500 million euro yacht

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An inside look at jeff bezos’ $500 million superyacht and what it costs to keep it afloat.

Cliché but true, the second-richest man on the planet, according to Forbes , owns the tallest sailing yacht in the world . In fact, the 417-foot Koru is so big, it has its own 250-foot support vessel .

Priced at $500 million, the Koru hit the sea for the first time in 2023 and has since ferried Jeff Bezos and company around the globe. Complete with three massive 229-foot masts, it can reach a top speed under sail of 20 knots, according to the New York Post — which is approximately 23 miles per hour.

Made for a group, up to 18 guests can set sail on the yacht, allowing Bezos to bring family and friends on vacation with him. Here’s a look at the Koru’s extravagant features and how much it costs to operate his floating mansion.

Also take a look at Bezos’ mansion collection.

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Key Features

As expected Bezos’ yacht is dripping with luxury. With a net worth of $203.8 billion — as of May 4, 2024, according to Forbes — he can afford to outfit the Koru with nothing but the best and he did just that.

The superyacht has three outdoor decks, with two containing swimming pools, according to the New York Post. It also features a cinema, several lounges and multiple business areas, according to Luxuo .

Highly personalized, the yacht is complete with a figurehead modeled after Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sanchez. Even its masts are luxurious, as the Amazon founder chose in-boom furlers, which keep the canvases at the bottom of the mast above the deck, creating a pristine and spacious rope-free deck.

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Support Vessel

One of the most shocking features of the Koru is the fact that it requires its own support vessel. The $75 million Abeona features a helipad that Sanchez has been spotted using to park her personal helicopter, according to the New York Post.

Designed to carry extra gear, four jet skis, two fast launches and a dinghy were spotted on the Abeona during a 2023 trip to Mallorca, Spain, according to the New York Post. It’s also capable of lifting a small submarine, but Bezos isn’t believed to own one — at least not yet.

Additionally, the support ship has two extra staterooms, which can accommodate four guests. This could come in handy if Bezos wants to entertain a larger group than can fit on the Koru.

On-Board Crew

It probably isn’t a surprise that operating both the Koru and the Abeona is no small task. From staff to drive the boats and maintain them to caring for guests onboard, Bezos needs a small army at sea.

The Koru has a crew of up to 36 people, according to The New York Post. If you think that’s a lot, the Abeona requires up to 45 crew and support staff.

Annual Operating Costs

Purchasing the Koru and Abeona cost Bezos more than half a billion dollars, but his expenses didn’t end there. As you might imagine, the annual cost to maintain a superyacht and its own enormous supporting yacht is more than most people earn in a lifetime.

The Koru costs approximately $25 million in operating expenses per year, according to the Daily Mail . Much less, but still sky-high, Bezos spends around $5 to $10 million on annual maintenance costs for the Abeona, according to Super Yacht Fan ).

When their owners are on dry land, yachts have to find a parking space. However, even this doesn’t always come cheap for Bezos and the Koru.

In November 2023, the billionaire’s yacht arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but was too big to fit in the port with all the outer superyachts, according to the Daily Mail. Therefore, it had to be docked with cruise ships at Port Everglades, at a rate of $16,500 per week.

While one week of storage might be more than the average person can afford, picking up the tab for any number of weeks would clearly be no issue for Bezos. While his superyacht and the many expenses surrounding it are clearly astronomical, he’s still living well within his budget.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : An Inside Look at Jeff Bezos’ $500 Million Superyacht and What It Costs To Keep It Afloat

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Jeff bezos’ massive new $500m superyacht — complete with helipad and pool — spotted in north sea.

Hoist up the Jeff B sails.

Amazon honcho Jeff Bezos’ $500 million superyacht Koru, codenamed Y721, is finally seaworthy — spotted in the North Sea after leaving Rotterdam on Feb. 13,  footage posted by the organization Dutch Yachting  shows.

The massive, 417-foot vessel’s test run came months after it was originally set to be delivered to the 59-year-old billionaire. 

It requires a 250-foot support vessel that houses a helicopter landing pad for the Blue Origin founder.

Bezos’ mega boat created controversy last year after a report that Dutch officials would  have to dismantle  the historic Koningshaven Bridge because the 130-foot steel structure wouldn’t allow the vessel and its 229-foot masts to pass through.

Following an uproar from residents, local leaders decided the plan was a bridge too far — and the boat was towed from its construction location to another shipyard in a nearby town without its masts,  according to Jalopnik .

The uproar likely played a big part in how and when it would float away.

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Citizens of Rotterdam reportedly swore in February that, should Bezos’ superyacht traverse the De Hef bridge, they would pelt it with eggs in protest . 

And when it finally came time to move the vessel out of its Dutch shipbuilding yard, the decision was made to tow it away under cover of darkness, the Cut reported.

Koru costs about $25 million a year to run. The pleasure boat can accommodate 18 guests — and requires a crew of 40 sailors.

It is far from the world’s most expensive yacht. That dubious honor is reserved for the $4.8 billion History Supreme — a gold- and platinum-plated vessel featuring a Tyrannosaurus rex bone wall made of meteoric stone. It was bought in 2011 by an anonymous Malaysian businessman,  according to the Richest .

Yet the half-billion-dollar price tag is a relative drop in the ocean for the Amazon founder, whose net worth was valued at  $181 billion  by Forbes.

Koru will join a fleet of superyachts , helicopters and planes already owned by the entrepreneur and his millionaire girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez.

The aluminum and steel schooner reportedly boasts three decks, including one with a swimming pool. 

The smaller, 250-foot support vessel that will sit alongside the mammoth one will include a helicopter landing pad for Bezos or his celebrity guests. This smaller yacht is also expected to be loaded with an array of toys including luxury cars, jet skis, speedboats, and perhaps even a personal submarine, the Daily Mail has reported .

Jeff Bezos' $500 Million Yacht: A Look at the World's Largest Private Vessel

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is known for his extravagant lifestyle and love for luxury yachts. In April 2023, Bezos took delivery of his newest and largest yacht, Koru, which cost a staggering $500 million or more. At 417 feet, Koru is the world's largest sailing yacht, surpassing the previous record holder, the 106-meter Black Pearl.

Built by Oceanco in the Netherlands, Koru is a three-masted sailing yacht that features a sleek and modern design. Unlike other yachts owned by billionaires, Koru is powered by wind and sails, rather than diesel engines. It is reported that the yacht has a range of 7,000 nautical miles and can accommodate up to 36 guests and 60 crew members. The yacht is also equipped with a helipad, a swimming pool, a spa, and a gym.

The delivery of Koru has sparked controversy and criticism, with some arguing that the money spent on the yacht could have been put to better use. However, Bezos has defended his purchase, stating that he plans to use the yacht for scientific research and exploration. Regardless of the controversy, there is no denying that Koru is a stunning and impressive vessel that will undoubtedly turn heads wherever it sails.

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has recently taken delivery of his new sailing yacht, Koru, after it completed its initial sea trials. The vessel is reportedly worth $500 million, making it one of the most expensive yachts in the world. This section will provide an overview of the yacht, the builder, and the cost.

Koru is a three-masted sailing yacht that is 417 feet long, making it the largest sailing yacht in the world. It was built by Oceanco, a Dutch shipyard that has built many superyachts for wealthy clients. The yacht has a steel hull and a superstructure made of aluminum. It is equipped with all the luxury amenities that one would expect from a yacht of this caliber, including a pool, a support vessel, and a range of water toys.

The Builder

Oceanco is a leading superyacht builder based in the Netherlands. The shipyard has built many of the world's most impressive yachts, including the Black Pearl, which is one of the largest sailing yachts in the world. Oceanco has a reputation for building high-quality yachts that are both luxurious and innovative.

Koru reportedly cost $500 million to build, which makes it one of the most expensive yachts in the world. The yacht was built in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and was delivered to Bezos in May 2023. The cost of the yacht has been a source of controversy, with some critics arguing that it is an excessive display of wealth.

In conclusion, Koru is a stunning sailing yacht that is equipped with all the luxury amenities that one would expect from a yacht of this caliber. It was built by Oceanco, a leading superyacht builder based in the Netherlands. The yacht reportedly cost $500 million to build, making it one of the most expensive yachts in the world.

Design and Features

Jeff Bezos' yacht, Y721, boasts an impressive design and features that make it stand out from other superyachts. The yacht has been under construction at the Oceanco shipyard in Rotterdam since 2019 and is set to be delivered in 2022.

Layout and Amenities

The Y721 is a 127-meter sailing yacht that will become the largest sailing yacht in the world upon delivery. The yacht features a sleek black hull with classic lines and a uniquely designed bowsprit - a custom spar extending forward from the ship's bow to which her forestays are fastened. The yacht's layout includes six decks, with ample space for guests and crew.

The yacht's interior is designed by Nuvolari Lenard and features a contemporary style with a focus on natural light and open spaces. The yacht has several lounges, including a main salon, a sky lounge, and a beach club. The beach club is located at the stern and includes a swimming pool, a cinema, and a gym.

Support Vessel

The Y721 also comes with a support vessel, the YS7512, which is a 75-meter Damen Yacht. The support vessel is designed to carry additional equipment, such as helicopters, tenders, and water toys. The support vessel also includes accommodation for additional guests and crew.

Toys and Entertainment

The Y721 is equipped with a range of toys and entertainment options to keep guests entertained during their stay. The yacht has a variety of water toys, including jet skis, paddleboards, and kayaks. The yacht also has a submarine, which can take guests on underwater excursions.

In addition to the water toys, the yacht has a cinema and a selection of board games and books. The yacht also has a wooden sculpture on display, adding to the yacht's artistic appeal.

Overall, the Y721 is an impressive yacht with a range of features that make it stand out from other superyachts. From the spacious layout to the range of amenities and toys on offer, the yacht is sure to provide guests with a memorable experience.

Media Coverage

News coverage.

Jeff Bezos' new yacht has been the subject of much media attention since its completion. Major news outlets such as The New York Times, BBC News, and CNN have all reported on the yacht, with some referring to it as a "superyacht" and others as a "megayacht". The yacht, named Koru, is reportedly worth $500 million and is 417 feet long.

News coverage of the yacht has focused on its size, luxury, and the fact that it is owned by one of the world's wealthiest individuals. Some reports have also speculated about the yacht's environmental impact, given its size and the fact that it is a sailing yacht rather than a motor yacht.

Social Media

The yacht has also generated significant buzz on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. Many users have shared photos and videos of the yacht, expressing awe at its size and opulence. Some have also criticized Bezos for spending so much money on a yacht, arguing that the funds could be put to better use elsewhere.

The yacht has also been the subject of memes and jokes on social media, with some users poking fun at its size and the fact that it reportedly requires a smaller yacht to transport its support equipment.

Overall, media coverage of Jeff Bezos' new yacht has been extensive, with both traditional news outlets and social media users weighing in on the yacht's significance. While some have praised the yacht as a symbol of personal growth and renewal for Bezos, others have criticized it as a display of excessive wealth and indulgence.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the name of jeff bezos' yacht.

Jeff Bezos' yacht is called "Koru".

How big is Jeff Bezos' yacht?

Koru is a three-masted sailing yacht that is 127 meters (417 feet) long.

Who designed Jeff Bezos' yacht?

Koru was designed by the Dutch yacht builder, Oceanco.

What is the cost of Jeff Bezos' yacht?

The estimated cost of Koru is $500 million.

Where was Jeff Bezos' yacht built?

Koru was built in the Netherlands by Oceanco.

How many crew members are on Jeff Bezos' yacht?

It is not clear how many crew members are on Koru, but it is expected to have a large crew to maintain and operate the yacht.

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Jeff Bezos’ New Yacht Is Finally Ready to Set Sail

Amazon’s founder has been spotted on Koru, a massive schooner with a design that evokes the golden age of sailing in the early 20th century.

By Kevin Koenig

Just in time for the high season of yachting in the Mediterranean, when multimillion-dollar megayachts descend on ports like Monte Carlo and St. Tropez, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has been photographed with his partner Lauren Sánchez on his new boat, Koru, off the coast of Spain.

Mr. Bezos’ vessel is a sailing yacht, a departure from the diesel-powered, floating palaces popular with other billionaires. But it is still massive. At 417 feet, Koru is the world’s largest sailing yacht, according to Boat International , and it cost an estimated $500 million to build, Bloomberg reported . (Parsifal III, the boat featured on Bravo’s reality series “Below Deck Sailing Yacht,” is 177 feet long — less than half the length of Koru — and cost $18 million , according to the website SuperYachtFan.)

A spokesperson for Mr. Bezos did not comment for this article; neither did Oceanco, Koru’s builder. Here is what to know about the boat.

For traditionalists, Koru is refreshing. At a time when yacht design skews outrageous — see the lizardlike, 262-foot Artefact or the otherworldly 463-foot Yas — Koru stands out as a schooner, a sailing vessel with two or more masts. Photos reveal a large sailboat with three masts, an on-deck pool and a voluptuous mermaid on the bow, that bears a resemblance to Ms. Sánchez. But otherwise, the sleek, classic lines suggest the patrician age of yachting in the early 20th century, said Robert B. MacKay, author of “The Golden Age of Newport Yachting: Between the Wars.”

“With the clipper bow and the dark hull and the masts,” Mr. MacKay said, referring to Koru’s concave, pointy forward section, “it reminds me of a boat built in 1930 for J.P. Morgan Jr., Corsair IV. It is almost like a reincarnation. It’s certainly at odds with the stuff the oligarchs are building — those look like bloated Clorox bottles.”

Compared with the world’s very largest motor yachts — built for sheer size and the accompanying bragging rights — Koru could almost be considered quaint. Azzam, one of the world’s largest motor yachts, is nearly 200 feet longer.

The Experience

Koru will be propelled primarily by the wind. “Sailboats are usually greener than most powerboats,” said Don Anderson, a former captain of M5 , the world’s largest single-masted sailboat, at 256 feet. “I’d like to think that Koru will be one of the most ecological yachts out there, with its sails and also with the technology that will be aboard.”

“When you’re on a sailboat, you’re more in touch with the wind and the waves than on a powerboat,” he continued. “You’re more susceptible to the elements, too. But you can leave California, and once you get past the Catalinas you can basically surf downwind all the way to Hawaii. All you need to do is run with the waves.”

Mr. Bezos has been a guest on similar boats, according to Bloomberg: In 2019, he was spotted on Eos , a 305-foot sailing yacht owned by Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg.

Bill Tripp, a Connecticut-based naval architect, said the appeal of this type of boat is clear: “When you are on a powerboat, you ask, ‘Are we there yet?’ and on a sailboat, you’re enjoying the ride and the ocean so much that you don’t ask that question.”

Koru will be trailed by Abeona, a 246-foot support vessel. Superyachts often have support vessels following along behind them. These “shadows,” as they are colloquially known, are for the “toys” — the ATVs, supercars, seaplanes, motorcycles, smaller boats, scuba gear, personal submarines and even helicopters that pleasure boaters might bring on a trip. According to its builder, this model of boat can carry these gadgets along with dozens of crew members. (Ms. Sanchez flies helicopters, and the couple was recently photographed taking a helicopter to board Abeona and then Koru.)

Abeona, a motor yacht, will have enough range to follow Koru from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean — a common course for yachts — on a single tank of gas.

The Kerfuffle

Koru set off a controversy last year — before it was even completed — in a face-off with the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The boat was built at Oceanco’s facility in Alblasserdam, the Netherlands, and needed to pass the historic Koningshaven Bridge, known as “De Hef,” in Rotterdam, to undergo testing in the North Sea.

When the city announced it would dismantle the bridge to allow the boat and its mainmast — an estimated 230 feet tall — to pass through unscathed, locals were angry. They planned a protest to throw eggs at the yacht as it cruised by. In the end, the bridge was not taken apart, and the yacht was towed to a different location to have its masts attached.

Koru is Maori for “coil” or “loop” and refers to the unfurling of a fern frond. The koru design is common in traditional Maori art, where it symbolizes new life, growth and peace. Mr. Bezos included a photo of a koru frond in an Instagram post on Jan. 1, 2022.

Brad Stone, who was the first to report on Koru, in his 2021 book “Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire,” said the name was “consistent with where we see him today.”

“He is no longer this single-minded tech guy,” Mr. Stone said. “He’s in media and Hollywood and has a new relationship.”

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Watch: Jeff Bezos’ $500 million sailing megayacht Koru looks humungous as it begins sea trials in the Netherlands

Jeff Bezos’ $500 million sailing megayacht Koru has finally begun sea trials, which takes the 127-meter luxury vessel a step closer to becoming the world’s second yacht sailing yacht, after Andrey Melnichenko’s Sailing Yacht A. A YouTube video posted by Dutch Yachting shows the megayacht going through the preliminary set of tests on the first day of its sea trials. Sea trials of a newly built ship are important to ensure the overall safety of the ship and detect issues before the final handover. The video begins with footage of the vessel being towed out to open waters before sunrise on a misty morning. Subsequently, megayacht Koru then starts with the battery tests under its own power, doing 180-degree turns and conducting turning circle tests. Interestingly, this is the first time the gigantic luxury vessel has been captured on video moving with the help of its own powertrain.

While sailing yacht Koru’s three huge masts were steeped last summer when it was taken out of its dry dock, the sails are yet to be unfurled, which is expected to be done over the next few days during its sea trials. With the sails unfurled, the three-mast schooner will be a sight to behold. The YouTube video also includes drone footage of the luxury megayacht, which gives us a glimpse of some of its amenities that are visible on the outside. The vessel boasts three enormous decks and at least two sizeable dip pools. Koru features a navy hull with red bootstripe and a white superstructure decked out in varnished wood. Its beautiful shape is characterized by a long bowsprit and a classic canoe stern.

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Bezos' Wait Is Over — World's Largest Superyacht Worth $500 Million Finally Delivered To Amazon Founder

Zinger key points.

• Koru cost $500 million, while its annual operating cost is estimated to be around $25 million.
• The vessel was commissioned by Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is the third-highest in the world.

Amazon founder  Jeff Bezos  has finally gotten his pricey, luxurious superyacht that has been catching eyes. 

What Happened: The superyacht, which was reportedly priced at $500 million and ordered by Bezos, was handed to its new owner on Thursday, Business Insider reported, citing yachting publication Boat International.

The vessel, otherwise known as Koru, is 127 meters long, the world’s largest sailing yacht and the largest one built in the Netherlands, according to Boat International. 

Sea trials of the vessel had been taking place since February, marking the final phases of construction. Construction of the yacht, which previously went by the code name Y721, took about five years. 

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At one point last year, Oceano, the Dutch custom yacht builder responsible for Koru, found itself mired in controversy when it requested the dismantling of a historic bridge in Rotterdam to allow for Koru’s three tall masts to pass under the bridge. Locals protested against the dismantling, forcing Oceano to tow the boat under the cover of night to another shipyard without its masts. The masts were installed later.

In early March, reports had suggested the yacht was ready to set sail en route to its new owner.

The yacht is reportedly the tallest in the world, with a height of 230 feet, and requires a crew of 40 sailors to operate. Apart from its $500 million price tag, it also involves an annual operating cost of $25 million.

Why It's Important: Bezos, who stepped down as Amazon's CEO but continues to be the e-commerce retailer's executive chairman, is the world’s third-richest man with a net worth of around $125.1 billion, according to Forbes.

The Amazon founder is well known as the partying type — in 2022, he and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez welcomed the new year on a $42,000 per week superyacht in the Caribbean.

Read Next:  Construction Of Jeff Bezos' Beverly Hills Megamansion Stalled Following Attempt To Expand Property

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Jeff Bezos' $500 million megayacht sets sail for its first sea trials — watch video of the 417-foot vessel hitting open water

• Jeff Bezos' new $500 million megayacht hit the open water this week to undergo tests.
• Sea trials are usually one of the last phases of construction, bringing the yacht one step closer to full sail.
• The yacht previously caused uproar for nearly requiring that a historic bridge be dismantled for it to pass.

After drawing the ire of locals for nearly requiring the dismantling of a historic bridge, Jeff Bezos' new megayacht has hit the open water. 

The vessel, estimated to cost $500 million, underwent its first day of sea trials in Europe this week, according to yacht fan club Dutch Yachting, which posted a video of the yacht on Monday. Sea trials consist of several tests and are usually one of the last phases of construction, meaning the Amazon founder's yacht is one step closer to full sail.

The boat's sea trials come after a turbulent year for the megayacht, which was built in the Netherlands. Last year, the Dutch company building it, Oceanco, requested that a historic bridge in Rotterdam be dismantled for the yacht to pass because the vessel's three masts were too tall to pass under the bridge, which has a 131-foot clearance.

The yacht, called Koru, measures 417 feet long and is expected to be the biggest sailing yacht in the world once finished.

The bridge in question was the Koningshaven Bridge, colloquially known as "De Hef," which is nearly 100 years old. After it was renovated in 2017, the city vowed not to take it apart again, according to Dutch broadcaster Rijnmond .

The ask didn't go over well. It caused so much public outcry, in fact, that more than 1,000 residents threatened to throw eggs at the yacht if the dismantling came to fruition. Oceanco later withdrew its request to dismantle the bridge , and the yacht was quietly towed under cover of night to another shipyard.

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During that voyage, the yacht was towed without its masts, which would be installed later, and it avoided going through the city center and past the Koningshaven Bridge, according to German magazine Der Spiegel .

Watch the latest video of Bezos' yacht here: 

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Jeff Bezos' $500-Million Yacht Hits the Open Ocean for the First Time

Once it's ready, this 417-foot boat will be the largest sailing vessel in the world..

Jeff Bezos’ giant 417-foot long sailing yacht stretched its legs on the open ocean this week, still completely free of a coating of eggs Rotterdam residents once promised the world’s largest sailing vessel.

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Yacht builders Oceanco referred to the $500-million sailing yacht by its internal serial name — Y721 — during its yearslong development and manufacturing process. The vessel can now be called by the name granted to it by its mega-rich owner: the Koru. A Koru is a Māori symbol representing the spiral of an unfurling fern frond.

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“Its circular shape conveys the idea of perpetual movement, and its inward coil suggests a return to the point of origin. The koru therefore symbolises the way in which life both changes and stays the same,” according to a definition from the government of New Zealand .

Once delivered to Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos, the Koru will be the largest sailing vessel in the world. It’s currently undergoing open-seas testing phase, which is consider one of the final steps before delivery. The big boat enthusiast YouTube channel Dutch Yachting published footage of the testing earlier this week:

Koru had a controversial start in life after Oceanco petitioned the Rotterdam government for the ability to dismantle a historic bridge in order to get the yacht to open water. The city council in Rotterdam vowed never allow another dismantling of the Koningshavenbrug bridge, however, after it came down for a during renovations in 2017. Known locally as De Hef, the bridge was heavily damaged by Nazi shelling in WWII but managed to survive. It became a symbol for local resistance against the invading forces.

When news spread that the bridge might need to be dismantled, angry Dutch people responded by vowing to launch eggs at the yacht as it passed through town. The nearly 3,000 people who signed up for the dairy aisle hi jinx needn’t have worried, however; the Rotterdam city council denied Oceanco’s petition and the boat was moved to a different shipyard with without its masts early in the morning.

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The country that wants to ‘be average’ vs. Jeff Bezos and his $500 million yacht

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — The image would have been a social media phenomenon: a few thousand citizens of the Netherlands’ second largest city, standing beside a river and hurling eggs at the gleaming, new 417-foot sailing yacht built for Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and one of the world’s richest men. By the time the boat passed the crowd, it would have been spattered with bright orange yolk, plus at least one very bright spot of red.

“I would have thrown a tomato,” said Stefan Lewis, a former City Council member. “I eat mostly vegan.”

One recent afternoon, Lewis was standing near the Hef, as the Koningshaven Bridge is affectionately known, and explaining the anger that Bezos and Oceanco, the maker of the three-masted, $500 million schooner, inspired after making what may have sounded like a fairly benign request. The company asked the local government to briefly dismantle the elevated middle span of the Hef, which is 230 feet tall at its highest point, allowing the vessel to sail down the King’s Harbor channel and out to sea. The whole process would have taken a day or two and Oceanco would have covered the costs.

Also worth noting: The bridge, a lattice of moss-green steel in the shape of a hulking “H,” is not actually used by anyone. It served as a railroad bridge for decades until it was replaced by a tunnel and decommissioned in the early 1990s. It’s been idle ever since.

In sum, the operation would have been fast, free and disrupted nothing. So why the fuss?

“There’s a principle at stake,” said Lewis, a tall, bearded 37-year-old who was leaning against his bike and toggling during an interview between wry humor and indignation. He then framed the principle with a series of questions. “What can you buy if you have unlimited cash? Can you bend every rule? Can you take apart monuments?”

In late June, the city’s vice mayor reported that Oceanco had withdrawn its request to dismantle the Hef, a retreat that was portrayed as a victory of the masses over a billionaire, though it was much more than that. It was an opportunity to see Dutch and American values in a fiery, head-on collision. The more you know about the Netherlands — with its preference for modesty over extravagance, for the community over the individual, for fitting in rather than standing out — the more it seems as though this kerfuffle was scripted by someone whose goal was to drive people here out of their minds.

Related More on the Maritime Industry

• Yacht reportedly built for Jeff Bezos too big for Dutch bridge (February)
• Rotterdam will not dismantle bridge to allow Bezos’ superyacht through

The first problem was the astounding wealth of Bezos.

“The Dutch like to say, ‘Acting normal is crazy enough,’” said Ellen Verkoelen, a City Council member and Rotterdam leader of the 50Plus Party, which works on behalf of pensioners. “And we think that rich people are not acting normal. Here in Holland, we don’t believe that everybody can be rich the way people do in America, where the sky is the limit. We think ‘Be average.’ That’s good enough.”

Verkoelen was among those who considered Oceanco’s request a reasonable concession to a company in a highly competitive industry. But she heard from dozens of infuriated voters, all of them adamantly opposed. She understood the origins of the fervor, which she illustrated with a story from her childhood.

“When I was about 11 years old, we had an American boy stay with us for a week, an exchange student,” she recalled. “And my mother told him, just make your own sandwich like you do in America. Instead of putting one sausage on his bread, he put on five. My mother was too polite to say anything to him, but to me she said in Dutch, ‘We will never eat like that in this house.’”

At school, Verkoelen learned from friends that the American children in their homes all ate the same way. They were stunned and a little jealous. At the time, it was said in the Netherlands that putting both butter and cheese on your bread was “the devil’s sandwich.” Choose one, went the thinking. You don’t need both.

Building the Earth’s biggest sailing yacht and taking apart a city’s beloved landmark? That’s the devil’s all-you-can-eat buffet. The streak of austerity in Dutch culture can be traced to Calvinism, say residents, the most popular religious branch of Protestantism here for hundreds of years. It emphasizes virtues like self-discipline, frugality and conscientiousness. Polls suggest that most people in the Netherlands today are not churchgoers, but the norms are embedded, as evidenced by Dutch attitudes toward wealth.

“Calvin teaches that you’re given stewardship over your money, that you have a responsibility to take care of it, which means giving lots of it away, being generous to others,” said James Kennedy, a professor of modern Dutch history at Utrecht University. “Work is a divine calling for which you will be held accountable. It’s considered bad for society and bad for your soul if you spend in ostentatious ways.”

There are billionaires in the Netherlands and a huge pay gap between CEOs and employees. Statista, a research firm, reported that for every dollar earned by an average worker, CEOs earned $171. (The figure is $265 in the United States, the widest gap of any country.) The difference is that the rich in the Netherlands don’t flaunt it, just as the powerful don’t highlight their cachet. The Dutch once ran one of the world’s largest empires, but there’s a certain pride here that the prime minister of the country rides a bicycle to pay visits to the king — yes, the Netherlands has a royal family, which is also relatively low-key — and locks the bicycle outside the palace.

There’s a premium on equality that has survived the country’s struggles to assimilate immigrants and a gentrification boom that is pricing the middle- and working-class out of cities. An ethos endures that nobody is any better than anyone else, or deserves more, and it stems from an unignorable geographic fact. Roughly one-third of the Netherlands is below sea level and citizens for centuries have had little choice but to band together to create an infrastructure of dikes and drainage systems to remain alive.

“The Netherlands is built on cooperation,” said Paul van de Laar, a professor of history at Erasmus University. “There were constant threats of disaster from the 15th and 16th century. Protestants and Catholics knew that to survive, they could not quarrel too much.”

Chip in. Blend in. Help others. These are among the highest ideals of the Netherlands. Does this sound like a country eager to cut some slack to a man with $140 billion and a $500 million boat? It didn’t help that Dutch critics of Bezos believe that employees at Amazon are underpaid, which, given his fortune, strikes them as not just grotesquely unfair but immoral. “He doesn’t pay his taxes,” is a common refrain in this city, and it doesn’t mean that Bezos is considered a tax cheat. It means that he isn’t fighting inequality by sharing his money, an obligation that transcends the tax code.

(Emails to Amazon were not returned. Bezos did not respond to a ProPublica article last year, based on leaked IRS files, that showed he paid a tiny percent of his fortune in federal income taxes, using perfectly legal methods.)

The Rotterdam vs. Bezos brawl first made international headlines in February, when news broke that Oceanco had been granted city approval to briefly take apart the middle of the Hef. (The cost of this operation was never made public.) The assent had come from a civil servant who apparently didn’t see the harm. An uproar ensued.

“I thought it was a joke,” said Lewis, who learned about the permission on Facebook from incredulous friends. “So I called the vice mayor’s office and asked, ‘Is this for real?’ And they said, ‘We don’t know anything about this.’ It wasn’t on their radar. It took them a day to get back to me.”

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When word of the accommodation reached the public, fuming residents became a staple of local TV news and a Facebook group formed to organize that mass egg pelting. (“Dismantling the Hef for Jeff Bezos’ latest toy? Come throw eggs…”) One aggrieved council member soon likened the masts of the yacht to a giant middle finger, pointed at the city.

Oceanco, which employs more than 300 people, has not spoken publicly about its decision to rescind its Hef request and did not respond to an email for comment. News reports stated that the company was concerned about threats against employees and about vandalism.

It’s unclear how the yacht, now known as Y721, will be completed. In February, the City Council’s municipality liaison, Marcel Walravens, was quoted in the media saying that it was impractical to float the mast-less yacht to another location and finish it there.

To van de Laar, the real villain in this tale is not Oceanco or Bezos, who probably had never heard of the Hef. It’s the City Council, which completely misunderstood the depth of feelings about the bridge and bungled the messaging about its decision.

“Emotions are important,” he said. “The council didn’t grasp that, which is incredibly stupid.” The issue wasn’t just this particular billionaire and this particular yacht. It was this particular bridge. To outsiders, the Hef looks like an ungainly industrial workhorse that no longer works.

That’s not what locals see. When opened in 1927 it was considered an architectural marvel, one celebrated by Dutch documentarian Joris Ivens, in his 1928 film “The Bridge.”

“There are poems about the Hef,” said Arij De Boode, co-author of “The Hef: Biography of a Railroad Bridge.” “Anyone who makes a movie about Rotterdam includes the Hef. It’s more than a bridge.”

Rotterdam is one of the few European cities in which nearly all the buildings, both commercial and residential, are new because the place was bombed to devastating effect by the Nazis in World War II. It turned this into a city of the future, always looking ahead, tearing down whatever doesn’t work or isn’t needed.

Except for the Hef. It has become the city’s most recognizable landmark. After the war, it became a symbol of resilience and to locals of an older generation, the Hef is a rare link to the past.

When there was talk decades ago of tearing it down, residents protested. It was declared a national monument in 2000 and underwent a three-year restoration that ended in 2017. Today, the Hef stands as a triumph of function over form that no longer functions, a monolith that can’t be altered, even temporarily — no matter who asks, no matter the price.

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Has the World Finally Had a Glimpse of Jeff Bezos’s $500 Million Mega-Yacht?

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is appears to be getting closer to welcoming the superyacht he reportedly commissioned in 2018: a fancy toy fitting for the world’s second-richest person, given that it costs a reported $500 million and breaks one world record after another.

Called Y721, this vessel of all vessels is being custom designed by Dutch builder Oceanco and was spotted at a shipyard last week in Zwijndrecht, a town in the western Netherlands. It’s reportedly heading to another Netherlands town, Alblasserdam, for a final fitting. With a length of 417 feet, Y721 is the biggest sailing yacht in the world and the longest vessel to be built in the Netherlands. Features include a black hull, classic shape, three large decks, and three masts.

Superyacht Bravo Eugenia , belonging to the U.S. billionaire Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, was built by Oceanco, which is also rumored to be behind Bezos’s new massive vessel.

Y721 is going to totally change the world of yachting with its design and innovation, says Fernando Nicholson, a luxury yacht sales broker with the yachting company Camper & Nicholsons. “It’s a boat with the latest technology and bells and whistles that have never been seen,” he says. “This will be the standard for all superyachts to follow, but in years to come, when its features become more affordable. Right now, only someone with Bezos’s wealth can swing the cost.”

The superyacht is said to be modeled after Oceanco’s famous yacht, the Black Pearl , which the company site says , “is one of the largest and most ecological sailing yachts in the world. She can cross the Atlantic without burning even a liter of fossil fuel.” Y721 will go through sea trails following its fitting-out in Alblasserdam and is expected to be ready sometime next year.

The Flying Fox , allegedly owned by Bezos.

However, it’s only one of two new boats for Bezos: He has also commissioned a shadow vessel called YS 7512 from builder Damen Yachts. This support ship measures 246 feet in length and accommodates 45 additional crew and guests. It will also feature a helipad and meeting space and have a vast amount of storage for Bezos’s endless number of water toys, with diving and snorkeling gear, jet and water skis, waterslides, and surfboards among the bunch. Shadow vessels are a growing phenomenon in the superyacht industry and one more extra toy that their owners want to have at the ready, says Nicholson. “You see them more and more now as an add-on to a superyacht purchase,” he says. “They’ve almost become a must.”

There’s no doubt that Bezos will be sailing the high seas in full panache and style come 2022. But really, is there any other way when you have more money than almost anyone else in the world and attract an endless amount of attention too?

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Jeff Bezos’s New Yacht Comes With Its Own Yacht?

Another day, another reason that we must simply eat the rich. Construction is almost complete on the $500 million superyacht purchased by Amazon Daddy and Lizzo superfan Jeff Bezos. The 417-foot-long monstrosity, which Bezos bought two years ago, is among the biggest ever built in the Netherlands, the unofficial big-boat-building capital of the world.

What does a yacht longer than a football field come with? Multiple decks, an “ ambient cinema,” and its own support yacht. Yes, the yacht comes with its own yacht.

Project Y721 — the big boat’s temporary name — also has its own helipad. This is apropos given the rumors that Bezos’s sudden interest in helicopters may be what exposed his affair with now-girlfriend and famously “alive girl” Lauren Sanchez.

On top of the half-a-billion-dollar price tag, operating costs for the yacht will average about $60 million a year, per Bloomberg . To put that into context, for someone who makes $68,700 a year, the current median income in the U.S., that’d be like paying $23 in yearly operating costs. A pittance for the literal richest man on the planet.

Bezos isn’t the only rich person continuing to do rich-person things amid a struggling global economy. As Bloomberg reports, the yacht industry is among the few markets that thrived despite the spread of coronavirus. This shouldn’t come as any surprise, given the pandemic made the rich even richer . Bezos, for example, saw his wealth increase by 57 percent, per CBS News . Between March 18, 2020, and March, 18 2021, Bezos’s worth grew from $113 billion to $178 billion. Last year, the median income among Amazon employees was $29,007, per Business Insider .

Perhaps this purchase is Bezos in full post-divorce crisis mode. (He did buy the yacht the same year he and MacKenzie Scott announced they would be splitting.) While Scott recently remarried , Bezos continues to surround himself with the biggest, dumbest things money can buy. If anything, this all just further proof that the only good boats are the ones that get stuck .

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Jeff Bezos’ $500 million yacht anchored in Durrës’ Port

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The yacht “Koru” of the founder of “Amazon”, Jeff Bezos, has arrived this Friday morning in the Port of Durrës.

The ship, which is worth 500 million dollars, is anchored at quay no. 5 of the port, where it will stay for about 5 hours.

Sources indicate that the reason for the arrival of Bezos’ superyacht in Albania is the supply of 170,000 liters of diesel.

What makes the luxury yacht of the American billionaire stand out is the wooden sculpture of his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, located at the front of the vessel.

The yacht, which is the largest sailing yacht in the world, features three tall masts and several decks, including one with a swimming pool, according to Boat International.

The koru is one of the most important symbols of Māori traditions and symbolizes new beginnings. Bezos named the ship with such a name because of the new phase of his life, positive changes, personal growth and hope for the future.

• Lauren Sanchez

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Jeff Bezos's $500 Million Yacht Is Too Grand To Dock

• Jeff Bezos' divorce from Mackenzie Scott was one of the most expensive in history, with him paying $38.3 billion to settle.
• Despite the high-profile divorce, Bezos and Scott remained amicable and wished each other well.
• Bezos' extravagant symbol of love, the $500 million Koru yacht, faced challenges including being too big to pass under a bridge and having to dock alongside commercial shipping vessels.

The third-richest person in the world, Jeff Bezos , accumulated a massive fortune, but has been accused of having lost his most important body part ... his "heart."

Bezos ' emblem of love, his $500 million Koru yacht (upon which a statue of his fiancée Lauren Sanchez is a purported spearhead), was famously too big to pass under a bridge .

Yet Jeff Bezos ' love and romantic gestures are too grand for any barrier.

The former president and CEO of Amazon started a new chapter of his life, but to end the first chapter, he had to pay a staggering $38.3 billion .

Jeff Bezos was the richest person in the world when he and ex-wife Mackenzie Scott got divorced in 2019.

Every 'Sexiest Man Alive' For The Past Decade Has A Bonkers Net Worth

Mackenzie Scott was awarded a significant sum after her divorce from Bezos was finalized, reportedly worth $38.3 billion in total.

In December 2020, the New York Times covered Scott's ongoing efforts to distribute funds to charities, and explained:

When Ms. Scott and Mr. Bezos divorced [in 2019], Ms. Scott received 4 percent of the outstanding stock in Amazon, or 19.7 million shares. They were valued at the time at about $38.3 billion.

Those shares [as of December 15th 2020], after a pandemic-fueled surge in Amazon stock, would be worth about $62 billion; it is not clear how many shares [Scott] has sold.

The divorce made Mackenzie Scott the twenty-second richest person (and the third-richest woman) in the world.

Bezos ' divorce was the most expensive in history as of 2019.

Later, Bill Gates broke this record and reportedly paid $76 billion, though the terms of his divorce settlement weren't publicly disclosed.

The Most Expensive Divorces In Royal Families, Ranked

Mackenzie Scott and Jeff Bezos parted ways amicably, particularly considering the dissolution of their marriage was both high-profile and high-stakes.

There was no hint of acrimony between them, nor did they speak negatively in the media about one another.

It all went smoothly. Mackenzie received many assets to which she was entitled, and they appeared to sincerely wish each other well after their divorce.

Investopedia said of the former couple's split:

As billionaire breakups go, this one was pretty amicable—the couple exchanged mutually appreciative messages on Twitter (now X)—and was swiftly resolved out of court.

The reason for the divorce was a common one – Jeff Bezos had already fallen in love with Lauren Sanchez.

Bezos didn’t want to waste any time, so he filed for divorce, and Lauren Sanchez divorced her husband, Patrick Whitesell.

After 26 years of marriage, Jeff Bezos couldn’t wait another 48 hours and confirmed his relationship with Lauren.

Lauren and Jeff met in 2000; Lauren's ex-husband Patrick, who is a Hollywood agent, introduced the pair at a party.

They have kept in touch since their first meeting; Jeff Bezos even hired her company to film his 2021 project Blue Origin aerially.

After paying $38.3 billion to end a marriage, many people would not think about getting married again, but Jeff sank deeply into the sands of love:

Jeff Bezos Proposes to Lauren Sanchez With 20-Carat Diamond Ring

In January, he started to publicly appear alongside Lauren Sanchez.

By the time May rolled around, they were officially engaged to marry.

In November, Sanchez discussed her plans to marry Bezos in a profile published by Vogue:

“We’re still thinking about the wedding,” says Sánchez, “what it’s going to be. Is it going to be big? Is it going to be overseas? We don’t know yet. We’ve only been engaged five months!”

He proposed at the start of their summer at sea, hiding the ring under her pillow after a starlit dinner à deux. She found it at bedtime, her makeup off. “When he opened the box, I think I blacked out a bit,” she tells me.

New Beginnings: Jeff Bezos' Koru, A Symbol Of His Love For Lauren Sanchez

Of course, this is the love story of a billionaire, among the richest in the world, and Jeff Bezos didn't disappoint in terms of extravagant gestures of love:

The former Amazon CEO hired Oceanco, a famous private yacht manufacturing firm, to build a super-luxurious yacht so he and his lover could traverse the globe in comfort and style:

Inside KORU: Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos' $500 Million Superyacht

Oceanco obliged Bezos' request (and charged him half a billion dollars) to build Koru, the largest sailing yacht in the world.

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos christened his yacht as Koru, after a symbol in Māori art which symbolizes life, strength, peace, and growth.

Koru Enshrouded In Controversy: Blood, Timber, And Backlash

Everything appeared to be going smoothly for the couple, but almost every billionaire eventually draws the ire of climate change activists, who continuously raise their voices against their individual plane usage, environmental pollution, and broadly harmful deeds to humanity:

Oxfam: Richest 1% Emit More Carbon Than 'Two-Thirds Of Humanity'

Unsurprisingly, they raised questions about Bezos' symbol of love, Koru.

According to some reports, the notorious Myanmar teak possibly used to construct the Koru is called "Blood Timber" because it is illegally smuggled , and reportedly, up to 70 percent of Myanmar timber has been exported illegally .

This is controversial not only because smugglers empty forests, but also because profits from the harvesting are funneled to the military, who initiated a coup and seized control of Myanma Timber Enterprise.

The military of Myanmar is responsible for the Rohingya genocide , resulting in the deaths of thousands of people.

Those who oppose the military are imprisoned and sentenced to death , and as such, Myanmar teak is known as "blood timber."

Concerns were raised because the Omani owner of Oceanco (Mohammed Al Barwani) was known to have a history of using Myanmar teak in making ships.

Further objections were raised against Bezos ' Koru when it was alleged the Koru was likely to emit 7,154 tons of carbon emissions in a year.

Jeff Bezos and Oceanco did exactly what the public has come to expect of any billionaires; they ignored those voices and concerns.

Koru: Jeff's Romantic Gesture Was Too Big For Bridges And Docks

In 2021, Koru (the largest sailing yacht in the world), faced the first big challenge in her path — the historic Koningshaven Bridge in Rotterdam.

Koru could have been diverted from elsewhere, but Rotterdam city authorities initially planned to dismantle the bridge and set Koru free to roam the seas.

The people of Rotterdam were deeply displeased at the proposed disassembling of a piece of their heritage and pledged to throw rotten eggs at the boat, so the maiden voyage of the Koru was changed .

The mega-yacht finally met her owner in April 2023, and Bezos was pleased to take possession of his luxurious boat, with its polished wooden spearhead of Lauren Sanchez.

Later, Lauren Sanchez revealed that despite uncanny similarities to her, the statue was, in fact, modeled on Freyja, the Norwegian goddess of love.

The magnificent Koru contains a double-decked wooden coach house, in which 18 people can easily be accommodated in nine staterooms.

There are 36 crew members on the yacht, and Jeff Bezos spends $25 million per year to manage the crew and super-yacht.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Koru finally reached the shores of the United States in November, and encountered another challenge –there was no space for her to dock alongside other yachts .

Her anchor was dropped at Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades (alongside commercial shipping vessels), and it costs Bezos $16,500 weekly to keep her there.

Consequently, Koru , a delicate and refined vessel, is docked alongside big sea goons like water oil tankers and massive container ships.

Jeff Bezos hasn't publicly voiced concerns about Koru's unusual location, but confirmed in November that he plans to relocate from Seattle to Miami.