- Jeff Bezos‘ new $500 million megayacht Koru set sail this summer.
- At 417 feet long, it’s the world’s largest sailing yacht and even boasts a sculpture resembling his fiancée, Lauren Sanchez.
- Here’s everything we know about Bezos’ yacht.
Jeff Bezos’ new megayacht set sail this summer, with the founder and former Amazon CEO and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez crisscrossing Europe to show it off.
At 417 feet long, the vessel is the world’s largest sailing yacht and cost an estimated $500 million. The yacht is named Koru, which means “loop” or “coil” in the Māori language and often signifies new beginnings.
Koru joins a large class of flashy billionaires’ yachts, including the 305-foot-long Eos, which belongs to billionaire Barry Diller and fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg. Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison owns a yacht called Musashi, which is 288 feet long.
Bezos commissioned the enormous boat from the Dutch custom yacht builder Oceanco, and it took years to construct.
In February, the yacht underwent its first sea trials, a series of tests usually conducted in the last phases of construction. Koru made its maiden voyage in April, traveling from the Netherlands to Gibraltar.
The vessel has a pool on deck, and the prow features a mermaid sculpture that bears a striking resemblance to Bezos’ then-girlfriend Sanchez. A second “support yacht,” which has an on-deck helipad, accompanies Koru on its travels.
Bezos and Sanchez were first seen aboard the yacht along the coast of Spain in May, shortly before news broke that the couple had gotten engaged. The couple spent the rest of the summer on board traveling to various destinations, stopping at the Cannes Film Festival, sailing down the Italian Riviera, and making their way to Croatia.
In August, the yacht played host to an engagement party for Bezos and Sanchez, which reportedly drew guests including Bill Gates, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Ari Emanuel, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
While yacht season was apparently enjoyable for the couple, it was only after the vessel stirred up quite a bit of controversy: Koru’s masts were so tall that the yacht nearly required the dismantling of a historic bridge in the Netherlands in order for it to pass through.
Locals planned to egg Bezos’ superyacht if the bridge came down. Following the public outcry, Oceanco withdrew its request for the city to take apart the bridge.
And despite this massive purchase, Bezos’ net worth is still well over $100 billion.
