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Why does Jeff Bezos constantly plan three years ahead of time and make only a few decisions per day?
It seems Jeff Bezos is fixated on the concept that size truly does matter, despite the uproar over his suggestively designed space rocket.
The world’s third-richest man (behind Elon Musk and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault) is constructing a megayacht in Holland on a scale so enormous that it looks like the boat from “Gulliver’s Travels” washing up on the island of Liliput.
To get out of the Rotterdam port where it is being constructed, a bridge will have to be demolished.
The $500 million Y721 will be, at 417 feet long, the largest sailing yacht in the world when it debuts this summer. In a pissing contest with fellow tech billionaires — Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and media magnate and new People magazine owner Barry Diller — Bezos, 58, triumphs.
Brin's $80 million Dragonfly yacht, which is stunningly futuristic in design, has an auxiliary support boat that is larger than even his.
An eco-credentialing propulsion system that uses kinetic energy under sail powers most of the main vessel of the Y721, which has three levels, one of which includes an indoor swimming pool. The three enormous masts on the vessel also help it achieve this eco-credentialing.
Still, the Y721 will cost roughly $25 million a year to operate. There is capacity for 18 guests on board, and it will need a staff of 40. Inside, it's believed to be based on Diller's yacht Eos, which is a favorite of celebrities including Kate Perry, Prince Harry, and Bradley Cooper. However, Eos is only 305 feet long. (When Diller acquired it, the boat was the biggest private sailing yacht in the world.) Ellison’s Musashi, however, comes in at 288 feet, while Brin’s Dragonfly is barely 240 feet.
Toys like jet skis and smaller boats will be stored in the tender, which will also serve as a landing pad for Bezos' high-flying girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, 52, when they go on dates in the air.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' net wealth was recently estimated by Forbes at $181 billion, making the $500 million price tag a drop in the bucket.
And yet, not everyone is impressed.
“If I was Jeff Bezos I would have gone for something a bit more radical, but it is a big yacht, which I guess is the point,” said Russell Crump, an independent broker of bespoke yachts. “It will be beautiful . . . Oceanco are the biggest and the best builders in Holland.”
The crucial word there is “biggest”: Even without the masts, Bezos’ yacht allegedly stands at over 131 feet tall, meaning Oceanco will have to temporarily remove the Konigshaven Bridge, known as De Hef, to enable the boat to pass.
Local officials are set to consider the proposal later this month, while a petition opposing it has been created by local opponents (who have threatned to shower the boat with rotten eggs) and accumulated more than 58,000 signatures.
“This man has earned his money by structurally cutting staff, evading taxes, avoiding regulations and now we have to tear down our beautiful national monument?” Rotterdam politician Stephan Leewis tweeted of Bezos. “That is really going a bridge too far.”
Oceanco declined to confirm that Bezos had commissioned the new boat.
But will Bezos be able to top the others in the name department? One suggestion: The Compensator.
Here are the tech titans’ boats by the numbers:
Y721
Owner: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos
Cost: $500 million
Features: Three deck levels, a swimming pool, a helicopter landing pad on the tender and a kinetic-propulsion system.
Length: 417 feet
Speed: 20 knots
Passengers: 40 crew, 18 guests
Running costs: $25 million a year
Eos
Owner: IAC chairman Barry Diller
Cost: $200 million
Features: Interiors designed by the late François Catroux, known for his “grand coziness.” Pool on top deck. Figurehead of Diller’s wife, fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg, created by sculptor Anh Duong.
Length: 305 feet
Speed: 16 knots
Passengers: 21 crew, 16 guests
Running costs: $7 million a year
Musashi
Owner: Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison
Cost: $160 million
Features: Spa, swimming pool, outdoor gym and movie theater
Length: 288 feet
Speed: 12 knots
Passengers: 23 crew, 18 guests
Running costs: At least $10 million a year
Dragonfly
Owner: Google co-founder Sergey Brin
Cost: $81 million
Features: Open-air cinema, Jacuzzi and sundeck that converts to a dance floor
Length: 240 feet
Speed: 25 knots
Passengers: 16 crew, 14 guests
Running costs: $7 million a year
