Outgoing Mineral Resources boss Chris Ellison puts luxury yacht Anya up for sale

Chris Ellison is selling his prized yacht that originally cost $30 million and was scandalously crewed by employees of Mineral Resources. The 35-metre M.Y. Anya, currently docked at Fremantle Harbour, is being shopped around by the Claremont office of One Brokerage. The luxury catamaran accommodates up to 11 guests “across 5 luxurious staterooms attended by a dedicated 8-person crew”, according to a marketing brochure obtained by The West Australian. A helipad, jacuzzi and two VIP suites are among the yacht’s most opulent features. It came to light in November that Mr Ellison, a keen fisherman and the boss of MinRes, had “directed” the company’s employees to work on the yacht. This became part of a broader series of revelations that Mr Ellison had misused company resources for his own benefit. Anya was built in 2009 by Evolution Yachts and originally purchased by Mr Ellison’s friend — billionaire Multiplex heir Tim Roberts. Mr Roberts sold the issue-plagued vessel to Mr Ellison for an undisclosed sum. Mr Roberts in 2015 sensationally sued Anya’s naval architect Windsurf Holdings. He claimed a series of faults made the yacht “unsuitable” for commercial or private use over long ranges, including the way it shuddered when hitting waves. Anya has hosted a slew of visiting celebrities including former Hollywood power couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, UK rocker Billy Idol and Australian model and socialite Lara Bingle. One Brokerage declined to reveal what price they expect Anya to fetch. Anya being put up for sale comes as Mr Ellison, who has a mortgage on the riverside Mosman Park mansion he bought for $57.5m in 2009, watches his MinRes salary and paper wealth dwindle. In November, just as three industrial properties Mr Ellison controlled were put on the market, the Kiwi native and his wife Tia sold a house that forms part of their Mosman Park compound for $5.4m after shelling out $5m for it 10 years prior. The three industrial properties in Perth’s southern suburbs were recently sold for a combined $35.2m, netting Mr Ellison up to $22.4m. All of the sites are either currently or formerly leased by MinRes. They were put on the market from October after MinRes was raked over the coals for its business arrangements with Mr Ellison amid a broader probe into his conduct. “Given the feedback from investors around minimising potential conflicts of interest, Chris is offering the properties for sale on market,” the company stated in November. Mr Ellison two weeks ago paid a $3.8m penalty to MinRes for his well-publicised indiscretions, which included running an offshore tax evasion scheme and misusing company resources. In November he also agreed to fork out $5m to an unnamed charity and forfeit all his short and long-term performance incentives that were worth up to $6.5m. Nearly three quarters of Mr Ellison’s $6m salary for the 2024 financial year was tied to performance bonuses. The value of his 11.5 per cent stake in MinRes that was worth $1.5 billion a year ago is now valued at approximately $560m. Millions of dollars in dividends he was receiving each year from that shareholding has also now dried up as the debt-laden MinRes battles weak lithium and iron ore prices. Mr Ellison is set to depart as boss of MinRes, the company he founded, by the middle of next year in the wake of his various indiscretions. MinRes declined to comment.