A 281-foot superyacht called Aquila sat docked in Marina del Rey for weeks, drawing curious stares from boaters and walkers along the waterfront before anyone figured out who actually owned it. The answer, according to a report, traces back to one of the wealthiest women in America: billionaire Walmart heiress Ann Walton Kroenke.
The massive vessel arrived in the marina on Oct. 14, according to ship-tracking data from VesselFinder, which lists Aquila as a yacht built in 2010 and currently sailing under a British flag. By the time it was identified, the vessel had stayed in Marina del Rey for more than three weeks, per the same tracking record. The New York Post reports the yacht carries an estimated value of $150 million, with annual operating costs running up to $15 million, an estimate the paper attributes to SuperYachtFan. That same outlet identifies Kroenke as the owner.
A Waterfront Mystery That Had Boaters Guessing
Before the ownership question was settled, the Post's reporting describes a steady stream of speculation along the docks. A woman aboard a smaller boat was overheard asking simply, “whose yacht is that?” while Instagram users traded guesses about who could possibly afford something so large. One video caption floating around the app read, “on the ground to inspect further. we heard it's 280 feet!!,” and at least one commenter wondered aloud how long it would even take to detail a boat that size.
Another Instagram user claimed to have spotted the same yacht months earlier in Sardinia over the summer, according to the Post's account. The mix of amateur sleuthing and open curiosity is consistent with how these kinds of stories tend to unfold in Marina del Rey, where enormous, unfamiliar vessels don't stay anonymous for long even when their owners would clearly prefer otherwise.
Who Is Ann Walton Kroenke
Kroenke is described as a billionaire Walmart heiress with an estimated fortune of $14.8 billion, a figure attributed to Forbes. Her father, Bud Walton, helped his brother Sam Walton build Walmart into the retail empire it became, and Ann inherited part of her father's Walmart stake after he died in 1995. She is married to Stan Kroenke, owner of the Los Angeles Rams.
Aquila, per the report, represents a particularly lavish expression of that wealth. Separate charter listings from Luxury Charter Group show the vessel sleeps 12 guests across eight cabins. Superyachts like it burn through significant quantities of fuel, primarily marine diesel, according to The Cool Down, which cites Yacht Carbon Offset on the broader environmental footprint of these vessels.
Not The First Celebrity Boat To Hide In Plain Sight
Aquila isn't the only famous yacht to have quietly taken up residence in Marina del Rey this year. J.K. Rowling owned another superyacht that recently docked there, and sources confirmed the Harry Potter author's ownership to the Post. That vessel measured about 290 feet and arrived with its name covered, according to the report.
Separately, KTLA reported that a 292-foot superyacht owned by Rowling, which she named Samsara, cruised into the marina on Aug. 30 and was still docked there as of early September. KTLA footage showed a tarp draped over the boat's name, and the station reported an estimated annual running cost of $10 million to $15 million for a yacht that can fit 27 crew members and 14 guests. A local resident described Rowling's ownership of the vessel as “the worst-kept secret on the marina,” according to the Post's reporting, even though Rowling herself had not been publicly spotted during the visit described in that earlier report.
Between Aquila and Samsara, Marina del Rey has quietly played host to two of the more eye-catching vessels in the celebrity yachting world this year, both arriving with a layer of mystery that locals and social media users were only too happy to try to peel back.
