Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos buys $500m superyacht

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the world's richest man, has bought a 127-metre (417-foot) superyacht, thought to be worth around $500 million (c. €412 million).

Bezos has seen his personal wealth roughly double since 2017, helped by his wallet ballooning last year as more people than ever turned to online shopping. Bezos’ estimated net worth now stands at nearly $200 billion (c. €164.7 billion).

Throughout the pandemic, shipyards have continued turning out mega yachts that experts say are growing larger as they gain in popularity. According to experts and brokers, 2020 saw more yachts sold than ever before, with 2021 set to again break sales records.

Bezos’ new vessel is being built in the Netherlands by Oceanco.

That price tag does not include a smaller motorised "support yacht" that Bezos also plans to buy. The smaller yacht features a helicopter landing pad - Bezos' girlfriend, TV host Lauren Sanchez, is a trained helicopter pilot.

The main yacht is unable to support its own helipad due to the three sailing masts on its deck.

The smaller yacht is also expected to be loaded with other goodies, such as cars, luxury speedboats, and probably even a submarine, experts say.

The highly secretive superyacht project, known as Y721, is due to be completed sometime next month. It's likely that Bezos' order was placed several years ago, since custom-made ships like this can take around five years to build.

Oceanco, the Dutch yacht maker, has not commented on the project. It previously built the 106-metre (350-foot) Black Pearl, the second largest sailing yacht in the world.

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Source: BBC News