Steve Jobs’ $130 million former yacht, Venus, was accidentally involved in a billionaire boat collision off the coast of Italy. The Apple cofounder is a legendary tech inventor and CEO who passed away in 2011 at the age of 56.
The 256-foot-long vessel, now owned by Jobs’ widow and businesswoman Laurene Powell Jobs, was anchored off the coast of Naples when a change in the wind caused it to drift, Business Insider reported, citing a spokesperson from Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective.
Venus collided with another superyacht, Lady Moura, owned by the third-richest man in Mexico, Ricardo Salinas Pliego. Only crew members were aboard the Venus, according to the spokesperson.
In a video posted by Salinas Pliego on social media, those aboard the Lady Moura could be seen shouting to get the attention of the crew aboard Venus, but to no avail. In a clearly irritated post on X Wednesday, Salinas Pliego said in Spanish that Venus left “a big scratch that is going to cost a lot to fix.”
“I’d like to know what the captain and crew were doing that they didn’t notice a yacht as big as mine in front of them,” the cofounder and chairman of conglomerate Grupo Salinas wrote on X.
There was no shortage of idiots in the world, he added.
No me lo van a creer pero nos chocaron el yate mientras estábamos en Nápoles.
Les cuento ☕️… el yate de Steve Jobs fundador de Apple (ahora de su esposa Laurene), nos pegó mientras estábamos anclados frente a Nápoles. Yo quisiera saber que andaba haciendo el capitán y la… pic.twitter.com/R1XVzZFGkD
— Don Ricardo Salinas Pliego (@RicardoBSalinas) August 7, 2024
The multibillionaire, who owns a chain of stores in Latin America called Elektra that offers everything from motorcycles to electronics with financing, joked that his social media followers should buy Apple products from his stores so Powell Jobs could afford to pay for the repairs to his boat.
Jobs’ yacht launched in 2012, just a year after the Apple founder’s death from pancreatic cancer. Jobs collaborated with French designer Philippe Starck over four years to create a ship that matched the minimalist aesthetic of an Apple product. Although he never stepped foot on the deck, the ship ended up being one of Jobs’ final passion projects, according to Vanity Fair.
“It was not a yacht that Steve and I were constructing, we were embarked on a philosophical action, implemented according to a quasi-religious process. We formed a single brain with four lobes,” Starck told Vanity Fair.
The damages to Lady Moura will likely be covered by insurance, which can range from 5% to 6% of the vessel’s total value. Salinas Pliego reportedly bought the superyacht for $125 million in 2022. The two boat captains apparently met immediately to discuss the “minor repairs needed,” BOAT International reported, citing a source close to the matter.
Although bothered by the crash, Salinas Pliego seemed to want to cast off from the subject.
“Oh well, we’re going to continue enjoying our vacation,” he wrote on X.
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