Mark Zuckerberg has faced questions over why a small cruise ship in south-east Alaska rescued a stranded skiff and its crew when his 387ft superyacht had been closer.<\/p>\n
The Silicon Valley billionaire\u2019s yacht, worth a reported $300m, is said to have \u201crepeatedly\u201d declined to assist when a nearby boat called for help last week.<\/p>\n
Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms, was not on board at the time, a spokesperson told Forbes<\/a>.<\/p>\n When a nearby 21ft skiff ran out of fuel between Petersburg and Juneau, the Alaska Beacon<\/a> reported operators of a cruise ship that was further away than Zuckerberg\u2019s yacht came to the rescue.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m on a small-ship Alaska cruise with my son,\u201d a passenger on the UnCruise Adventures ship Wilderness Legacy posted on Bluesky<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOur boat rescued a stranded vessel last night and apparently we did that after the Coast Guard radioed Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s yacht \u2013 which was closer \u2013 and they repeatedly refused to respond. (There was near unanimous booing when the captain announced this).\u201d<\/p>\n But Brian Baker, a spokesperson for Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, told Forbes that the couple were not on board his yacht, named Launchpad. The yacht crew had been operating on a different radio channel, Baker told Forbes. \u201cThe assist was already under way\u201d by the time they reviewed the broadcast, he said.<\/p>\n Even if he was not on his ship, the report is unlikely to boost public opinion of Zuckerberg, who has faced criticism over the societal impact of his social media platforms; his new warm relationship<\/a> with Donald Trump; and his lavish<\/a>, insular lifestyle<\/a>.<\/p>\n