Mark Zuckerberg has faced questions about why his 387-foot superyacht did not assist a boat in distress off the southeastern coast of Alaska, while a smaller cruise ship farther away came to the rescue.
According to Alaska Beacon, the Silicon Valley billionaire’s yacht, valued at 300 million dollars, reportedly “repeatedly” failed to respond to calls for help last week when a nearby boat needed rescue. A spokesperson for Zuckerberg told Forbes that the founder of Facebook and head of Meta Platforms was not on board at the time.
When a 21-foot boat (about 6.4 meters) ran out of fuel between Petersburg and Juneau, a cruise ship farther away from Zuckerberg’s yacht came to the rescue. “I went on a small cruise in Alaska with my son,” wrote a passenger on the UnCruise Adventures ship Wilderness Legacy on Bluesky. “Our boat rescued a vessel in distress last night. Apparently, this happened after the Coast Guard contacted Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht — which was closer — but the crew repeatedly did not respond. When the captain announced this, there was almost unanimous disapproval.”
Explanation from Zuckerberg’s representative
Meanwhile, Brian Baker, a spokesperson for Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, told Forbes that the couple was not on board the yacht Launchpad. According to Baker, the yacht’s crew was operating on a different radio channel. “Assistance was already underway” by the time the crew heard the relevant message, he added.
Criticism of Zuckerberg
Even though Zuckerberg was not on board the yacht, this story is unlikely to improve the public perception of the billionaire. He has previously faced criticism over the societal impact of his social platforms, his association with Donald Trump, and his luxurious and secluded lifestyle.
“I live in Juneau, and I’ve had to look at this huge eyesore moored in Auke Bay for far too long,” wrote a Reddit user in response to the rescue story. “To hell with Zuckerberg.”
Source: The Guardian
