This weekend, Jeff Bezos made a remarkable entrance into the harbour of Cannes aboard his new $700m megayacht. Spanning 417 feet, this vessel was accompanied by its support yacht, the Abeona, serving as a $100 million floating garage housing luxury cars, jet skis, and even a helicopter for Bezos’ fiancée.
It’s been a busy few weeks for Jeff Bezos. Between wearing a barely-there sheer polo to the Miami GP, his controversial $723m yacht finally being seen under sail for the first time, and construction pushing ahead for his new wife’s $270m mega-mansion, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the once world’s richest man — recently eclipsed by Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk — might want to take a few days off to decompress.
And that’s exactly what he’s done: arriving at the bustling Cote d’Azur this weekend, the Amazon founder floated into the harbour for some much-needed ‘me time’. However, what caught the eye of many onlookers was not his controversial but undeniably impressive $700m superyacht, but the rather more modest $100m companion craft that came along with him.
WATCH: Here’s what the main event looks like under sail…
Named after the Maori term for “new beginnings,” Bezos’ controversial superyacht — the Koru —represents a more luxurious and opulent investment than any of us mere mortals could ever dream of. And yet, that hasn’t stopped him from keeping the Abeona — Koru’s 246-foot “support yacht” — on hand and stacked with all the toys a billionaire could need.
The largest support vessel ever built, the $100 million Abeona was launched in October of last year and is named after the Roman goddess of outward journeys. Stacked with supercars, motorbikes, smaller boats, and jet skis, the vessel’s raison d’etre is to accommodate Bezos’ fiancée — trained helicopter pilot Lauren Sanchez — as the Koru lacks its own landing pad.
This is far from being the first big spend that Bezos has made to accommodate his new boo, who made her own millions as an esteemed TV presenter and more recently as founder of ‘Black Ops Aviation’, the first female-owned aerial film and production company. Bezos’ $270m mega-mansion that is underway in Beverley Hills is also being developed with the aim of accommodating the soon-to-be-married couple.
We certainly don’t wish to imply that Sanchez is a demanding partner. In fact, the demand for similar support vessels is apparently soaring amongst the super-rich, who are always in need of additional space to store gadgets and guests alike. As well as hitting top speeds of 18 knots, the Abeona can comfortably accommodate four guests and an extensive crew of up to 37 members.
Sanchez may not be demanding but she’s certainly inspiring, at least in the eyes of her new beaux: in addition to the Koru’s Rolls Royce engines and array of sails, the ship’s bow features a polished wooden sculpture that, officially speaking, is intended to be reminiscent of a Roman goddess, but some have speculated bears a striking resemblance to Sanchez herself…
While details about the interior of Bezos’ staggering superyacht are as yet undisclosed, it isn’t hard to imagine to the kind of obscene luxury that must lay within its walls. With estimated annual running costs of over $30 million, it’s clear that as the Koru and its not-so-humble sidekick set sail, Bezos knows how to keep his extravagant dreams afloat while the rest of us are left treading water.