The heritage and luxuries of King Mohamed VI of Morocco: from his apartment in Paris to yachts and private planes

The "absent king", as some call him, due to his long trips abroad, has an apartment of more than 1000 m² in Paris. Located in the 16th arrondissement, overlooking the Eiffel Tower and valued at €80 million, it is just part of the Moroccan monarch's immense estate. Mohamed VI ascended the throne in July 1999 after the death of his father Hassan II; Since then he has managed to amass a net worth that amounts to $5.7 billion, according to Forbes (2015 calculation).

Your greatest asset? Al Mada, a major private investment fund majority controlled by the royal family; In fact, the Alawite dynasty is estimated to have $17.5 billion in stakes in listed Al Mad companies. And the holding company owns 46.5% of Attijariwafa Bank, one of the largest financial groups in Africa; 10% of the insurer Wafa Assurance and around 81.6% of Managem, a mining company valued on the stock market at around 20 billion euros, according to the magazine 'Billionairs Africa'.

Mohamed VI also has his own holding company called Siger. El País revealed in 2021 that it is 100% owned by the king and brings together around 70 subsidiaries related to real estate development, agriculture and tourism, including ultra-luxury hotels such as the Royal Mansour chain, but its value is unknown, since it is not listed on the stock market.

The properties of Mohamed VI

The monarchy is the creditor of a large number of palaces and buildings. A public report lists 12 royal residences, including those in Rabat, Fez, Marrakech, Meknes, Casablanca, Agadir, Ifran, Tetouan and Tangier, under State ownership. 'Le Monde' clarifies that much information about the royal heritage is difficult to confirm because the palace does not respond to journalists' requests, but in France there are at least three documented private properties.

The most excessive case in the French country is probably the Betz castle, in the Oise region. This was acquired by Hassan II in 1972 and occupies, according to the French press, 70 hectares (98 football fields) distributed in the castle, a large wooded park, gardens, orchards and other buildings. Mohamed VI has decided to put the property up for sale in February of this year. But even so, the Moroccan monarch would remain owner of the Hôtel de Broglie, a private palace located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, the 1,000 m² apartment near the Eiffel Tower and, it is speculated, other properties of lower value in the French capital.

As for the monarch's properties within his own country, Moroccan sources tell of private residences and estates in Salé, Casablanca (Anfa and Tamaris), Al Hoceima, M'diq, Fez, Midelt, Nador, Oujda and Safi. However, 'Billionaires Africa' confirms precisely that Siger is a private vehicle through which the royal family controls part of its investments and makes it difficult to distinguish between personal, family and business assets. Finally, it is also known from an ancient palace owned by Mohamed VI in the paradisiacal Zanzibar.

Private jets, cars, yachts and other luxuries

El Español highlights several aircraft as part of Mohamed VI's estate, including a Boeing 747, a Boeing 737 and two Gulfstreams, the G550 and G650 models, with prices that can exceed $350 million, individually. Of course, the aeronautical information available on Planespotter.net identifies the Boeing 747-8 (CN-MBH) as belonging to Mohamed VI, while others are part of the Moroccan State's VIP transport fleet and are available to the royal family.

The Moroccan media 'TelQuel' indicates that the "absent king" has in his possession one of the ten largest and most expensive yachts in the world. It is a Badis 1 sailing yacht, a supersailboat 70 meters long and 13.2 meters wide, built by the Italian shipyard Perini Navi and delivered in 2016 under the name Sybaris. It has capacity for 12 passengers, distributed in six cabins, in addition to a crew of about 11-12 people. The same medium reported in 2019 that the databases of the International Maritime Organization and Equasis corroborated the change of name and flag.