Back in 2020, billionaire superyacht owners like business mogul and producer David Geffen were roundly scorned for hiding away with their full-service crew while the rest of the world was in lockdown. (Geffen’s yacht, which he bought from Oracle founder Larry Ellison, cost a reported $590 million; Jeff Bezos was photographed aboard it in 2019.) While we’re facing a markedly different world today than we were then, it was the beginning of a shift in how owners spend their time on board—especially during the workday.
The pandemic brought a “real explosion” in yachting interest when the ultra-wealthy used them as an escape, Richard Lambert, head of sales at Burgess Yachts, tells Fortune. And with the remote work boom freeing them from mandatory in-person meetings, that interest hasn’t waned. The mega-rich are spending more time on their mega-yachts than ever, Lambert says, but “these are self-made successful business people who need to be able to turn around and actually run their businesses.”
