Two billionaires’ superyachts collided off the cost of Naples, in Italy, on Wednesday, 22 July. The incident has only now come to light as the owner of one of the vessels shared footage of the fender bender on Instagram.
The Venus and Lady Moura, belonging to Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, and Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, were both anchored, but the former somehow drifted into the latter, causing “a big scratch”, as Salinas called it.
Sharing the video on his Instagram profile on 7 August, Salinas said he’d “like to know what the captain and crew were doing that they didn’t see a yacht the size of mine in front of them.” Going on in a joking manner he said “the good thing is that nothing more than a scratch happened, but it’s a big scratch that’s going to cost a lot to fix”, prompting his followers to go and “buy Apple products to help them pay for their little joke.”
Continuing in a more serious tone, Salinas highlighted the importance of having a “responsible and attentive captain in charge”, saying the incident shows “that there is no shortage of idiots in the world.”
In the media frenzy that followed up the release of the video, someone familiar with the matter told Boat International that the accident was caused by a sudden change in wind. “No family was on board, only crew. The wind changed very suddenly, picking up from a breeze to 55 knots (101.86 km/h) over the course of a few minutes. Neither boat dragged anchor, though the other boat was on a chain double the length expected in the depth of water they were in. Both captains were in discussion immediately following the incident about minor repairs needed”, the magazine reported.
Venus is a 78.2 metre superyacht, commission by Steve Jobs himself in 2009, and designed by French designer and architect Philippe Starck to have a similar appearance with an Apple product, with sleek lines and 15 tonnes of glass. Jobs never laid foot on the $120 million vessel, as he passed away in 2011, one year before the project’s completion.
At the time of her launch in 1990, Lady Moura was the 9th largest private yacht in the world and is still considered one of the most lavish vessels that ever existed. Having hosted personalities like George W. Bush and his wife Barbara, it was bought by Salinas from Saudi Arabian businessman Nasser Al-Rashid in 2021 for $125 million, a big reduction compared to the $200 million it cost to make.
