Meta billionaire and known climate change evangelist Mark Zuckerberg this summer has launched his newly acquired US$300 million yacht, Launchpad, in the Mediterranean Sea. In March, rumours circulated online the tech mogul had purchased Launchpad, and once May came around, Zuckerberg was spotted taking the yacht for a spin to Panama for his 40th birthday. .Zuck in the yacht’s maiden voyage has reportedly stopped at the island of Mallorca, Spain, and onto the Ligurian Sea, between the Italian Riviera and Corsica, on Launchpad, one of the most expensive yachts in the world. He took his wife Priscilla Chan, their three daughters and his extended family with him and celebrated his father’s 70th birthday on the vessel’s deck. . Twitter (“X”) boss Elon Musk mocked his competitor’s opulent summer fun. “May he continue to have fun on his yachts. I prefer to work,” wrote Musk on Twitter..The 118-metre Dutch-built vessel by shipyard Feadship, was initially designed for a Russian oligarch, YachtWorld reported. Launchpad has a hull made of robust steel, an aluminum superstructure and can reach a speed of 24 knots (44.5 km/h). It also has a Gulfstream G650 jet and swimming pool. .Launchpad is accompanied by a $30 million, 67-metre “support vessel” called Wingman, which has a helicopter launching pad, a diving centre with a decompression chamber, and its own submarine. .Launchpad can comfortably house up to 24 guests with their own private chambers, plus crew, Business Insider reported. It’s powered by four MTU (Motor and Turbine Union) engines, making it more fuel-efficient for the climate-minded Zuckerberg, with each engine delivering 5,846 horsepower. With all four diesel engines running, Launchpad consumes 1,165 L of fuel for per hour..Notably, Zuckerberg deactivated his fleet’s AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponders, which YachtWorld describes as an “incognito privacy tactic” meaning “going dark.” Zuckerberg’s striving for elusiveness is in stark contrast to Meta’s recent privacy breaches compromising users’ personal data..Launchpad is not Zuckerberg's only luxurious means of travel. The climate activist's private jet in the course of two months in 2022 burned $158,000 worth of fuel, reported Fox Business at the time. That is 15 times the average American's annual carbon footprint, the publication calculated. .Zuckerberg during a Harvard Univeristy commencement address in 2017 said, "It's time for our generation-defining public works.""How about stopping climate change before we destroy the planet and getting millions of people involved manufacturing and installing solar panels?" he said..Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), Zuckerberg and his wife's climate investment organization, also in 2022, launched a $44 million "climate change solutions" project. The initiative promised funding to "entrepreneurs and companies to advance carbon dioxide removal" as "part of CZI’s approach to accelerating action on climate change."“Scaling carbon removal to a consequential level will require massive advances in technology and innovation,” said the couple in a news release on their organization's website.“That’s why we’re supporting companies and researchers through a variety of financing methods. "
