Akademik

1. a valuable possession whose upkeep is excessively expensive

2. albinic Indian elephant; rare and sometimes venerated in east Asia

noun, pl ⋯ -phants [count]

: something that requires a lot of care and money and that gives little profit or enjoyment

— usually singular

ˌwhite ˈelephant [white elephant] noun usually singular

a thing that is useless and no longer needed, although it may have cost a lot of money

•

The new office block has become an expensive white elephant.

From the story that in Siam (now Thailand) the king would give a white elephant as a present to somebody that he did not like. That person would have to spend all their money on looking after the rare animal.