What's eight stories tall, weighs 361 tons, and is two years overdue? The A380 passenger jet. Airbus says it'll fill orders from 14 foreign customers for 156 of the double-deckers. Number 157 is reserved for an undisclosed billionaire, a civilian who'll pay $475 million for the plane — that's the $325 million price tag, plus $150 million in custom upgrades — making it one of the most expensive mobile homes in the world. Though he usually works on land, New York-based industrial designer Ed se Doret was happy to outfit the personalized aircraft, dubbed Project Trinity, with everything from a massive formal dining room to a whirlpool tub. Doret's design is ready for takeoff, but Airbus may not be; the continued financial troubles for the French company might ground the airborne Xanadu. Maybe the mystery buyer wants a couple dozen?
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Someone is spending $475 million for their own personal Airbus A380, a plane capable of carrying more than 500 passengers. Help Wired figure out which of the world's richest tycoons is the bucks behind plane 157.
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