There are billionaires who are donating to help find a cure for coronavirus, and then there are others who are isolating in luxury abroad multi-million dollar yachts in order to “avoid” catching Covid-19.
Billionaire David Geffen posted a drone shot of his cool new digs, his multi-storey US $590 million yacht named Rising Star with the caption:
“Isolated in the Grenadines avoiding the virus. “I’m hoping everybody is staying safe.”
Little did he know that his recent post would highlight the inherrent inequality in society right now with how the rich and the non-rich handle and get through this global pandemic.
Bloomberg said in a recent piece:
Geffen’s Caribbean excursion is the latest revelation of how the crisis is affecting people unequally across the globe. While the world’s wealthy have fled to vacation homes, specially made bunkers or floating palaces, rank-and-file workers from nurses to supermarket cashiers have been left juggling childcare and risking infection working jobs deemed essential.
The condemnation from celebrities and normal people was swift and harsh, and not soon, the 77-year-old founder of Geffen Records and co-founder of DreamWorks Pictures, had switched to the “private” mode.
David Geffen sends a message:
You poor plebs can suck it.
It's fabulous to be rich.
Look at me!
h/t @litcapital pic.twitter.com/q1hELQa3H3— Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) March 28, 2020
Thanks, David Geffen, for your thoughts. pic.twitter.com/5XTRhGX5OP
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) March 28, 2020
Even John Mayer introduced the song—”Drone shot of my yacht, it’s all I got, I’m all alone on the water”— making fun of the billionaire on his YouTube show.
“Drone shot of my yacht, it’s all I got, I’m all alone on the water,” he sings in the parody.
“Let me flex these specs,” he continues, “450 feet and six or seven decks. You can stretch your neck, to see all the stuff around me, I don’t give a heck.”
Geffen’s yacht while his Instagram was public, used to host celebrities from Oprah Winfrey and Leonardo DiCaprio on board.
The 454-foot megayacht was originally built for Oracle founder Larry Ellison. Geffen bought a half-share in 2007 and the other half in 2010, totaling about $590 million.
But this seems to be an ongoing trend in the billionaire circles around the world. Business Insider previously reported that billionaires have been chartering superyachts in the hopes of riding out the coronavirus in comfort.
While it’s great that celebrities and the rich have yachts, country estates, second homes and even beach retreats where they can self-isolate in papered luxury, they’d be well advised to spare a thought for the rest of us who don’t.
Most importantly, they should spare a thought for the healthcare and front line workers around the world who are currently risking their lives. Billionaires, take note: we get it, you’re wealthy. But don’t be like David.
