Mercedes Benz

"When Karl-Johan is introduced as the new CEO on February 11, 2009, he is indeed wearing a shirt and suit from H&M, but around his neck is a real class marker: a tie from the French top brand Hermès. And he drives nice cars. In Sweden, a gray Mercedes Benz GL 420 and a black Lexus RX400H. In London, where he lives in the fashionable Knightsbridge, he drives a Lexus."

"Stokes flew to Borneo to inspect the rich man’s toy, fading in the tropical sun. He knew that Mercedes Benz had ‘a note’ on it — a mortgage for money the owner owed. ‘I go to see him [the owner],’ Stokes says. ‘The boat’s looking a bit shabby because he’s not maintaining it. I told him, “I love your boat but there’s a recession on — it’s too dear.” He says he doesn’t want to sell it any cheaper.’ Stokes dived under the boat to make sure the hull was sound. He chatted to the skeleton crew, who let slip that they were moored at Kota Kinabalu because it was a jurisdiction where the mortgage holder could not seize the boat. The two crewmen hadn’t been paid for months. As Stokes left, he gave them a contact number ‘for the people who really own the boat’ and suggested they use it. He suspected Mercedes would pay the crew their back wages if the boat was in a jurisdiction where it could be seized. Soon afterwards, Mercedes called him to check if he’d be interested in buying the boat. He told them if it appeared in a legal jurisdiction he would ‘pay out the mortgage plus costs plus the crew’s wages’. A month later the boat arrived in Bali; the crew had fled Borneo on the promise of getting their wages. When Stokes got the news, he said: ‘Fill it full of fuel and send it to Fremantle and I’ll buy it.’ He says it cost less than $5 million, plus what he’s spent since to bring it to mint condition. He estimates it had cost more than $10 million to build — and building a replacement would be more than $20 million."