify high-ranking targets, find evidence of any law breaking and then "seize assets as quickly and as aggressively as we can," he said.

But two weeks after the invasion began, Mr Adams could see the Amadea "scrambling out of waters where we would normally be able to seize it".

"It became critical when it turned off its location monitor, its transponder," he said. "Essentially, the boat tried to go dark."

On 12 March, the Amadea left Antigua in the Caribbean and five days later travelled through the Panama Canal, stopping briefly in Mexico before striking out into the Pacific Ocean on 25 March.

After more than a fortnight at sea, it arrived in Fiji. The yacht was scheduled to leave for the Philippines within 48 hours, but the US believed its true destination was Vladivostok, a Russian port near the border with China and North Korea.

As it sailed through the Pacific, investigators in the US were searching for any sanction violations that could be used as a "hook" to seize the Amadea, Mr Adams said. Their goal was to prove that Mr Kerimov owned the boat, and that US dollars had been used to purchase, supply or maintain it.

Tracking down a superyacht's true owner requires more than a google search, Mr Adams said. "It can be extremely difficult to unravel who owns these vessels." Ownership is often hidden behind shell companies and trusts, registered in countries where information is "tightly controlled and not something that the US can always easily access," he said.

But Russia's war had led to a "boom of information" provided by co-operative foreign countries, including those which "historically have been viewed as opaque" - places where company ownership is hard to investigate, Mr Adams said.

It required a massive investigation in a short time, with members of the taskforce interviewing sources with knowledge of the boat's finances, and scouring bank statements and corporate records, he said.

"We were able to get that information in part because there was an enormous upswell of support for Ukraine and support for this effort."

According to US court documents, investigators unearthed evidence, which, they say, proves Mr Kerimov has owned the boat since August 2021 - three years after he was first sanctioned by the US Treasury.

"What we found was that one, Mr Kerimov owns the boat, and two, that he had substantial numbers of US dollars that flowed into the boat over the years in violation of US sanctions."

As it docked in Fiji, local authorities searched the Amadea and found records of financial transactions stretching back four months. Hours later, armed with this new information, FBI agents applied to a US judge for a warrant to seize the boat. The FBI listed their reasons for believing Mr Kerimov was the yacht's "true beneficial owner," although many of the details have been redacted in a copy published by the US government .

Mr Kerimov's representatives told the BBC that his alleged ownership of the Amadea is "denied and unproven".

A week after the boat arrived in the Pacific island, a local lawyer intervened on behalf of a company that is formally registered as the superyacht's owner. It led to a seven-week legal wrangle, as appeals against the warrant worked their way up to Fiji's supreme court.

The lawyer argued there was no evidence the yacht represented the proceeds of crime, and claimed it actually belonged to a different billionaire Russian oligarch.

Eduard Khuadainatov is the former CEO of state-owned oil giant Rosneft. He was sanctioned in June by the EU, which said he now owned one of the biggest private oil companies in Russia. He is not sanctioned in the US.

The lawyer told the Fijian court there was "undisputed evidence" that Mr Khuadainatov owned the Amadea. He is also the named owner of a $700m yacht linked to Putin, which has been frozen by Italian authorities. But the US claims he is a "straw man" - intended to conceal the identity of the true owners.

"To own several half-billion dollar yachts as a mid-tier industrialist is totally implausible," Mr Adams said.

Mr Khudainatov has not responded to requests for comment.

FBI agents flew in while the Amadea was moored in Fiji's turquoise waters in early May. Under a blazing sun, a line of men in dark suits boarded the boat as crew members wearing white polo shirts waited on deck.

Agents discovered it "looked like a luxury yacht that was on a high-speed chase across the Pacific", Mr Adams said. It had "been battened down pretty heavily", he added.

Inside, they found ornate furnishings, including chandeliers, gilded fittings and expensive artworks.

The taskforce is still calculating the total value of the luxuries, and the authenticity of the most prominent pieces are under investigation. Among them, one striking item stood out - a lavish object resembling a rare Fabergé egg. Only a few dozen were made for the Russian Imperial family, and they have come to symbolise opulence and power.

"Maybe it's a real Fabergé egg, maybe it's not a real Fabergé egg," Mr Adams said. "Time will tell."

After nearly two months tied-up beside shipping containers, the Fijian supreme court cleared the way for the US to seize the boat. It had become an international spectacle.

After the ruling in June, the island's chief of police posed for photographs on deck with US embassy officials as the Stars and Stripes fluttered overhead. The boat, which had flown the colours of the Cayman Islands, would now sail under the American flag.

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But before it could depart for the US, Mr Adams decided to replace the crew. "We needed a crew that we could rely on," he said.

After a three-week voyage, the Amadea reached the US mainland, sailing into San Diego Bay on 27 June.

It was a proud moment for the taskforce, but it was "just the beginning of a process here in the United States," Mr Adams said. "It's not the end."

For the US, the ultimate goal is to sell the boat, he said. "It's to provide funds for Ukraine."

But first, they must persuade a court that Mr Kerimov is the true owner of the boat, and that sanctions were violated to pay for it.

To prepare, investigators are analysing "terabytes of data", including bank records and masses of electronic communications, while Russian language linguists are investigating financial documents.

It is not the only superyacht caught in the taskforce's net. Days before the Amadea arrived in Fiji, FBI agents with the Spanish police seized the $90m Tango, which is owned by sanctioned billionaire Viktor Vekselberg. It remains moored in Mallorca, but Mr Adams hopes this too, can be sold to help rebuild Ukraine.

In Europe, security experts have been closely following the saga of the Tango and the Amadea. They reveal a key difference between law enforcement approaches on either side of the Atlantic.

Several oligarch-linked superyachts are being held in the EU, and one in the UK, but the boats have been frozen, rather than seized.

"In principle, if you only freeze an asset it will return to the owner at some point; if it's seized, they lose it forever," said Tom Keatinge, the director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute.

While the US has long-standing laws to tackle sanctions evasion and seize assets, he says authorities in London and Brussels are "struggling to design legal mechanisms" that will allow them to seize assets that have initially been frozen.

Since the invasion, the UK has sanctioned at least 1,200 people, including more than 120 oligarchs with an estimated combined net worth of over £130bn. But, where action has been taken, it has focused on freezing assets.

In March, former transport secretary Grant Shapps filmed a selfie-style video alongside a £38m yacht named Phi on the day it was detained by the National Crime Agency in London's Canary Wharf.

He said the move had "turned an icon of Russia's power and wealth into a clear and stark warning to Putin and his cronies".

But with the detention of the Phi, the UK was relying on a law with a broader scope than those used by its international allies.

The boat's owner, Sergei Naumenko, is not on any sanction list. And yet, under UK law, vessels can be detained simply for being owned or operated by somebody connected with Russia.

Guy Booth, the yacht's captain, said Mr Naumenko was "absolutely not an oligarch and he's not, as described, a close personal friend of Vladimir Putin".

"If this were an oligarch's boat, it would be four times the size," he added.

Mr Booth says the operation seemed "staged" for publicity, adding that Mr Shapps appeared to be "posing like a big game hunter who'd just shot a lion".

The Department for Transport said it stands firmly by its decision to detain the Phi, adding that the UK would "continue to act within its available powers to ratchet up the economic pressure on Russia and make life harder for Russian elites".

Mr Booth remains positive that "one day eventually we will sail off down the Thames".

As Western governments grapple with confiscating frozen assets, Mr Adams expects more countries to follow their "aggressive" approach to seizures.

"We want to make it as difficult as possible to exist as a person who can draw on the benefits of corruption in Russia and at the same time exist in fabulous luxury in the West," he said.

In the year before the invasion, the Amadea spent most of its time in Europe. It dropped anchor off the likes of Monaco, Marseilles and Montenegro, according to analysis for the BBC by Spire Global, a data and analytics provider.

Today, it is moored at the edge of a busy cargo terminal used by vast, rust-stained car carrier ships. A public park runs close to its berth, and locals have taken to sharing pictures of their glamorous new neighbour on social media.

"They should open it to the area's homeless," one person commented.

Another wrote: "I hope they sell it to help Ukrainian refugees."

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Local News and Opinion for San Diego

U.S. Seeks Forfeiture of Russian Oligarch’s Superyacht ‘Amadea’ Docked in San Diego

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The Justice Department on Monday sought the forfeiture of a $300 million superyacht docked in San Diego that is believed to be controlled by billionaire Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov , who is under U.S. sanctions.

Authorities in Fiji seized the 348-foot Amadea pursuant to a U.S. warrant in May 2022 as Washington ramped up sanctions enforcement against people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, to pressure Moscow to halt its war against Ukraine.

Monday’s complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, kicks off a potentially long judicial process in which the United States would seek ownership of the yacht, and then likely auction it and transfer proceeds to Ukraine.

Kerimov and his family are worth $10.7 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

He amassed much of his wealth through a stake in Russian gold producer Polyus. Kerimov was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia’s activities in Syria and Ukraine. Those sanctions barred Kerimov from accessing the U.S. financial system.

Polyus was sanctioned in May 2023. The company said the sanctions were unfounded.

In Monday’s complaint, the U.S. Department of Justice said Kerimov bought the Amadea in 2021, and then violated U.S. sanctions by making more than $1 million in maintenance payments through U.S. financial institutions.

The yacht’s owners will have the chance to contest that claim in court.

Kerimov could not immediately be reached for comment.

Lawyers for the Amadea’s owner, Millemarin Investments, told a Fiji court last year that the Amadea was owned not by Kerimov but by former Rosneft chief Eduard Khudainatov, a Russian oligarch who has not been sanctioned.

Khudainatov is not named in Monday’s complaint.

U.S. prosecutors said a Sept. 14, 2021, transaction transferring ownership of the Amadea from Millemarin to a newly incorporated company, Errigan Marine, was designed to make it appear that Evgeny Kochman, the president of sanctioned yacht broker Imperial Yachts, owned the yacht.

Prosecutors said Kochman was, in fact, only a “straw owner.”

Khudainatov sued the United States on Monday in federal court in San Diego to release the yacht, according to a copy of the complaint provided by his lawyer, Adam Ford. Reuters could not immediately locate the legal papers online.

“The Amadea was seized upon false premises driven by political motivation,” Ford said in a statement.

A seized $300 million superyacht linked to a sanctioned Russian gold tycoon arrived in San Diego Bay flying the US flag

• A $300 million superyacht linked to Russian tycoon Suleiman Kerimov arrived in San Diego Monday.
• The Amadea had sailed from Fiji, which seized the yacht at the behest of the US.
• The DOJ said the yacht will remain in the custody of the US government pending forfeiture and sale.

A seized $300 million superyacht linked to a sanctioned Russian gold tycoon arrived in San Diego Bay on Monday flying the US flag.

The 348-foot Amadea, which the US says is owned by Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, had sailed from Honolulu, where it was moored after arriving from Fiji.

Fiji's top court earlier ruled the US could seize the yacht.

The US Department of Justice said in a tweet Monday that the Amadea will remain in the custody of the US government "pending its anticipated forfeiture and sale."

The seizure of the Amadea was coordinated through the DOJ's Task Force KleptoCapture, launched in March to enforce sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures designed to isolate Russia from global markets and disrupt its war in Ukraine.

The Amadea features a gym, beauty salon, bar, glass elevator, infinity pool , and helipad. Its annual running costs are in the $25 million to $30 million range, the DOJ has estimated.

Kerimov has been sanctioned by the US, the European Union, and the UK. The EU said in March that Kerimov is "a member of the inner circle of oligarchs" close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kerimov has a net worth of $13.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

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Impounded in San Diego, sanctioned Russian billionaire’s $325 million Amadea yacht has accumulated $120,000 in docking charges alone. That is just the tip of the iceberg, as a megayacht requires a lot of care, and the upkeep cost alone will run north of $10m a year.

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This week witnessed a rare occurrence as the luxurious yacht owned by billionaire Dennis Washington graced the San Diego harbor. This magnificent vessel, known as the Atessa V, comes with a staggering price tag of $200 million. Interestingly, it was previously owned by the wealthy Russian, Mikhail Prokhorov.

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US says it wants forfeiture of billionaire Russian oligarch's $300 mln superyacht

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Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis

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A billionaire-backed campaign for a new California city is off to a bumpy start. Again

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After two false starts, the billionaires behind a plan to build an eco-friendly city from scratch are behind schedule to put their proposal before California voters this November.

Former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek unveiled his closely guarded ballot initiative for the proposed community between San Francisco and Sacramento in January, a plan that envisions 20,000 homes, transit infrastructure, schools, jobs and green space for an initial 50,000 residents. He has since amended it twice to address concerns raised by Solano County and a neighboring U.S. Air Force base.

The county counsel’s office issued a ballot title and summary for the initiative Thursday, allowing signature gatherers to hit the streets in search of the 13,000 they need — and preferably thousands more as a cushion. The delays mean the campaign has just two months, not three, to collect signatures if they want to give elections officials the maximum time to verify them.

“You get into this math game of time and availability of people to sign your petition,” said Jim Ross, a veteran Democratic political consultant based in Oakland. “Losing a month is a big deal.”

But Brian Brokaw, a spokesperson for the campaign, said he is confident about making the Nov. 5 ballot.

“We’ve been walking a line of making sure we get this right and also realizing that the clock is ticking,” he said. “At the same time, we believe that the amendments that we made to the measure will significantly help increase our chances of success in November, and it was definitely worth the additional time that it cost us to get it right.”

Sramek needs Solano County voters to allow urban development on rural land his company has stealthily purchased since 2018 for at least $800 million to build what he’s pitched as a walkable community for up to 400,000 residents with a cute downtown, good-paying jobs and affordable homes. The state desperately needs more housing, especially affordable units.

Sramek has not said how much he’s prepared to spend on the effort. His California Forever company can count on the deep pockets of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, including philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

But lots of money doesn’t always translate to ballot success — in 2022, California voters rejected two efforts to expand gambling despite at least $460 million spent by supporters.

Critics say the delays are on par for an unorthodox campaign that operated in secrecy for years, eschewed local input and now wants to break ground on agricultural land voters chose to protect from urbanization back in 1984.

“What we see from that is a bit of oversight in their process of actually engaging folks,” said Sadie Wilson, planning and research director at Greenbelt Alliance. The environmental advocacy group is part of Solano Together, a coalition that includes farming and open space interests and environmental groups.

Opponents of the plan say it makes flashy promises but is shockingly light on details.

The sustainable way to build more housing is within existing city limits, Wilson said, rather than plunking an enormous development on 27 square miles (70 square kilometers) of land in a county of 450,000 people with sensitive ecosystems and an already strained water supply.

Locals had wondered for years who had snapped up parcels containing cattle and wind farms. They were stunned to learn last summer that Sramek and his Silicon Valley investors wanted it for a new development — not yet named — that could become a city or remain part of the county.

Sramek then went on something of an apology tour, including meeting with two irate congressmen who had sought for years to find out whether foreign adversaries or investors were behind the land purchases between Travis Air Force Base and the Sacramento River Delta city of Rio Vista. Reps. John Garamendi and Mike Thompson still oppose the project.

In January, Sramek held a news conference to outline the ballot initiative, filed it with the county elections office and then withdrew it — all on the same day — after county officials requested language clarifying the process.

California Forever could have avoided this had the campaign shared its proposal with local officials ahead of time, said Ross, the consultant. “It’s very much an outsider approach,” he said.

Bernadette Curry, counsel for Solano County, said officials asked for technical changes to clarify that the county had discretion to approve a development agreement with the company before it can build. Previously the initiative contained language requiring approval by the county supervisors.

The initiative specifies that the development agreement will include the 10 guarantees made by California Forever, such as $400 million to help county residents and Travis Air Force Base families buy homes in the community and $200 million for the county’s existing downtowns. An environmental impact review would also be required.

The campaign withdrew its initiative again after base officials raised concerns including its ability to conduct flight operations. The revised initiative establishes a larger buffer area between the development and the base.

There is no firm deadline for submitting signatures, said John Gardner, the county’s assistant registrar of voters. But the Solano County Board of Supervisors has only until Aug. 8 to approve its inclusion on the ballot, and elections officials have between 30 and 90 days to verify signatures.

That 90-day window means the campaign would need to submit its paperwork by early May.

Wilson, of Solano Together, said the approach taken by California Forever raises national questions about how decisions are made about development, farmland and climate resilience — and who gets to circumvent the rules.

“This really deserves greater attention because of the wave this brings,” she said, “and the precedent that it could set for other places around the country.”

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Zuckerberg, Rihanna and Bill Gates were among guests at lavish bash for son of Asia's richest man

By arjun kharpal,cnbc • published march 4, 2024 • updated on march 4, 2024 at 10:39 am.

• Tech executives including Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates attended a lavish three-day pre-wedding celebration for the son of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

The bash was held to celebrate the upcoming marriage of Anant Ambani, the youngest of Mukesh Ambani's sons, to Radhika Merchant, scheduled for later this year.

• Mukesh Ambani is the chairman of Reliance Industries, a conglomerate that spans everything from oil and gas to telecommunications.

Tech executives including Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates attended a lavish three-day pre-wedding celebration for the son of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Asia's richest man, over the weekend.

Mukesh Ambani is the world's ninth-richest person with a net worth of $117.8 billion, according to Forbes. He is the chairman of Reliance Industries , a conglomerate that spans everything from oil and gas to telecommunications.

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The three-day pre-wedding party kicked off Friday with a performance from U.S. megastar Rihanna . Meta CEO Zuckerberg and Microsoft co-founder Gates also attended.

Zuckerberg's attendance makes sense. In 2020, Facebook invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms Limited , a company owned by Reliance Industries. In 2022, Meta released a feature to allow users to browse and buy products on JioMart, a grocery app, inside of WhatsApp.

Meanwhile, Microsoft and some of Reliance Industries' other businesses have collaborations.

The celebration, which took place in Jamnagar city in the Indian state of Gujarat, was a star-studded event with Bollywood royalty such as Shah Rukh Khan also in attendance.

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Ivanka Trump, the daughter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, also reportedly attended the party.

Reuters, citing a planning document it had seen, said guests were treated to 500 dishes created by about 100 chefs.

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