Sales of Superyachts Soar As the Wealthy Have Nowhere to Go

With the pandemic creating prolonged uncertainty in the job market, most of us are merely eking out a living or saving and stockpiling our money. The rich, however, still have all their money but fewer things to spend on. In fact, the top ten richest people in the world, such as the likes of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Bill Gates, have seen their wealth grown by a combined US$540 billion during this period.

So, it explains why while sales of most goods have gone down, the sales of ultra-luxury items have soared. Sales of cars with price tags exceeding US$100,000, for instance, have increased by an astounding 63% in 2020 compared to the year prior.

But having a beautiful car with nowhere to go is also no fun, which is why some have turned to buying superyachts. The sales of these luxury boats have been on a record streak since the middle of last year, with over a billion US Dollar spent on just secondhand luxury yachts, according to one estimate reported by the BBC; this amount, the report also pointed out, could cover the cost of vaccination for the whole of Nepal.

News broke a couple of days ago that Bezos bought a 127-metre long vessel that cost him US$500 million – chump change for someone whose net worth is close to US$200 billion. Rumour is that he also plans to buy a “support yacht” which will have a helicopter landing pad  (his girlfriend is, apparently, a trained helicopter pilot). In comparison, Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013 for just US$250million so in this reality, a boat has a higher value than a newspaper with over 140 years of history.

Speaking to the BBC, the editor-in-chief of Boat International, Stewart Campbell, explains that the surge in superyacht sales is not mere retail therapy for the rich, but driven by travel restrictions while the wealthy seek to escape lockdowns; these boat owners can cruise within local waters while avoiding land, where the nasty bug is taking over the world.

These boats come equipped with pools, sun deck, gym, bar and a host of entertainment spaces, depending on what the owner wants. They are usually manned by a full crew of 15 to 20 people, which means there’s job creation, so that’s nice. While the COVID virus does not discriminate between wealth classes, the rich can afford to isolate themselves in style and cruise through the pandemic in luxury and comfort.