Malcolm S. Forbes, the legendary publisher of Forbes magazine, lived large. His was a life filled with gold helicopters, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, a fleet of hot-air balloons, and glittering parties populated by hundreds of high-powered guests. But no plaything he owned was more beloved than his yacht The Highlander, the fifth and final edition of a series of identically named vessels.
Here heads of state gathered alongside corporate titans and international boldface types, sipping French wines while bandleader Lester Lanin and his orchestra played snappy standards on the aft deck. The multimillion-dollar boat and its glamorous swirl of posh food and rare vintages was all about networking and cultivating influence, Forbes once said: “On a yacht like The Highlander you can establish the kind of rapport you don’t achieve talking across a desk.”
Jon Bannenberg, a world-renowned London-based boat designer, was responsible for the sleek vessel, which was topped with a helipad for Forbes’s goldpainted Bell Jet Ranger helicopter. New owners Joanne and Roberto de Guardiola have extensively renovated the boat, dropping the “the” from its name as well as lengthening Highlander to turn what was a largely business-related craft designed to host as many as 140 guests into a family-friendly vessel.
Take a look at Forbes' life on The Highlander. This is the yacht:
Here, Forbes poses with one of the Harley-Davidson motorcycles he kept on board:
This is the bell on The Highlander’s foredeck. The windowed observation salon behind it is now the De Guardiolas’ master cabin:
Here's a view of Forbes’s observation salon. Boat designer Jon Bannenberg, who also decorated the interiors, turned octagonal lacquered chests into cocktail tables by adding glass tops. Padded-leather ceilings were used throughout as soundproofing:
Scale models of Forbes’s Highlander yachts (arranged in chronological order from top) are displayed in a mirrored cabinet in the fantail salon. To the right is a painting by Charles Raskob Robinson:
Maritime dioramas by Arthur Clark are shown in individual cases in the fantail salon. The banquettes were made by Donghia:
Malcolm S. Forbes and Elizabeth Taylor were close friends. The pair met in the mid ‘80s, and as their friendship grew, the publisher, an avid biker, taught her how to ride a motorcycle. Here they are on board The Highlander in 1988:
Eventually Forbes would give her a purple-painted Harley-Davidson Sportster (purple was one of her favorite colors and referenced her famous “violet” eyes) as well as several pieces of jewelry and an antique Fabergé picture frame. The two also traveled the world aboard The Highlander, sometimes heading up the Hudson River to see football games at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. On one trip to Thailand, the actress brought 37 pieces of Louis Vuitton luggage.
See more of the Highlander at ArchDigest >
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