These tech billionaires have the largest superyachts
Size doesn’t always matter, but it absolutely does in the rarefied world of superyachts.
Palaces at sea have long been a status symbol for the masters of the universe, a place to live a life of excess and network, far removed from the prying eyes of ordinary people.
As the rich get richer — the world’s 10 richest people are $500 billion wealthier this year — their boats are getting longer.
The trend illustrates an unofficial yachting rule of thumb: The bigger the boat, the richer the owner. To own a 50-meter vessel, you likely have to be a billionaire. Over 100 meters long? You probably have a few billion to your name.
Over the past two years, three of the wealthiest people on the planet — Jeff BezosMark Zuckerberg, and Sergey Brin — have taken possession of yachts over 100 meters long.
“It’s a bit of a celebration of your success in life, of wealth,” Giovanna Vitelli, the chair of the Azimut Benetti Group, one of the biggest producers of superyachts, told Business Insider.
Decked out with amenities like gyms, spas, pools, movie theaters, and helicopter hangars, these megayachts — broadly defined as over 70 meters long — are custom-built and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Over the summers, the superyachts criss-cross the Mediterraneanvisiting the islands of Greece and stopping in St. Tropez, before making their way across the Atlantic for New Year’s in the Caribbean. (Mark Zuckerberg’s Launchpad reportedly took a pit stop on its annual migration this year, stopping at a shipyard in southern France for a multi-month tune-up.)
The comings and goings, customizations, and sheer size of superyachts give us insight into how today’s ruling class lives. After all, they’re about the most expensive asset money can buy.
Here are the largest yachts owned by tech billionaires, or at least those we know about.
In an industry governed by discretiondeciphering who owns what is an exercise in stringing together many clues. There are likely yachts that have not been publicly recorded or registered. Evan Spiegel, for example, is rumored to own the 94-meter megayacht Bliss. If you’re lucky, it turns out money can buy privacy.
