One of the richest men around, Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen owns one of the largest and most unique mega yachts in the world. The man’s business projects and philanthropy have made him an infamous, and quite rich, computer nerd. He is owner of the black steel hulled Octopus, a 200 million plus investment that costs an additional 20 million each year for upkeep and to pay full-time staff.

Octopus is a yacht of modern design that had once been the largest mega yacht privately owned. It comes in at a whopping 416 feet long. That ranks it somewhere around the 7th largest yacht in the world, but its specs and the amount of travel time it gets makes it noteworthy, not to mention having some of the best yacht interior designs.

The inside hosts many rooms with plush furniture and cutting edge designs that make each interior section distinct. For instance you can walk into a kitchen and simply feel as if you were home — with granite counters and white wooden cupboards it’s nothing like what you’d find in some regular houseboat. It will completely change walking out to one of the living quarters where you will find a glass transparent floor that allows you to see the marine life under the boat. The yacht interior design is in thanks to the highly sought after Seattle designer, Jonathan Quinn Barnett.

The Octopus is long on utility, looks like a miniature cruise ship and is stuffed full toys. It sports a couple of heli-pads with choppers to go along. It has its own tender, over 60-foot long itself, with seven transoms around the boat. Many of the specs are kept rather hushed, but the interior supposedly has its own professional recording studio and private cinema.

If Paul Allen’s projects didn’t keep him busy enough, competing with his fellow Billionaire rival gives him another goal to work on. The bigger ship owned by tech company, Oracle, Larry Ellison is also quite a head turner and it has been rumored the two owners like to outdo one another.

If Ellison had the intention to beat Paul Allen’s Octopus as a man’s game measuring your status, it would be only rumor, one that most are apt to believe. But Ellison’s Rising Sun is certainly big. So big, in fact, that most marinas around the world simply don’t have the capacity to allow it to dock. Allen’s crew has to steer her to commercial shipping docks and pay for premium port parking.

The Rising Sun measures in at 452 feet, but only has one heli-pad. Well the yacht interior design is something to behold though. With its interior wall made of decorative stone, the Rising Sun is a marvel created by the Succombe Design.

When it was rumored to be made larger than the Octopus, thousands of boat nerds and yacht officiandos wanted to know what she looked like. When it was unveiled it was not without critics. Power Motoryacht magazine quoted one observer as calling the ship an “upside-down wedding cake sitting on a navy ship hull.”

But those comments probably don’t faze Allen, who has been rumored to be building another granddaddy of a yacht — as long as the economy keeps his billions from shrinking to millions all systems are still a go.

good design is not only beautiful, it’s functional and exciting. dalton design (http://www.daltondesignsinc.com/yachts.htm) offers both beauty and function in yacht interior design to make a client’s dream come true. art gib is a freelance writer.