Mark Zuckerberg secretly brought his yacht “Launchpad” to Mallorca

Founder of Facebook
There's no point in hiding: Mark Zuckerberg secretly brought his megayacht “Launchpad” to Mallorca

At the beginning of the year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also became a yacht owner. Then his massive “launch pad” went under the radar for a while. It has now appeared in the port of Palma de Mallorca – as one of the largest ships there.

In the world of tech billionaires, yachts are all the rage. Jeff Bezos has “Koru,” Larry Ellison is sailing the seas with “Musashi” and Mark Zuckerberg joined them in the spring with “Launchpad.” It seems that Bill Gates is the only one who has opted out, because the environmental activist who owns a luxury yacht seems strange at first (you can learn more here).

Zuckerberg, on the other hand, jumped at the opportunity when he was offered a yacht that had already been built for the Russian oligarch. Obviously, what he didn't like was the amount of attention this purchase brought. After all, privacy is very important to the Facebook founder.

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The yacht, which is said to have cost US$300 million, disappeared from the radar along with the shadow ship Wingman. As reported by the newspaper “Autoevolution”, both ships turned off their “AIS” (“Automatic Identification System”). This is not completely without risks, because the AIS system is not only used to track ships around the world, but also to avoid collisions. Anyone who cripples the system should not expect hefty penalties, but experts warn that insurers are happy to avoid paying out in the event of accidents on board “invisible” vessels. In theory, ships of a certain size, several times larger than Zuckerberg's “launch pad,” are obligated to operate the system.

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However, turning off AIS only solves the problem of tracking via the appropriate services – because anyone who happens to be near the launch pad will still see it, of course. With a ship measuring 118.80 metres, this could hardly have been possible any other way. Thus, the megayacht's travel route can finally be followed with relative accuracy.

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Meanwhile, “Launchpad” and “Wingman” have resurfaced on the radar. The two ships were recently docked at Club de Mar, a yachting port in Palma de Mallorca. As reported by Mallorca Magazine, this is the first ship visit to the Germans' favorite island. Footage from the harbor proves that the Launch Pad cannot be overlooked.

Zuckerberg is currently in good company: ships such as Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani’s “Yasmine of the Sea,” Barry Zekelman’s “Man of Steel,” Michael Jordan’s “Mbrace,” and the “Seven Seas Voyager” cruise ship are in the immediate vicinity. . .

The Mediterranean is a popular destination for the wealthy and their yachts in the summer months. In the winter months the trip usually continues to the Maldives or the Caribbean.