Mark Zuckerberg’s luxury yacht draws ire after failing to aid stranded Alaska boat

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg found himself in hot water on Monday after his yacht reportedly did not offer assistance to a stranded boat off the coast of Alaska.

The crew of a yacht owned by Zuckerberg, reportedly priced at $300 million, did not hear a radio call for a maritime assist from a small skiff that ran out of fuel, and by the time it did, another nearby ship had already rendered assistance, a spokesperson for the Meta CEO said.

Sponsored Apple AirPods Pro 3 Review: The ANC Wireless Earbuds to Beat in 2026 See the review →

The Alaska Beacon reported that the skiff had issued a call for assistance through the US Coast Guard last week and a nearby small cruise ship, the Wilderness Legacy, towed it into nearby Farragut Bay in Southeast Alaska and refueled it.

Although it was closer, Zuckerberg’s yacht, called Launchpad, had not responded to the call.

“I’m on a small-ship Alaska cruise with my son,” Michael Love, a passenger who said he was on the Wilderness Legacy cruise ship, wrote on the Bluesky social media platform on August 5.

“Our boat rescued a stranded vessel last night and apparently we did that after the Coast Guard radioed Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht — which was closer — and they repeatedly refused to respond. (There was near unanimous booing when the captain announced this),” he said.

The Alaska Beacon reported that the spokesperson told them via email on Sunday that the yacht Launchpad did not initially hear the call for assistance.

“Mark and his family were not on board at the time of the incident. As the Coast Guard noted, the boat was not in distress, and by the time the crew reviewed the Coast Guard contact on a different radio channel from the one they were operating on, the assist was already underway. We’re grateful all parties are safe,” the email to the Alaska Beacon said.

As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.

This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world. 

If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.

— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist

We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.

That’s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.

So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.

For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.

Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel