Yacht Wheels

We recently posted about the arrest of Steven Bannon, ex-senior advisor to Trump, aboard Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui’s 152′ yacht, cruising in Long Island Sound. Earlier in August, another mega-yacht was central in an unfolding scandal that brought down yet another major Trump supporter.

In early August, a photo of Liberty University president, Jerry Falwell, began circulating on the internet. It showed Fallwell with his arm around a young woman who was not his wife. Falwell was holding a glass filled with a dark liquid. Both Falwell and the woman, who was later identified as Falwell’s wife’s personal assistant, had their pants unzipped. The photograph was reported to have been taken on board the 164′ luxury yacht, Wheels, owned by the billionaire NASCAR mogul Rick Hendrick.

When the photo was taken, Jerry Falwell, Jr. was the president of Liberty University, one of the largest evangelical Christian universities in the world, and one of the largest private non-profit universities in the United States.

The photo raised questions about the actions of Falwell and helped to resurrect a previous scandal in which a pool-boy, who would later become a business partner, alleges that Falwell and his wife Becki were involved with him for in an intimate relationship over a period of seven years. Falwell admits to the affair but claims that he was not personally involved. The cumulative revelations lead, ultimately, to Jerry Falwell, Jr. resigning from his position as president of Liberty Universit. Nevertheless, he left with a severance package worth over $10 million.

While sex sells, there is another scandal that has been largely, although not entirely, overlooked. Why were Liberty University President Falwell and his family vacationing on Wheels, a yacht owned by the billionaire Rick Hendrick? 

Since at least 2018, Liberty University has sponsored a NASCAR racing team through Hendrick Motorsports. How much the sponsorship cost the non-profit religious university is not public, but in general, primary sponsors pay between $5 and $35 million per year.  When Lowes pulled out of its contract with Hendrick Motorsports in 2018, it was estimated to be paying at least $20 million for a team sponsorship. In 2017, Farmers Insurance paid Hendrick Motorsports $8 million for a NASCAR team sponsorship.

Given that Liberty University has probably paid tens of million dollars to Hendricks, the use of his yacht may be more than simple Christian charity. The Falwell family has used the yacht for trips to the Caribbean, the Greek Islands, and Key West, where Falwell’s daughter Caroline got engaged.

The yacht Wheels is known for its luxurious appointments, featuring six staterooms for guests, marble bathrooms, three wet bars, and three separate sun decks, as well as jet skis, 15 drop-down televisions, and a 19th-century dining table made out of North Carolina walnut in its formal dining room. The yacht has a crew of eight.

There is no record if Falwell and his family paid for the use of the yacht which typically charters for $200,000 per week, plus expenses. 

Politico reports that an employee with knowledge of the sponsorship deal said the yacht “was never used for university business, never used to try to better the university. It was always Jerry, Becki. Always.”

Especially if the use of the yacht was limited to Falwell and his personal guests, the arrangement raises questions about whether Falwell’s vacations are a motivation for Liberty’s ongoing sponsor of Hendricks’ NASCAR team, said Eve Borenstein, a nonprofit lawyer at the firm of Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg.

“All of the dollars they have, every single asset they have, has to be spent to charitable ends,” Borenstein said.