[imagesource: Reuters]

It is high time that we meet the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, and his glorious possessions.

The Southeast Asian country’s leader and prime minister is known as “the godfather of excess”, which might just be putting it lightly.

The Sultan really dwarfs all those sanctioned Russian oligarchs with his riches, which are all gold-plated and diamond-crusted.

A squiz at his Instagram shows off his profoundly lavish lifestyle, with pictures of golden toilets, plush private jets, a hint at his maddening car collection, and his record-breaking palace.

He has been at the top of the ranking for the world’s richest people before, but since Elon Musk’s rise to prominence, he is merely one of the world’s richest.

His current net worth is said to be somewhere around $28 billion, reported South China Morning Post.

With that dosh, he is more than happy to spend massively on even the most basic of necessities.

That would be $20 000 per haircut (around R300 000), which entails flying his barber in from the Dorchester Hotel in London’s Mayfair and paying in cash.

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Then there are the excesses.

His 7 000-strong car collection – including 600 Rolls-Royces, 450 Ferraris, and 380 Bentleys – is worth around $5 billion alone:

With a car collection so impressive, it was once rumoured that the Sultan and his family were the reason half of all the Rolls-Royces were bought out globally in the 1990s.

No need to squint to find the most OTT car, his custom-made luxury Rolls-Royce, gold-coated from the tyres to the grills, along with an open top and a platform for an umbrella:

Naturally, there are also private jets.

And yes, they are decked out in gold:

 

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One report claims he owns his own Boeing 747-400, Boeing 767-200, and Airbus A340-200 jets:

The Boeing 747-400 is gold-plated and so luxurious that it has been nicknamed the “flying palace”.

According to British media, the plane cost US$400 million. He apparently also gifted his daughter an Airbus A340 for her birthday.

All aboard the flying palace:

A Look Inside Sultan of Brunei’s Private Jet – Nicknamed the “Flying Palace” https://t.co/NLI208I9MA

— Aviation Humor (@AviationHumor) February 22, 2022

Then there’s his not so humble home: the 200 000-square-metre Istana Nurul Iman Palace, which currently holds the title of the world’s largest residential palace in the Guinness Book of World Records:

 

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Apparently, it cost a total of $1,4 billion to build in 1984, a ludicrous amount that ensured the palace had 1 700 rooms, 257 bathrooms, and five swimming pools.

Don’t forget the 110 garages to hold his massive car collection

Even though the Sultan has a degree from the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst – the same one Princes William and Harry attended – he couldn’t be more different from the British Royals.

Not only in terms of his extravagant spending, but also his terribly homophobic and draconian laws, like death by stoning for adultery or homosexuality, or amputation of limbs for theft.

We see you hiding behind all your shiny things, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

[source:scmp]