Outrage as climate warriors Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos celebrate on carbon-emitting yacht

View
comments

Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos were slammed as hypocrites for lecturing the world on the need to combat climate change by reducing carbon footprint while at the same time reportedly vacationing on superyachts off the coast of Turkey. 

Multi-billionaire and Microsoft founder Gates celebrated his 66th birthday in Turkey in the company of fellow tycoon and Amazon founder Bezos on Friday.

Bezos was among the 50 guests invited to Gates’ private party beside the Mediterranean. It’s not clear whether any of Gates’ family helped him celebrate at his exclusive bash. 

According to reports, Bezos traveled to Gates’ superyacht by helicopter.

The Blue Origin founder is said to have made the 120-mile round trip journey by chopper from Govoka to the resort town of Fethiye.

The jet fuel used to power helicopters emits 21.095 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon burned.

Since helicopters use up approximately 10.75 miles per gallon, Bezos’ helicopter emitted some 215 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Both Bezos and Gates are reportedly staying on superyachts – each of which emits 7,020 tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 19 tons per day.  

Social media users reacted with fury, noting that Bezos and Gates were contradicting their own statements about the need to tackle climate change.

‘The sick and twisted for a “66th” birthday party,’ tweeted one Twitter user, who accused them of having a ‘do as I say not as I do’ attitude.

Another Twitter user commented: ‘The horrendous energy waster Bill Gates makes his contribution to CO2 reduction for his 66th birthday by having his fat body transported by his own yacht and then by helicopter to a certain place.’

‘Guess the rules don’t apply to them?’ according to Rose Y.

RD Carrington commented: ‘More from people who will be bashing the rest of us again next week about – climate change.’ 

Another Twitter user wrote: ‘These are the people putting us in our place and lecturing us about about the so called “climate crisis”.’ 

A Twitter user with the handle ‘LynnT’ commented in response to the reports of the Bezos-Gates meeting: ‘But climate change y’all.’ 

Another Twitter user wondered whether Bezos and Gates had ‘no climate change fear?’ 

Gates – once the richest man on earth who has dropped to fourth on the Forbes Rich List ranking with $124 billion – transported his guests by helicopter from his $2million-a-week rental yacht ‘Lana’ to the Sea Me Beach club in Fethiye.

Lana boasts a gym, jacuzzi, beach club, and swimming pool, Insider reported.

After the party, Bezos – who is worth $177 billion, according to Forbes – was reported to have returned by helicopter to his yacht ‘Flying Fox’ docked in Gokova.  

Attendees of the four-hour party were secured of their privacy in the lavish and secluded resort, as workers at the bash were prohibited from using their phones. 

Gates, whose birthday is October 28, reportedly entertained his guests with local seafood, sushi, pizza, and plenty of champagne.

The Microsoft founder had been visiting the popular island of Bodrum, close to Sea Me Beach, last week. 

It’s Gates’ first birthday celebration since announcing his divorce to wife of 27 years Melinda Gates, with whom he shares three children. 

Gates, 65, and his ex-wife, 56, shocked the world when they took to Twitter to break the news of their divorce back on May 4.

They tweeted that they ‘no longer believed we can grow together as a couple’ but they will still continue to work together at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

The couple became officially divorced in August, just four months after filing.  

In the wake of the divorce announcement Gates has been accused of ‘womanizing’ and sexually harassing colleagues during his time at Microsoft. 

Their relationship reportedly began to unravel after Melinda read the letter a Microsoft employee wrote in 2019 detailing her billionaire husband’s ‘inappropriate’ sexual relationship with a female staff member.

Two decades after the 2000 affair, Gates was removed from Microsoft’s board of directors as it investigated his prior romantic relationship with an employee, which ‘ended amicably’. 

Before the divorce, Melinda would share heartfelt posts on social media commemorating Gates’ birthday.

In 2018, she shared a picture of them at the Goalkeepers event.

She captioned it: ‘It’s no secret that he’s a little nerdy. But what surprised me when I first met him is how funny he is, too.’

In 2017, she posted a pic of their honeymoon in Hawaii in 1994.

‘Curious, fun, brilliant…and looks great in a lei,’ she wrote.

Last year, Melinda skipped her custom post, after reports in 2019 that her husband had written a pros-and-cons list of their marriage.  

Jennifer Gates, the couple’s eldest daughter, shared a picture capturing her father beaming at her in her bridal gown along with birthday wishes on Instagram.

‘Grateful to learn from your example of endless curiosity, constant exploration and desire to help humanity. Excited to hear about what you learn in this next turn around the sun,’ she wrote. 

‘Thank you for your support of our union and dream day recently – these memories will last a lifetime,’ Jennifer added.  

Both Bill and Melinda were there to walk Jennifer down the asile on her big day.   

Jennifer and husband Nayel Nessar hosted 300 guests at her mansion in North Salem, New York on October 16.  

Bill and Melinda posted photos from the wedding on Instagram on Monday along with messages for the happy couple.