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John Arlidge, The Times, UK, June 25 2025:
“…The most extreme behaviour of the inhabitants of Richistan happens on superyachts, such as Bezos’s $500 million Koru, because, as one owner tells Osnos, “the boat is the last vestige of what real wealth can do”. What he means is: “You have a chef and I have a chef. You have a driver and I have a driver. You can fly privately and I fly privately. So the one place where I can make clear to the world that I am in a different f***ing category than you is the boat.”
Yachts symbolise waste and unbridled excess, which makes them the ultimate status symbol. “Need” a bar stool upholstered in whale foreskin? No problem. Fresh hookers every day? One yacht owner paid a “madam” more than half a million pounds a year. Separate on-board wardrobes for the wife and for the mistress — and a code word to reveal which will be visiting so the captain and crew know which dresses should be hung in the closets? All in a day’s work at sea….”
(review of The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich by Evan Osnos)
artist Harry Bliss