Despite owning a huge fortune of up to 128 billion USD, billionaire Bill Gates still continuously drops on Forbes’ billionaire rankings.

According to real-time updates, Bill Gates is ranked 7th, but before that he “dropped” to 9th, his lowest rank in the past 34 years. Previously, his lowest position was 16th in 1990 when he first entered the Forbes billionaires list.

Bill Gates is the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation. In addition to his wealth and talent, he is also famous as a passionate philanthropist and an environmental campaigner.

Therefore, Bill Gates’ ownership of his own yacht has stopped causing much controversy. In 2021, Gates spent about 25 million USD to buy his first yacht called Wayfinder. This is a catamaran (catamaran) about 68m long, built by engineer Astilleros Armon.

The yacht is designed as a support ship, often sailing alongside a larger mother ship, which until recently had not been disclosed to the public.

The mothership, known as “Project 821,” is undergoing production at Feadship. This will be one of the largest and most luxurious yachts the shipyard has ever built.

821 are expected to be delivered in 2024. This ship is up to 119m long with a total internal capacity exceeding 7,000 gross tonnage (GT). 

Details about this yacht are still kept secret, but some recently leaked information revealed that it is for sale on the market for 600 million Euros (more than 16,399 billion VND).

This price is significantly higher than previous Feadship-built yachts, possibly because its unfinished state offers potential buyers the opportunity to customize the yacht .

Along with Project 821, Wayfinder was also put up for sale and appeared on the rental market earlier this year, showing a change in the way Bill Gates uses his assets.

The reason behind the sale was not specified, causing many people to speculate about the billionaire’s motives.

Some people believe that the maintenance and operating costs of these luxury yachts are “unrealistic”. Others believe that Gates is taking steps to follow through on his commitments on environmental issues. 

In the past, Bill Gates has made commitments highlighting his awareness of his large carbon footprint, primarily from private flights, and his efforts to minimize environmental impact.

To further reinforce his commitment to philanthropic activities, in a 2022 Gates Notes blog post, Bill Gates wrote: “Although I don’t care where I rank on the rich list world, but I know that when I succeed in giving, I will drop in rank and eventually be removed from the list.”

This is in line with Gates’ long-term goal of donating the majority of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The sale of the yacht can be seen as a way Gates is pioneering a reduction in luxury consumption to lessen his environmental impact, cementing his reputation as an environmental activist in the The global context is increasingly concerned about climate change.