A yacht broker who says he introduced the current owner of the yacht Nixie to her previous owner has filed a lawsuit. He’s seeking a commission on the sale, claiming the buyer deliberately concluded the deal without him.
The Cecil Wright & Partners brokerage firm, headed by Chris Cecil-Wright, is seeking €17.5 million ($20.16 million). The amount is equivalent to a five-percent commission on the selling price for the 336-foot (102.4-meter) superyacht. The lawsuit is against Nikolay (Nik) Storonsky, the current owner of the yacht Nixie. A British citizen, Storonsky is also a tech executive, the founder of the financial technology company Revolut. “It’s very rare for brokers to find themselves in this situation, and it’s the first time I have done so,” Cecil-Wright tells the Financial Times. “But I feel strongly about it, hence am taking action.”
According to court documents, Storonsky’s family office contacted the brokerage firm in October 2024. It requested assistance in building a yacht. In July 2025, a family-office representative emailed the firm again. This time, it inquired about buying an interim yacht while still pursuing the new build. The email “referred to the ‘Commercial arrangements you would expect from this‘ and referred to ‘commission,’“ the lawsuit states. “This shows that he, and therefore the Defendant, knew that the Claimant would ordinarily be entitled to commission in the event of a successful purchase.“
That same month, Cecil-Wright alleges, he informed Storonsky and his family office about the yacht Nixie. She was still in build at Lürssen at the time. Futhermore, Cecil-Wright states, in multiple messages and phone calls through January 2026, Storonsky remained interested in buying the superyacht. Storonsky’s representative then informed Cecil-Wright in January that Storonsky worked directly with the seller. “The Defendant deliberately tried to avoid paying commission to the Claimant by going behind its back in arranging a purchase directly… without involving the Claimant in the final stages of the negotiations,“ the lawsuit says.
That prompted Cecil Wright & Partners to file the claim this month in the UK’s High Court of Justice, Business and Property Courts. Specifically, Cecil-Wright says he was the “effective cause” of the sale. British courts—and U.S. courts—use the term to determine whether a commission is due in similar situations. Effective cause means the broker is the reason the transaction was able to occur. The broker introduced the seller to the buyer, for example, or introduced the buyer to the seller. Cecil Wright & Partners therefore claims Storonsky went “behind its back” to avoid having to pay the commission.
We reached out to Hannaford Turner, the law firm representing Storonsky. We didn’t receive a response by press time. But, a spokesperson for the family office informs the Financial Times that the case is “without merit and will be defended.”
As the current owner of the yacht Nixie, Storonsky took delivery several weeks ago. Nixie has several features that wrap her guests in wellness. For instance, the beach club devotes 1,550 square feet (144 square meters) of its overall 2,906 square feet (270 square meters of space—with four hatches open—to a gym. It includes a cryotherapy chamber and steam shower. Notably, Nixie has the biggest beach club to date aboard a Lürssen. Up on the sundeck, meanwhile, a sauna, a steam room, a massage room, and a beauty salon are all within a spa.
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