Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently celebrated his 66th birthday on a superyacht on seas off Turkey’s coast. World’s second richest man and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was among 50 guests at Gates’ private party
A leading UK tabloid reported that Bezos arrived at the yacht party via a 120-mile helicopter ride. With reports emerging of the party, the carbon footprint of the billionaires’ event has been in the news. Consequently, several netizens have come out and slammed Gates and Bezos as hypocrites. People claimed that on one hand both the philanthropists voice out on the urgency of combatting climate and on the other hand indulge in luxuries causing outrageous carbon emissions.
As is being reported, the helicopter ride by Bezos generated 215 pounds of carbon dioxide whereas the yacht the was the venue of Gates’ party generates 19 tons of CO2 emissions in a single day.
Twitter users noted that Gates’ 4-hour party of 50 people saw the guests were flown in private helicopters from their yachts anchored offshore, but are the people who “want you to take the bus to work and make other sacrifices for climate change.”
The superyacht is called Lana and was rented by Gates at 1.8 million pounds per week, as per a leading business daily. Gates’ guests reportedly flew from the mega-yacht to a secluded beach in the city of Fethiye called Sea Me Beach.
The Lana the yacht boasts amenities like swimming pool, jacuzzi, gym and a beach club. At Gates’ 4-hour birthday party, mobile phones were not allowed. On the menu was pizza, sushi, local seafood and flowing champagne.
Bill Gates is one of the most vocal climate change activists who has also infused millions in sustainability projects. Gates even took a jibe at the space race among fellow billionaires during a recent TV interview.
