Veni, Vidi, Vici, Vincent Tchenguiz’s yacht, is moored at berth 12 Jetée Albert Edouard in Cannes, awaiting the arrival of its playboy owner.
The 130-foot Mangusta has the plush pile carpets, dark wood veneers and seemingly endless cabins one would expect in a boat belonging to a member of the international jet-set.
The yacht’s khaki-clad crew has been primed for Vincent Tchenguiz’s legendary party at the Mipim property conference in the South of France - an event that usually draws a host of politicians and glamorous women as well as property investors.
But after this morning’s dramatic events in London, the new sport among attendees is betting whether the 55-year old property tycoon will show for tomorrow’s soirée.
Older brother to Robert Tchenguiz and sister Lisa, the family grew up in Iran but emigrated to the UK when the Shah was deposed.
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Like his younger sibling, Vincent Tchenguiz assembled £1 billion-plus property portfolio during in the noughties.
Between them, the Tchenguiz brothers borrowed more than £1.6 billion from Icelandic bank Kaupthing, which they used to fund investments in almost every kind of business.
However, when the credit crunch hit and wiped billions off the brothers’ fortunes, Vincent Tchenguiz turned to more off-piste investments in green energy and technology, buying a stake Eviglio, an Irsaeli defence technology company that is developing a homeland security business.
In a sign his finances never recovered from the property collapse, Vincent recently struck a deal allowing Kevin Maxwell, the son of disgraced media mogul Robert, to share his Park Lane office in return for helping out with the overheads.
Less flamboyant than his brother, Vincent Tchenguiz nevertheless has a reputation as a “man about town” - he has steadfastly refused to marry, saying he does not have time for a wife.
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But Vincent Tchenguiz is a creature of habit, taking a walk every day between 7.00am and 7.30am around Hyde Park which is close to his Mayfair home.
At the other end of the day, he is a regular in the celebrity haunts of his neighbourhood, such as the upmarket nightclub Annabel’s.
The millionaire has a home on the Cote D’Azur in France and another in South Africa, which is managed by a former winner of the Miss South Africa beauty pageant.