Meta Platforms chief executive Mark Zuckerberg faces awkward questions after his superyacht reportedly abandoned a stranded Alaskan skiff.
According to the Guardian a small cruise ship in south-east Alaska rescued a stranded skiff and its crew after Zuckerberg’s much closer 387ft floating palace didn’t bother.
The Silicon Valley billionaire’s yacht, reportedly worth $300m, is said to have “repeatedly” declined to assist after a nearby boat called for help.
The 21ft skiff had run out of fuel between Petersburg and Juneau, the Alaska Beacon reported. Operators of the UnCruise Adventures ship Wilderness Legacy went to help, despite being farther away than Zuckerberg’s yacht.
A passenger on the Wilderness Legacy posted on Bluesky that they were on the Alaska cruise when it rescued a stranded vessel.
“Apparently we did that after the Coast Guard radioed Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht – which was closer – and they repeatedly refused to respond. (There was near-unanimous booing when the captain announced this).”
Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan spokesperson Brian Baker claimed that the yacht crew had been operating on a different radio channel. “The assist was already under way” by the time they reviewed the broadcast.
Even if Zuckerberg was nowhere near his shiny sea bunker, the story is unlikely to polish his public image. He has already taken flak for the social damage caused by his platforms, his cosy new relationship with Donald Trump and his lavish, walled-off lifestyle.
A Reddit user wrote after the rescue story: “I live in Juneau, and I’ve been having to look at that excessive eyesore parked up in Auke Bay for too long now… Fuck Zuckerberg.”
