Bystander sparks debate after sharing picture of Mark Zuckerberg's massive yacht at harbor: 'Give me a break'

The general public's fascination, and sometimes disapproval, aimed at the ultrarich may best be exemplified through internet discourse of super and mega yachts.

When it comes to billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, Reddit users on the subreddit r/yachtporn have plenty of feedback for one of the Meta CEO's humongous yachts.

The original poster shared an image of the Launchpad yacht docked in Syracuse.

According to SuperYachtFan, this superyacht is estimated to be worth $300 million. This huge number brings about a key fact about these already expensive vessels: the cost of running them.

One user on the Reddit post said: "BTW, LAUNCHPAD costs $300 million to build. The number to remember is that it costs 10%+ a year to keep this yacht going." 

A superyacht, loosely defined, is a yacht over 100 feet long. Launchpad is technically well over a "megayacht" — a vessel over 200 feet — measuring a whopping 390 feet.

Much of the backlash to superyacht culture revolves around the environmental impact, alongside the egregious display of wealth. 

The bigger the ship, the more fuel it requires, thus the more pollution it produces. An article by Clean Technica states: "The annual CO₂ emissions of the top 300 superyachts are almost 285,000 tons." This is paired with studies that show the top 1% are disproportionately responsible for global pollution.

Another reason these yachts cause so much environmental damage and bring about so much outrage is that they usually belong to an echelon of individuals who don't own just one environmentally damaging powerhouse. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns multiple megayachts, while Zuckerberg himself is known to have multiple other gas-guzzling "toys," such as a private jet.

Commenters on the photo of Zuckerberg's huge yacht shared their feedback on the ridiculous display of means.

Should the ultra-wealthy pay a tax to help offset their environmental impact? Absolutely 💯 Depends how they're taxed 💰 Only corporations should pay those 🏭 No way 🚫 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"We don't tax these monsters enough," one user said.

Another person added: "Give me a break! He needs to pay his employees more and many other things."

For people looking to cut down on their use of dirty fuel, exploring low-impact travel options is a great step. Furthermore, supporting businesses with eco-friendly initiatives allows you to use your purchasing power to keep the world a bit cleaner.

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