Amazon founder turnedrocket - manJeff Bezos wants to prove that , with enough money , you really can move flock — or at least , in this case , cherished bridges . That ’s according to local reports cite byDutch NewsandBoat Internationalwhich lay claim the urban center of Rotterdam will temporarily disable its historical Koningshaven bridge circuit so a luxury superyachtrumoredto have been commission by Bezos can make its direction out to ocean .
The main return here is the gravy holder is just too damn big . spring up by Dutch customs racing yacht detergent builder Oceanco , the ship comes out to an estimate 127 meters ( 417 feet ) in length . When complete , the colossus will become the world ’s largest glide racing yacht , accord to Boat external . Oceancoreportedlyapproached Rotterdam ’s municipality and request the bridges dismantling because its 40 - meter clearance is n’t tall enough to accommodate the yacht ’s three elephantine mast . Oceanco and Bezos have reportedly offered to fund the dismantle themselves .
The sinewy nosepiece meanwhile , a nationalmonumentfirst build in 1927 , is know locally as “ De Hef,”according toDutch News . De Hef was reportedly bad damaged during the bombing of Rotterdam in War War II and has since undergone multiple renovations , mostrecentlyin 2017 . The most recent dismantling was conjecture to pock the last clip the bridge deck would be disable for the foreseeable future , but the Dutch Council reportedly made an exception for the humankind ’s richest man .
Photo: Saul Loeb (Getty Images)
Needless to say , not everyone in Rotterdam is thrilled about the theme of manipulating a near one C - onetime local landmark at a billionaire ’s behest despite claims from some that the undertaking may summate temporary job . “ employ is of import , but there are limits to what you could and may do to our heritage , ” Ton Wesselink , a fellow member of the Rotterdam Historical Society saidaccording tothe NL Times .
Rumors of the Amazon laminitis ’s involvement with the boat started with Brad Stone ’s 2021 book about the founder called Amazon Unbound , first excerpted inBloomberg Businessweek . In addition to the 127 - meter behemoth , Stone claim Bezos also commissioned a smaller “ support yacht , ” that purportedly comes equip with its own helipad . In related forgetful spending cause , Bezos has also reportedlyinvested$42 million dollar into a 500 - pes tall mechanically skillful clock capable of running for 10 thousand years .
But Bezos is n’t the only billionaire busting out hard currency for sumptuousness yachts . While the orbicular thriftiness crawled back from a twelvemonth of lockdowns and meg of Americansstruggledto make due on government relief movement , yacht sale were blast . Superyachts had a streamer year in 2021 , with a total of 887 sold worldwideaccording toa report from maritime data house VesselsValue , view byBloomberg . That mark a 77 % increase in sales from a year prior and more than double the yachts sold in 2019 .
accord to that same report , an unprecedented pandemic era wealth gain among the world ’s rich cohort and regenerate demand for semi - isolated activities were partly the reason for the spate in yacht sale . Lonely billionaires needed something to spend all that Modern capital on .
Now though , it appears all that yacht demand has outpaced supplying . late supplying chain disruptions tag on on alongside the ships ’ inherently retentive build time , mean the sizeable damage may swell even larger , Bloombergnotes .
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