The Atlanta Falcons ended their season for the seventh straight year without a playoff appearance. That probably didn't stop billionaire team owner Arthur Blank from popping a little bit of champagne aboard his purported $180 million superyacht that a Redditor spotted in the wild.
The user shared a photo of the mammoth vessel to the r/yachtporn subreddit, and placed the sighting in the British Virgin Islands.
According to Forbes, Blank has a net worth of $9.5 billion, placing him among the world's richest 500 people. Much of his fortune comes from his entrepreneurial reign as one of the co-founders of Home Depot. Other Redditors made light of his origins, with one writing of the superyacht, "That's a lot of lumber and power tools." Another user sarcastically replied that it "looks environmentally friendly too…"
For Blank, that's a real concern, as a study from Pickswise identified him as the NFL's most prolific user of private jets. Superyachts like Blank's are one of the world's worst-polluting purchases. A Guardian piece noted that the most extravagant of them, like one owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, pollutes over 22,000 tons of carbon annually. That is more than some small countries.
Among NFL owners, Blank is hardly alone with Jaguars owner Shahid Kahn's $360 million superyacht alarming Super Bowl attendees in New Orleans. Concerningly, they are becoming increasingly popular. No doubt it doesn't help things when popular creators like MrBeast glorify them in videos.
There are some positive signs, like superyachts switching over to cleaner fuels and tapping into more sustainable construction. Still, for now their major pollution is another example of the elite few operating in a different universe than everyone else, with dangerous results for the planet.
Commenters on Reddit had some more fun with the juxtaposition of Blank's Home Depot connection.
One viewer cheekily asked: "Did he finance it or did he pay cash?" Another user jokingly answered that "he probably used the Home Depot credit card with 30% interest," while a third added he "probably got a helicopter with all the points he got."
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